The Springboks’ Bomb Squad reduces the risk of injury and adds tactical intrigue to the game, writes SIMON BORCHARDT.
“Time to outlaw South Africa’s dangerous, arrogant Bomb Squad”.
That was the headline of an opinion piece written by veteran UK rugby scribe Stephen Jones the day after the Springboks’ 32-15 win against Scotland at Murrayfield.
The four-tries-to-nil victory had been achieved in large part by the introduction of the Boks’ forwards-packed bench early in the second half. Five minutes after RG Snyman had replaced Franco Mostert in the second row, Bok coach Rassie Erasmus brought on props Gerhard Steenekamp and Vincent Koch, hooker Malcolm Marx, and loose forwards Pieter-Steph du Toit, Jasper Wiese and Siya Kolisi. A world-class pack, pretty much all at once.
After labelling Erasmus “arrogant” for using South Africa’s forward resources in such fashion, Jones explained why the number of substitutes should be reduced from eight to five (four forwards and one back).
“Everyone knows that the sheer mass of rugby players at the moment is making the sport more dangerous to play, and as we wait for the results of various high-level medical investigations, it could also be, at its elite end, causing potentially horrible illnesses.”
He added: “Most teams end the game with less than half of their starters still on the field. It was never meant to be like that, because in rugby you were meant to get tired, spaces were meant to open up and if your opponent got the better of you in the power game, then why did you deserve to bring on fresh men? Eight replacements per match is far too many.”
Outgoing World Rugby chairman Bill Beaumont made similar comments in late October, saying: “My view is that we allow too many substitutes. I don’t know if I’m looking through rose-coloured spectacles but in years gone by the game always opened up in the last 20 minutes, and games were often won in the last 20 minutes.
“The Bomb Squad are very effective at what they do, and very successful – they have won two World Cups. I will not criticise that at all, because it suits their game, but maybe they could run for a bit longer and a bit further.”
Jones and Beaumont both appear to be making the same, incorrect, assumption that putting big, fresh substitutes up against fatigued starters will result in more injuries, and that the game would be better off with more fatigued players on the field.
South African sports scientist Ross Tucker is employed by World Rugby as a research scientist and says his ‘main mandate is to support decisions around player welfare with research’. The results of his research on whether limiting the number of substitutes would reduce the number of injuries perhaps explains why World Rugby has stuck with eight.
Tucker looked at the “tackle event”, which involves a ball-carrier and a tackler. When one of those players is a replacement, the event risk of injury drops by 8%. When both players are substitutes, it drops by 24%.
He then looked the tackle event involving players who were fresh (played 40 minutes or less) and fatigued (played 60 minutes or more). When both the tackler and the ball-carrier were fatigued, the event risk of injury was 20% higher than when both players were fresh. When only one of the players was fresh, the event risk was the same as when both were fresh, although the risk to the fatigued player in both cases was higher.
“Fatigue created a risk that freshness [substitutes] alleviated,” Tucker concluded.
That blows away the safety argument for defusing the Bomb Squad and having more fatigued players on the field so the game can “open up”.
The Bomb Squad also adds a fascinating tactical element to the game. When will Rassie push the nuclear button? How will teams respond to it? What happens if two Bok backs get injured? Is the high risk worth the potential reward?
To call Erasmus “arrogant” for innovating within the laws of the game, and maximising South African rugby’s biggest strength, is laughable.
If imitation is the best form of flattery, then what do Jones and Beaumont make of Scotland’s 6-2 split between forwards and backs against the Boks, after England had done the same for their clash against the All Blacks?
Ignore the critics, Rassie, and bombs away!
Photo: David Rogers/Getty Images
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Src: sarugbymag.co.za
