SA Bomb squad under scrutiny again

The Springboks’ ‘Bomb Squad’ played a massive role in their team’s 2019 World Cup triumph, to the dismay of those who felt six forwards on the bench was an unfair advantage.

Four years later, the wily Springboks’ bosses could make the ‘Bomb Squad’ bigger still and the critics are sharpening their pencils.

Former Scotland coach Matt Williams is the latest voice of dissension after the Boks’ seven-forward bench against New Zealand played a pivotal role in the Kiwis being shut out of a game they lost 35-7 at Twickenham last Friday.

“The South Africans are just abusing the bench at the moment,” Williams said this week.

“What the Boks did against the All Blacks is totally against the spirit of the game, and certainly against player safety.”

Williams, who had a coaching role with Ireland and started his coaching career with his native New South Wales, says World Rugby should take action and say, “During the World Cup, you need three backs on the bench”.

Against the All Blacks, the Boks had just one back, Cobus Reinach, after original backline replacement Willie le Roux pulled out at the last minute because of a rib injury.

The Boks took a chance and promoted another forward, Kwagga Smith, to the bench.

If one goes back four years, a number of former England players complained after the World Cup final that the Boks had an unfair advantage with their six-forward bench.

SA Rugby’s director of rugby Rassie Erasmus and Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber had acted completely within the rules and World Rugby have not seen fit to tamper with the laws governing the bench.

So, why the objection in 2023? The rules are the rules and if the Springboks opponents are not savvy enough to consistently copy what the South Africans are doing – a host of Tier One teams have on occasion used a 6-2 split – then that is their issue.

An important point is that the loading of the bench in favour of the forwards is a gamble.

When you have just one or two backs on the bench, you are gambling that your back division will get through the game unscathed.

It could go horribly wrong if you lose one or two playmakers early in the game.