Does the power of a scrum still matter these days?
Many teams have won games while not being overly dominant at scrum time - in some matches, teams will only have four feeds to a scrum.
But to completely disregard the scrum and its importance is foolish.
A dominant scrum will always have a massive advantage. It can pulverize every scrum the opponent has and then win penalties.
Of course, the duties of the props and hooker involve plenty besides the scrum. Everyone is a ball carrier these days and that is just as vital as holding up one end. As is getting around the field, making tackles and supporting the lineout jumpers.
The All Blacks will take five props to Japan.
On the tighthead side, Owen Franks will be picked along with Nepo Laulala. Franks has been slowing down over the past couple of years but he has been playing at the top level for a decade and, no matter how hard and tough a player is, the body can take only so much.
There was talk of stem cells helping him back from a nasty shoulder injury but, if he was a racehorse, he would be heading for the knacker's yard.However, he has the experience and when asked to go to the well over the years has always come up with the goods.
Laulaua played well against the Wallabies at Eden Park earlier this month so will have won his spot. He gets round the field and carries well which is a big positive in selection.
On the loosehead side, Joe Moody did well in his most recent outing and will probably be backed up by Atu Moli.
Moli has had a bad injury run over the past two seasons but is a quality player with good skills and a high work rate. It then it comes down to Ofa Tu'ungafasi and Angus Ta'avao. Tu'ungafasi has more experience and has not done little wrong when called upon.
As for the hookers, what started out as a bit of a contest for the third spot became a race which never got under way.
Dane Coles and Codie Taylor are the clear top two and Coles is back as No1 after a horror run with injury.
Otago's Liam Coltman will be the third hooker. Throwing may be an issue for Coltman at times but his work round the field, especially at the breakdown, has been top-notch this season and too hard to ignore.
Nathan Harris did not present a compelling enough case and picked up an injury at the weekend. Asafo Aumua is a good runner with the ball but there are plenty of other tricks needed to get to test level.