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Auckland - It seems the props are struggling to come to grips with the skintight jerseys they're being shoehorned into at the Rugby World Cup.
While the outside backs don't seem to be having any problems parading physiques in the aerodynamic strips, for heavyset props the slim-fitting shirts are causing workplace safety problems in the engine room.
The key concern is the initial, split-second bind for frontrowers in the scrum, the time honoured rugby setpiece which pits packs of eight giant forwards in a head-on engagement.
"Yeah, definitely. I feel that tight shirts are not helping for the amount of collapsed scrums," Argentina prop Marcos Ayerza said after the Pumas' win over Georgia on the weekend.
"As a loosehead I find it hard to bind and attack a prop when he's got a very tight shirt.
"It's something to have a look at by every team, the regulation should allow the prop to have a bit looser (jersey)."
It's a crucial area of the game for the Pumas pack, which is famed for its unyielding scrum.
Argentina meets top-ranked New Zealand in the quarterfinals this weekend. All Blacks prop Ben Franks, and England's Matt Stevens, are among the big man airing similar grievances about the jerseys.
"Especially for a loosehead it's a lot harder to get that initial bind," Franks said. "There's nothing really to grab, so you're kind of grabbing for skin!"
Franks and Ayerza will be on opposite sides in the quarter-final clash on Sunday, while Stevens will tangle with the French front-rowers.
All will have to grin and wear their annoyance a while longer.
Forwards "are usually the last ones to be thought of," Franks said.
"I'm pretty sure the props didn't put in an order for super-tight jerseys from the get-go."
Ayerza thinks the props need special dispensation.
"In any other position in the game you can have a tighter shirt, but (in the) scrum it's a backwards thing to have a tighter shirt."
It is no easy task for a behemoth prop to squeeze into one of these jerseys, either.
At 1.91 meters and 126 kilograms Tonga's Soane Tonga'uiha must feel like he's trying on a Lycra cycling suit.
"I prefer the loose ones, I prefer to breathe. I don't like to hold my breath," he said.
"My feeling: I personally don't prefer a tight shirt, but if other props do then fair play to them.
"It's up to the other prop to try and get a grip," he continued.
"You've obviously got to work harder to get a grip, if you don't get a grip it will be to the other prop's advantage."
Ayerza thinks it is not quite as bad for his teammate Juan Figallo, who is a tighthead prop.
"Sometimes as a tighthead you would have an advantage, because the scrum may collapse, and if he goes down it's a 50-50 call," he said.
"It shouldn't be like that. It's worse for a loosehead."
Modern technology and constant innovation means the days of thick, heavy, sweat-drenched cotton jerseys are long gone.
"The history of jerseys is a long one. I couldn't care, if I'm asked to play in a jersey from the 1980s, I'll wear it."
Back then, forwards could yank each other's sleeves, or grab and pull a rival round by his collar in the grunt and frenzy of the rucks and mauls and scrums.
Over the last decade, many rugby players have crossed over from being sporting stars to celebrities, and every facet of their image has followed suit.
"Now skintight jerseys are in fashion, and we follow the fashion like anyone else," Barcella said.
"If the fashion was old-style jerseys we would go back to it. Fashion always has an effect."
For the French, style obviously is important.
"We're asked our size, we try them on. Every player practically has a tailor-made jersey. I wear an XL, some wear an XXL," Barcella said.
"They're still very comfortable. I've known tighter jerseys, they seem that way but they're fairly elastic, actually. There's no problem on that level."
Vastly improved technology has led to moisture-free, wafer-light synthetic polyester jerseys that protect players from most of the elements, keeping them dry on the inside.
The shift in jersey culture first came to prominence at the 2003 World Cup, when the England team brought the skintight look onto the world stage on the way to winning the tournament.
Initial issues with jerseys being ripped and torn have been overcome, although the there's still the odd wardrobe malfunction.
"The jersey I swapped with Sean O'Brien from Ireland, his jersey was ripped," Russia's Australian-born lock Adam Byrnes said.
