'Innovation' in New Zealand rugby has been highlighted in studies of Super Rugby Aotearoa made by former Springboks captain Warren Whiteley.
Whiteley, the Lions captain in Super Rugby, who played No.8 until forced to quit the game as a result of injury, is now a forwards coach with the Johannesburg-based franchise.
Speaking on a televised coaching series he said he had noticed there had been a shift in the New Zealand games, especially at the scrum where sides were looking to use it as an attacking option.
It could be argued, however, that New Zealand teams have always seen the scrum as a restarting point rather than an area of confrontation. Looking for ways to gain benefit from quick ball from the scrum has been around since the implementation of the 2-3-2 scrum back in the 1890s.
That lasted another 30 years before New Zealand decided to conform with the accepted scrummaging used by the rest of the rugby world. That then created problems as New Zealand struggled to adapt to the change.
Whiteley said: "Their emphasis has changed a bit. They're now using the scrum as an active attacking platform. In other words, they use scrums to score tries from."
Each of the New Zealand franchises used their No.8s as impromptu halfbacks, who detached from scrums and then passed to their halfback who lay flat while the first five-eighths was standing deeper allowing him to have greater freedom for his playmaking role.
The Hurricanes had been especially obvious in using the tactic through All Blacks loose forward Ardie Savea, but it had also been seen from the Blues through Hoskins Sotutu and Akira Ioane, by the Chiefs with Pita Sowakula and the Highlanders through Marino Makaele Tu'u.
South Africa still use their scrum in traditional style.
"We like to use the scrum to put the opposition under pressure. It's a platform to generate penalties, where you either go for poles or kick to touch. It's understandable because lineouts remain one of our key strengths," Whiteley said.
"New Zealand hasn't abandoned it, the scrums have just become more of an attacking weapon."
And the tournament statistics showed that the lineout was still the origin of most tries with the first three phases of that set-piece.
There had also been some tweaks to the way lineouts were being used.
"One very interesting trend is the use of a six-plus-on lineout, with a loose forward at No 9. Theoretically, you're able to maul or play off the top to that flanker who acts as a scrumhalf or set a dummy maul that becomes an attacking platform," Whiteley said.
"What that creates is a lot of doubt among the opposition's defenders. It's an extremely difficult set-piece to defend in most cases because of its fluidity and now the six-plus-one dynamic is adding more value," he said.