The Springboks were in dominant form against the All Blacks last Friday. Picture: Patrick Khachfe/Getty Images
The decision by the Springboks‘ management team to put seven forwards and just one back on their replacements’ bench for last Friday’s Rugby World Cup warm-up match against the All Blacks at Twickenham has angered many in the rugby world.
The Boks were forced into a late change ahead of the game when outside back Willie le Roux was withdrawn from the bench-sitters because of a troublesome rib injury. He was replaced on the bench by loose forward Kwagga Smith.
The decision by coach Jacques Nienaber and director of rugby Rassie Erasmus meant the Boks had seven forwards among their replacements — almost an entire pack, which they would employ to devastating effect in the second half — and just one back, Cobus Reinach.
The Boks won the match 35-7, their biggest against the All Blacks. It is a result that has catapulted the Boks, the defending world champions from 2019, into a favourites position going into this year’s World Cup in France, starting next Friday.
The gamble by the Boks brains trust paid off on the day at Twickenham, as have their other punts in the past when opting for the six-two bench split, which came to the fore during the 2019 World Cup, with the replacements group earning the name the “Bomb Squad”.
But not everyone has reacted positively to the innovative move by the Boks of having an almost entire pack on the bench. Former Scotland, Leinster, Ulster and Waratahs coach Matt Williams expressed his unhappiness with the move in a Virgin Media Sport podcast on Tuesday, calling it “totally against the spirit of the game”.
He also said the move was “totally against player safety”.
Williams implored World Rugby to “act in the next week and say during the World Cup you need three recognised backs on the bench.”
Download our app and read this and other great stories on the move. Available for Android and iOS.
