Questions at No.3 are key for Farrell

PROP forwards of the tighthead variety were not put on this earth to be like everyone else, and by and large - extremely large in the case of the French front rower Uini Atonio, who makes the same impact on population density as he does at the scrum - they continue to do things differently.

- CHRIS HEWETT

The rest of us may not know, or even want to know, what those things might be, but they are an essential part of rugby’s ecosystem.

The complexity of these creatures is deepened by the fact that the very best of them form a subspecies of their own - the kind of distinct grouping routinely discovered by David Attenborough, like the ghost shrimp or the Burgundy snail (which, as coincidence would have it, moves at approximately the same speed as the average No.3).

What is it that distinguishes the true tighthead elite - from the Robert Paparembordes and Graham Prices of the amateur era to the Carl Haymans and Martin Castrogiovannis of the pay-for-play age - from the common herd? Such people come equipped not only with the physical strength, scrummaging technique and position-specific expertise demanded by their role, but with a range of gifts and instincts that have never featured on the job description.

Paparemborde, possibly the finest tighthead exponent of them all, serves as a prime example. He was an accomplished track and field athlete, knew what he was doing on the judo mat and played handball to a very high level. If the breadth of his skill set put the mere grunt-and-groaners to shame, it also changed our thinking about the possibilities of the position and proved that a prop, as well as a half-back or an openside flanker, can shift the sport on its axis.