Not at all. There were enough real areas for concern that match versus England - there is not point talking about an "issue" that doesn't really exist!
England put the pressure on maybe 2 or 3 of our scrum feeds that I can recall (see around 1:16:13 and 1:14:02 in the video below). We got poor ball back from these scrums (but did maintain the ball) - the rest of our scrums were pretty stable and we got very clean ball. Most of the action at scrum time was occurring on the odd occasion England feed the ball in. The two penalties we conceded at scrum-time were for illegally wheeling the scrum - this wasn't because we were under pressure, but rather because we were trying to (illegally in the refs opinion) put pressure on the England scrum! When we didn't get penalised for wheeling we actually put quite a lot of pressure on the England scrum - see 1:19:39 or 1:10:49 in the video. I wouldn't describe this as a 'difficult day' at all. We were certainly inconsistent, but I don't think we were beaten at scrum time.
I can't recall us getting embarrassed by the Pumas at scrum-time last season. Perhaps you are confusing us with Australia
In the match in Argentina the scrums were an absolute mess, with neither side seeming comfortable with the new engagement sequence. Argentina probably had the edge overall, but the AB's dominated a number of scrums that match too. In the Auckland match the scrums were far tidier and the AB's probably had a slight edge at scrum-time overall. France and England probably had the better of us at scrum-time at the end of last season, but again it was hardly as though our scrum was destroyed. We went back a few times in both matches, but again managed to put pressure on when the opposition fed the ball. I don't remember us having that many issues against Ireland (despite starting our 2nd string front row).
As I've mentioned before our scrum is not as dominant as it has been previously, but it is hardly a weakness. We are inconsistent throughout a match though, and often take a while to get into the match at scrum-time. The opposition can dominate at the start of the match before the AB's scrum starts to improve as the match goes on (and is often the dominant scrum in the 2nd half).
That's all very well, but the problem with all of this is that in the last 20 minutes or so the AB 2nd choice prop was scrummaging against our 4th choices.
It's not just about winning penalties and sending opponent props to the sky though.
That scrum dominance people talk about held the AB's backrow in longer then they normally have to, that makes them inefficient in getting off and at our midfield backs - this puts additional pressure on two of the AB's weakest defenders - Nonu and Cruden - which in turn is why Smith has such a torrid time with Tuilagi when the AB's play against England, because there are stress points all the way through the inside defensive line and he is not allowed to push up as early as he wants to and also means the ball has transferred long before cruden and Nonu can drift.
And it also impacts on the AB wide game - the AB's made no bones about their intent in playing a shorter game through the midfield due to Read being missing, but it never materialised. Becaus eoff primary phase ball they didn't have go forward and the backrow couldn't get off early.
The Morgan run in the second half leading to the eastmond break is all from scrum dominance, for a number 8 to pick up on their own goal line and run 30 metres untouched....well if that isn't a concern..... and that is completely down to the fact the AB backrow is pushing hard just to stay in the scrum, Messam is packed at 6 there and doesn't even get off the side until morgan has gone around him - an 8 pick up in our own 22 is normally a panic mode action not an attacking weapon.
Watch at 1:10, after the scrum crabs and they are asked to re-set, there is a shot from the back and Yarde is saying to Morgan it's on - Morgan doesn't even push, he is loose and head free waiting for the ball before it's even in - 7 vs 8 and the England pack still moves the AB's where they want.
Were crabbing the scrum not the AB's.were looking to pull them infield and create space for Yards. Morgan picks draws the 6 sets Yarde free,...the NZ winger is deep for the kick. We do it twice and NZ fall for it twice and it works out better than we could have hoped.
So yeah, while it didn't have a points effect on you it did have a huge detrimental effect on the AB game, in both their ability to get off early and in how tiring it was for their tight 5 players.
This is also why the lineout is a concern for hansen et al this week, because they didn't pressure the English lineout - and were clearly panicked when they thought we might catch and set.
Lets be clear, it's not enough to win a game but it's a good starting point for being in with a shout and creates an area of pressure NZ don't normally experience and one of the mian reasons a second string England managed to live with the AB's.
