Gregor Paul: Italians expose fragility of All Black scrum

The problem has been there all season. It's just been hard to see, partly because neither Australia nor South Africa were good enough up front to fully expose the All Blacks' scrummaging weaknesses and partly because the dysfunctional lineout grabbed all the attention.

The All Blacks have regressed significantly in an area where they could recently have claimed to be the best in the world.

The departure of Carl Hayman in 2007 was the beginning of the slide. No side can lose a man of his calibre and not feel it.

Greg Somerville did a fine job stepping in for Hayman, but he was never the destructive force Hayman was. When Somerville left after last year's Bledisloe Cup test in Hong Kong, it wobbled again. Now it has become decidedly unstable.

Australia gave a hint of the problems to come when they managed to nudge the All Blacks a few times in Tokyo. The Italians went a lot further and alerted England and France to the fact that the All Blacks are vulnerable in the set-piece.

Graham Henry raged away about the interpretation of the laws and the need for clarity. Without saying it, he suggested that the player voted man of the match, Italian tighthead Martin Castrogiovanni, was guilty of boring in. It was the very same Castrogiovanni who eight days earlier, playing for Leicester, dismantled the Springbok front row.

There was no comeback from the Boks; no suggestion they had been subjected to illegal work.

There are two conclusions that can be reached here. The first is that Castrogiovanni is allowed to succeed through illegal means. Or he's an experienced performer who is at the top of his craft.

If the All Blacks want to improve their scrummaging against England and France, they need to be thinking of Castrogiovanni as the latter. They need to be asking serious questions about their own technical expertise and determine ways they can better handle themselves, as the challenge presented by England and France will be just as tough as the one posed by Italy.

A change in personnel for the England game should help. The All Blacks will be desperate for Tony Woodcock's injured back to recover this week.

There have been whispers about the rise of Wyatt Crockett - that he's the man the selectors are backing to usurp Woodcock in the not-too-distant future. Maybe he will, in time.

But for now, Woodcock is the option. He has 50-plus test caps and for props, experience is everything.

At tighthead, it's not so easy. Neemia Tialata is the only man on tour who could be sent out to take on England and France with any confidence. Owen Franks has been brought on tour primarily for development; to work under the watchful gaze of scrum coach Mike Cron every day.

John Afoa, according to Henry, has issues with his technique, leaving Tialata as the only option. It's going to be a major ask - he's already played three tests in three weeks.

There is no other choice for the selectors, though.

The referee can't save the All Blacks. Test rugby is a nasty business where only the fittest survive. In the scrummaging world the fittest used to be the All Blacks.

The climb back to the summit has to begin this week at Twickenham.