Bok Bomb Squad not ‘dangerous’, says Peyper

Criticism of the Springboks’ famed Bomb Squad has been laughed off by Jaco Peyper, who pointed out that Ireland employed the same tactic to defend their Six Nations title.

Peyper, who serves as SA Rugby’s national laws advisor, was speaking during a press conference in uMhlanga today, as the Springboks prepared for the second Test of the series in Durban after beating Ireland 27-20 in Pretoria.

Saturday night’s game at Loftus Versfeld was on a knife’s edge at 13-8, before Rassie Erasmus brought all six replacement forwards onto the field early in the second half.

The famed Bomb Squad once again proved effective for the Springboks, with a 78th-minute penalty try from a five-metre scrum proving to be the decisive score in the Test.

However, the move to essentially replace most of the pack once again received criticism, with the outspoken former Scotland coach Matt Williams calling for it to be banned.

When Peyper was asked whether the 6-2 split was dangerous, the former Test referee had a chuckle before pointing out that Ireland also used the tactic during their successful Six Nations title defence earlier this year.

“I think the law is pretty clear you can do it,” Peyper said. “I don’t think that makes it dangerous. It makes it dangerous when players don’t level-change, drop their height into contact.

“It makes it dangerous when players take a risk in the air and don’t respect the other player in the air. I don’t think the Bomb Squad or a 6-2 split makes it dangerous. Ireland played with a 6-2 split three times in the Six Nations, nobody talked about them.

“I think it’s because it was effective. Safety of the game is determined by the shape of the game. Laws are made to protect players. A fresh pair of legs doesn’t make the game dangerous. I’ve actually seen a paper written by Dr Ross Tucker that says the risk of injury goes down when fresher players enter the pitch.”

Peyper was also asked about some of the calls made by referee Luke Pearce during the first Test, rejecting suggestions that the Springboks had the rub of the green.

“It’s factually-based,” he said, explaining the decision to rule out Ireland wing James Lowe’s try in the second half for a breakdown infringement.

“If you look at that try, two years ago in the Aviva, Ireland scored a try where the exact same action where the hooker kicked the ball out of the breakdown and Ireland got the benefit of the doubt that day. This time, it went the other way. It’s fact-proven and follow the process.”

This article was first published in SA Rugby Magazine.