France tighthead prop Uini Atonio was destroyed by Ethan de Groot.

I’ll get to Cam Roigard, but I have to skip over Ethan de Groot first.

I don’t understand the hand-wringing over de Groot.

In the All Blacks’ opening Rugby World Cup match, I believed he completely destroyed France’s tighthead prop Uini Atonio.

I never played much school or club rugby, but I did spend ten years playing tighthead.

Many of them were frightened of destructive nutters like de Groot.

My scrummage instructor used the term “destructive” to describe looseheads.
Their goal was to disrupt, whether they butted you with their heads or bore in at an angle to squeeze your neck and force you to butt your own hooker.

You could have started the head contact yourself or turned the loosehead’s left shoulder so they fell to the floor using one of your defense mechanisms.

I believed that at times during the France game, de Groot’s pressure became intolerable for Atonio.
You feel as though your head might blow up in those circumstances.

No matter who believes de Groot has technical issues or what the referee interprets, I only care that Atonio was dominated.

I was happy to see it.
Actually, I’m thrilled.

The All Blacks have lacked aggressive scrummaging for far too long.
Just trying to hold and get the ball to the No. as quickly as possible, 8’s feet.

They stopped using the scrum as a weapon, which led to attacks from rivals.

We also did not scrum for penalties, unlike many other teams.

Since De Groot joined the group, there has been a pleasant urge to cause harm.

Ask the loose forwards and halfbacks for starters to understand why that matters.

I reach Roigard thanks to that.

He is without a doubt one of the top 23 players in New Zealand right now.
I don’t really care whether he starts or comes off the bench.

Simply put, in the games of significance, I don’t think Finlay Christie should continue to support Aaron Smith.

But in the end, it won’t matter if players lack grunt, like de Groot.

not just at scrum time, but also when the ball is in hand.

I’m sick of watching well-played balls go wide and kicks land over the top.

The front door is where the All Blacks must enter if they intend to have a respectable World Cup run.

Therefore, the forwards must carry heavily and frequently. It entails using the blindside and the pack in tandem with a wing with vigor like Leicester Fainga’anuku, who never ceases to impress.

This competition won’t be won with skill.
It will require a direct and persistent strategy; otherwise, Smith and Roigard will be forced to spend the entire day scrounging.

Ian Foster, the coach of the All Blacks, will be criticized for saying that we lack the necessary players.
They simply aren’t of elite caliber, and the coach can only do so much.

I disagree with that.

Success, in my opinion, depends on strategy and intent, and for far too long, we’ve chosen to avoid imposing ourselves in favor of far too frivolous football.

The team won’t succeed if we try to stifle De Groot’s intent, which is obvious to everyone.