The individual stars of previous World Cups have been speedy sorts who dazzle in the bright lights, but the All Blacks’ rock stars of 2023 will be the heavyweights of the front row, slugging it out in the darkest places.
New Zealand doesn’t tend to glorify the big menin jersey numbers one and three - but Ethan de Groot, Tamaiti Williams, Nepo Laulala, Ofa Tu’ungafasi, Fletcher Newell and Tyrel Lomax are the glamour boys of the All Blacks squad.
The All Blacks are going to France with plenty of dash, but it is the impact of their bash that is going to be all-important, and the biggest difference between the 2023 squad and the one that came up short in 2019 is the rock star qualities of their six props.
What makes this cohort different to their 2019 peers is their mobility, athleticism and soft skills.
With an average age of 26, this group is young, has boundless energy, dynamism and a surprising stamina which makes them infinitely better equipped to produce the sort of rugby that the All Blacks need in France.
In de Groot, Lomax, Williams, Newell and Tu’ungafasi in particular, there are five quality ball-carriers – five players who can drive the team forward and punish a defence.
This gives the All Blacks eight ball carriers in their forwards instead of the six they had in 2019 and this is the key to the possession game they have initiated this year.
Ethan de Groot celebrates his try with Asafo Aumua (L). Photo / Photosport.co.nz
What we have seen from the All Blacks is a willingness to keep the ball through multiple phases - to smash the ball up the middle of the field until the defence is drained and pulled away from the flanks.
The try the All Blacks scored in Melbourne on the stroke of halftime was the perfect illustration of this strategy, when they kept the ball for 21 phases - through 12 different ball carriers - until they eventually pulled the trigger and made three wide passes for Will Jordan to score.
It’s a game plan that only works if the All Blacks can ensure there is a constant stream of players on their feet, ready, willing and able to crash the ball into the defensive line.
There can’t be any weak links, players who don’t have the mobility to scramble off the deck and be on their feet or who lack the confidence to make themselves available to carry, and the fact that the All Blacks now have athletic and skilled props with the capacity and desire to be involved across the park has revolutionised the attack game.
This is the point former All Blacks coach Sir Steve Hansen made this week when he was asked to assess the 33 players that were going to France.
“I think back to the last World Cup, I was concerned about our front row. This front row they are going to be able to pick this year is going to be outstanding,” said Hansen.
“It’s a big improvement from where we were. We’re more mobile, we’re more skilled with ball in hand, better ball carriers. And there’s plenty of them.”
Of equal importance is that this upskilling hasn’t come with any compromise as the All Blacks have simultaneously built the scrummaging power of their props.
Ofa Tu'ungafasi of the All Blacks. Photo / photosport.co.nz
The All Blacks have been a relatively strong scrummaging team for the last five years or so, but they have taken their set piece to the next level in the last 12 months and have used it as a primary means by which to exert pressure to break opponents.
Against the Pumas and Wallabies, the All Blacks were able to scrummage for penalties, and it was the power of the scrum that effectively drove the comeback win in Dunedin.
Because it’s easier for everyone to see the impact Aaron Smith and Richie Mo’unga made when they came off the bench in Dunedin, these two have been credited as the architects of the second-half recovery.
They played their part, but the real heroes were Tu’ungafasi and Newell, who immediately and systematically set about destroying an inexperienced Wallabies front row, crushing it so effectively that Australia’s confidence collapsed.
And this is the beauty of what the All Blacks now have, multi-skilled props who can scrummage, run, lift, clean out, tackle and pass.
No longer are they making a choice between props who can scrummage but can’t carry, or those who can get about the field but can’t scrum.
They have got four props who can do everything and Laulala, who isn’t a natural distributor but is the best scrummaging tighthead in the world, and a great ball-carrier in Williams, who is finding his way as a scrummaging force in the international game.
But between them they are collectively the rock stars of this All Blacks squad, the men who have done the most to transform the team into contenders.
