Rugby World Cup: The strange statistic that helped All Black Ethan de Groot hurt Ireland

Ireland’s confusion in the scrums in Paris last weekend – of which there were only five in total and none awarded to the men in green – didn't encourage All Blacks loosehead prop Ethan de Groot to sympathise.

It was their problem, not his. And now the Irish have a bigger one. They're out of the World Cup.

“You have got to go straight, and they were going around, so there's nothing else I could really say about that,” de Groot deadpanned when quizzed about Ireland's illegal tactics at Stade de France.

Irish loosehead prop Andrew Porter was a picture of frustration when penalised by Wayne Barnes during his side's 28-24 loss to the All Blacks in the World Cup quarterfinal.

Barnes, a barrister, was judge and jury on the subject. The Englishman wasn't asking All Blacks props Tyrel Lomax and de Groot for their opinions on the matter, either.

“Nothing to me, nothing to us,” said de Groot, who was only required to pack down in three of those scrums. “Just keep it square, go forward and that's about it.”

Following the loss, Ireland coach Andy Farrell said his team had a different view on the interpretations, noting Porter wasn't happy: “But we don't want to sit here with sour grapes.”

De Groot, built like a bulldozer and with 20 test caps to his credit, makes scrummaging sound simple. But it's complex, and All Blacks scrum coach Greg Feek would have analysed hours of footage to discover ways to undermine an Irish team he helped prepare during the 2019 World Cup.

Next up for de Groot, 25, is Argentina, a team that would have been fascinated to note that Barnes only called for the five set-pieces ahead of the semifinal in Paris on Saturday morning (NZT).

By comparison, there was an average of 15 in each of the other three quarterfinals.

The paucity of scrums was important in the context of the outcome of the All Blacks-Ireland clash.

Not having to put all their energy into more of them extended the time de Groot and Lomax were the park, the duo playing through to the 64th minute before being replaced by Tamaiti Williams and Fletcher Newell. That, in turn, enabled the All Blacks to have fresher bodies in the defensive line as Ireland churned through 37 phases in the final minutes.

“It was a little bit stop-start in the second half, there weren't a lot of scrums and it just meant we were able to keep our combinations intact for deeper into this game than we perhaps planned to,” All Blacks coach Ian Foster explained.

The World Cup has been jam-packed with drama, and de Groot has had his share.

His two-game ban for a high tackle in the pool game against Namibia meant he was unavailable until the playoffs. Despite the three-week absence, his performance wasn't compromised by fatigue.

Strength and conditioning trainer Nic Gill made sure of that: “Gillie, our trainer, has put me through the wringer the last few weeks, so I felt like I wasn't struggling too much out there. It felt good.”

The younger generation of props in the All Blacks have helped create a path that could lead to the final.

The more experienced Ofa Tu'ungafasi and Nepo Laulala sat in the stands in Paris, while veteran loosehead Joe Moody was left behind in New Zealand.

Moody and Laulala started for the All Blacks in the ill-fated semifinal against England in Yokohama four years ago.

Another peculiar outcome of the match against Ireland was that reserves Finlay Christie and Damian McKenzie weren't required.

Rarely does a coach not empty his bench but Foster elected to keep halfback Aaron Smith on after he was sin-binned for 10 minutes, and also felt there wasn't a need for McKenzie to replace fullback Beauden Barrett.

Hooker Dane Coles said it was now up to the old heads in the team to prepare the young props for the semi. Australian Angus Gardner will referee the match.

“Bring these boys with us,” Coles said in reference to the younger members of the squad.

“For the leaders these other guys are just as important, the way that Loey [Lomax] and de Groot turned up on Saturday and gave us 60 minutes as a front row, that's inspiring stuff.”