Wynne Gray: Props up for a ruck this weekend

Sometimes you think you'd get more change out of a pauper. It must be something about being part of the club - the front-row prop club, that is.

Members are not known for their effusiveness, not to the media anyway. Surly used to go with burly.

The grunt and groan men perpetuated that impression when they fronted the media off the field. They were characters, but All Blacks like Richard Loe, Steve McDowell, Olo Brown and Craig Dowd were not going to allow the pesky fourth estate to puncture their veneer.

No siree. A few props like Mark Allen and Kees Meeuws gave a bit more insight, but the gruff and bluff routine is back in business these days with Carl Hayman, Tony Woodcock and Greg Somerville.

Same with Gethin Jenkins, the Welshman chosen at tighthead prop for the Lions in tomorrow's start to the test series in Christchurch.

In the early stages of an interview session his week, Jenkins was asked by the man from the Independent: If the Lions were so confident, how were they going to win?

"Score more points than them," was the deadpan reply.

"Gethin, Gethin, Gethin," the journo returned, "how can you beat them with the way you guys have shipped points and been playing on this tour?"

In a previous era, Jenkins might have got away with his curt response. In fact he probably would not have fronted for any interview sessions, leaving it to the sissies and prima donnas in the backs.

But these days it is one in, all in, for the Lions and the All Blacks.

Front-rowers have learned to handle it as the midweek interview zone is just like another scrum. Journos jostle and push to get their questions answered, their tape-recorders near enough to pick up their competitors' inquiries or microphones close enough so cameras can pick up the their channel's logo.

Hayman is canny enough to saunter in some metres behind Chris Jack, Ali Williams and Jerry Collins, who take the brunt of the initial questioners. Nice tactics from the big fella who will play his 18th test tomorrow.

The tighthead prop has already met the Lions when he played for the NZ Maori at Hamilton. First half he encountered fellow mountain Andy Sheridan before Jenkins came on after the break, a duel which will resume in this test.

"He's going all right," was Hayman's assessment of his opposition. "I guess he's had the benefit of a few games, he's taken part in more than others. He's the sort of prop you expect from that part of the globe."

No clarification, no extended observations but a nod of the head to signify respect.

What about all the scrum resets at Hamilton and in other matches, a topic which Lions coach Sir Clive Woodward had high on his agenda when he visited match referee Joel Jutge this week.

"Everyone wants to get stuck in and that is just the way it goes, I suppose," Hayman said. "Sometimes there is no answer."

Games with the Maori have been the only matches for Hayman since the Super 12 but he is content with that preparation.

He has been flatout since February but the rest since Hamilton, notwithstanding a trip to Dunedin to present jerseys to the Otago players for their Lions match, has been welcome.

The All Blacks did not realise until the latter stages of the Tri-Nations last year that they had been overtrained.

It did not become an issue until then, so they have been conscious they need to button off on some of the physical stuff now.

"We have changed it to more quality and I think we will see the benefits later," Hayman said. "We are doing all the usual analysis of teams from tapes and that sort of stuff, so there has been no real slackening off."

Jenkins is one tourist who cannot be accused of a light workload. He started two games and had parts in two others, a regime he credits for his Lions selection.

Then there is the Kiwi connection. Graham Henry brought him first into the larger Welsh squad before Steve Hansen chose him for his test debut against Romania in 2002.

Add in Mike Cron, the All Blacks scrum doctor who travelled to Wales to help the side with some of the more technical aspects of the scrum, and it is easy to see why Jenkins appreciates New Zealand.

He is also rapt that his mother, Lesley, who has from lung cancer, is in New Zealand to watch this international. His mother booked the trip last July before she was diagnosed and well before her eldest son played his way into the Lions squad.

Jenkins said he was amazed in his early meetings with Hansen because he was unsure how a former midfield back could be a forward tutor. But he soon realised that Hansen's emphasis on values and technical expertise was top drawer.

Most of Jenkins' international career has been at tighthead prop but he prefers loosehead where he will begin this test. The team style was different from Wales but the rudiments were the same, getting past the gain-line and then working to put the ball into space.

Theories have been that the Lions' spluttering form is due to their holding back or their lack of cohesion.

Jenkins had a bob each way on those concepts but thought he had seen distinct signs that the squad were understanding each other far better. He was an example.

"I was very nervous at the start of the tour, every meal I was mentally dreading, it was awkward," he said. He was a naturally shy person who found it difficult to get involved in a massive squad.

"But now we have had time together, everyone is bonding, there is a lot of banter."

While the Lions have been bedding in new combinations, Hayman has been reunited with hooker Keven Mealamu, whom he last played alongside in the final Tri-Nations test last season in Johannesburg.

"We have got the goods definitely to be able to nullify their pack and their kicking game," said Hayman. "I think there is more pressure on the All Blacks in this game because it is a home series. Most people round here would pick the All Blacks to win so I guess we have the most to lose.

"But it is not a large burden on any of the guys and I don't think they would take it that way."