Laulala answers the call at the right time
Thank goodness for Nepo Laulala.
Honestly. Never mind Beauden Barrett or Ryan Crotty or Vaea Fifita or whichever All Black you find most exciting to watch. Without a good tighthead prop no team can do much; not even the All Blacks.
That’s why Laulala’s introduction to the side is, arguably, the great unwritten story of this Rugby Championship. With Charlie Faumuina now in France and Owen Franks injured, the All Blacks would’ve been on the absolute bones of their backside without Laulala.
The 26-year-old has made a remarkable return to the side, after a year out, highlighted by a brilliant first-up performance in the 35-29 win over Australia in Dunedin and then the subsequent victories over Argentina and South Africa. And he’s, seemingly, done it all on one leg.
Laulala ruptured the anterior, posterior and medial ligaments in his right knee, and tore a quad muscle off the bone, in a horrific injury at Chiefs training in January 2016. It took grafts from his hamstrings to put everything back together.
These days the knee’s strapped to within an inch of its life, meaning Laulala doesn’t look as though he can trot about too freely. But, boy, is he scrummaging well, much to everyone’s great relief. In Franks and Faumuina, New Zealand lost two world-class practioners at a time when there’s not a huge number in reserve.
The psychology of scrummaging has been in sharp focus this season. For the British and Irish Lions it was a source of pride, as well as points.
A focal point for much of their game, the Lions held the ball in the scrum for long periods in the hope of being awarded penalties. It worked in the bulk of their tour matches, but wasn’t so effective against the All Blacks’ front-row rotation of Franks and Faumuina on the tighthead side and Joe Moody and Wyatt Crockett on the loose. With Moody gone for the season, with a dislocated shoulder, only the reliable Crockett remains.
Then there’s teams such as Australia and, today’s foes here in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
The two teams put on a dreadful scrummaging display in Canberra two weeks ago, where the Pumas were repeatedly penalised. The Wallabies are past masters at taking scrums to ground, yet it was Argentina that earned the ire of referee Johnny Lacey.
All Blacks head coach Steve Hansen declined the invitation to debate who might’ve been at fault in Canberra.
‘‘There’s a lot of scrums that fall over because there’s a lot of pressure coming from two sides and if someone’s technique isn’t quite right then it’s going to fall over. If you over-extend, you’re going to fall over. If you want to buy a penalty you’re going to fall over, because it’s a 50-50 call,’’ Hansen said.
‘‘What we want to do at scrum time is put the ball in and get it back and attack. Is that what everyone wants to do? I don’t know. But there’s no point me getting into a scrap in the newspaper about scrummaging.’’
They’re interesting comments in many ways. The main one being that, while other teams might use the scrum itself as a points-generating mechanism, New Zealand simply want to launch from it.
No-one really knows what to expect from the Pumas scrum this morning (NZT). Once a weapon, it’s more often a liability these days. Only that, when the mood takes them, the Pumas can suddenly still turn the power on.
That’s probably a reasonable summary of Argentina as a whole. New Zealand ought to win this game and win it well. But the Pumas definitely have a big performance in them, it’s just sustaining it for 80 minutes.
Should make for an intriguing contest.