Rassie Erasmus and Jacques Nienaber may have crossed the line between being visionary and just silly by again deploying a 7-1 Bok bench.
Nienaber on Tuesday announced South Africa’s match-day 23 to face Ireland in the World Cup Pool B match in Saint-Denis on Saturday, confirming a return to the controversial split between replacement forwards and backs.
Erasmus and Nienaber first experimented with the evolution of the Bomb Squad in a record-breaking win over the All Blacks on 25 August.
Fullback Willie le Roux, originally named among the substitutes for the World Cup warm-up at Twickenham, had to withdraw and was replaced by loose forward Kwagga Smith.
Writing for News24, Simnikiwe Xabanisa argues that while Le Roux’s knock was a “happy accident” that afforded the Bok coaches a rare opportunity to test a theory, their “obsession” with pushing the boundaries is a questionable risk.
MORE: Nienaber calm over ‘calculated risk’
Jacques and Rassie have come a long way!! Brilliant @SwitchEnergySA 👏👏! pic.twitter.com/yjxmHOaHKt
— SA Rugby magazine (@SARugbymag) September 19, 2023
“It bears asking two questions: what the point is and whether the Bok coaches have now crossed the line between being visionary and being just plain silly,” he writes.
KABOOM: Lock, stock & two smoking Bok bomb packs
“It doesn’t take an awful lot of imagination to work out that the point is to physically batter the Irish into submission, but there are other intricacies to this particular Nuke Squad.
Photo: @Springboks/Twitter