The Springboks’ Bomb Squad has captured the attention of the rugby world with South Africa successfully implementing the tactic under Rassie Erasmus.

South Africa’s use of the eight replacements on the bench has garnered as much praise as criticism over the last few years.

Planet Rugby takes a look at the origins of the Springboks‘ Bomb Squad, what has made it so successful and why some implored World Rugby to outlaw it.

What is the Bomb Squad?

While many believe the Bomb Squad is merely a ploy to bring on almost a full fresh pack of forwards in the latter stages of the match, it is in fact much more of a team mindset and philosophy.

But colloquially, the term is used to refer to more forward-heavy selections on the bench, breaking away from the traditional 5-3 set-up – five forward and three backline players on the replacements.

The trend first started with the Springboks selecting an additional forward instead of a back – a 6-2 split – but in 2023 it was taken a step further with a 7-1 split in favour of the forwards.

Replacements were initially introduced into rugby to allow coaches to substitute injured players, but it has since morphed into a useful tactic to add energy, swing momentum or alter the style of player.

The Bomb Squad embraces the idea of a 23-man effort as the eight players aren’t seen as those who failed to make the starting XV but as crucial cogs in the way the team plays.

There is certainly an element of pre-planned substitutions but more importantly, the coaches have the ability to time the replacements for maximum impact and versatility options for maximum effect.

The starting players, particularly in the forward pack, are able to absolutely empty their tanks before the next man takes over his job, whether that’d be in the 30th, 40th or 60th minute. The moment the coaching team spots a dip in effort or a sign of fatigue they can call on the next player to take over.

How did the Springboks start it?

During the 2019 Rugby World Cup, Erasmus had a real selection headache particularly when it came to his front-rowers.

The Springboks effectively had two sets of world-class front-rowers who could arguably start for any other nation. At loosehead prop, there was Steven Kitshoff and Tendai Mtawarira, at tighthead prop there was Frans Malherbe and Vincent Koch while at hooker it was Bongi Mbonambi and Malcolm Marx. Additionally, they had versatile prop Thomas du Toit and veteran Schalk Brits.

Erasmus needed to come up with some sort of ploy to make the most of the quality and depth at his disposal and he revealed that it was at an alignment camp ahead of the World Cup when the idea was born.

However, he still had to get the buy-in from all the players and explained on his podcast Rassie+, that he had to do so cautiously.

Erasmus revisited the meeting with Kitshoff on the podcast where they discussed the meeting in a small boardroom in Japan.

“You called all the front-rows together, myself, Malcolm [Marx], Vinnie [Vincent Koch], Beast [Mtawarira], Bongi [Mbonambi], Frans [Malherbe and Thomas [du Toit], and it was in this little boardroom,” Kitshoff said.

“You made a speech, and you asked ‘Would you prefer to be on the field at the beginning of the game or would you be there when the final whistle goes and you get cheer because you’ve won?

“And I remember Beast standing up and saying ‘Coach, I want to be on the field from the start.’”

Erasmus added: “I actually think that if you guys didn’t buy into it then, it wouldn’t have started,” he added.

“Because who do you pick between you [Kitshoff] and Beast? And all the tightheads that were there and the guys who are currently playing there now. I think it’s something that if in that little boardroom, you didn’t say ‘I don’t care if I’m 17’ because you might also play 40 minutes it would have never worked.”

The Bomb Squad would officially ‘debut’ in the World Cup match against Italy with Herschell Jantjies and Frans Steyn named as the two backline replacements with Marx, Kitshoff, Koch, RG Snyman, Franco Mostert and Francois Louw the forwards.

While in each of the knockout stage matches, they deployed a 6-2 bench split, including the 32-12 victory over England in the final.

💣 Rassie Erasmus reveals the pivotal meeting that led to the Springboks’ Bomb Squad creation

2019 World Cup controversy

Perhaps the moment that really put a spotlight on the tactic was the Springboks’ celebrations after the pool stage win over Italy in 2019.

After the match, TV cameras caught six white players appearing to exclude Makazole Mapimpi from a huddle. That quickly sparked accusations of racism against the Springboks players involved with Erasmus explaining that it was a joke and for the first time explained the Bomb Squad idea.

“The Bomb Squad either come in and fix it when it is not going well on the park or it is a false alarm and maybe they don’t even get onto the park,” he told reporters in Kobe.

“It was a standing joke in the team and the whole week that Lood de Jager, who was now in the starting line-up, was out of the Bomb Squad.

“So at the end of the game, when the Bomb Squad was getting together, Lood was on his way there and Frans Steyn told him, ‘you are not part of the squad anymore’ and gestured for him to go away.

“Mapimpi was on his way over to them at the same time, saw it was the Bomb Squad and just turned around. It’s so sad that people would see something negative in it because I can give you my word, as a head coach I would not allow anything like that in the team.”

Mapimpi echoed his coach’s sentiments in an Instagram post: “Basically what happens after each game is that we shake hands with the opposition. As we were completing the handshakes, the bomb squad was coming together to do their call or chant.

“As I was walking towards them I realised that they were about to do their call, and that I wasn’t part of it, so I decided that I needed to move away. I wasn’t part of it, but there was nothing wrong there with what they were doing. We are united as a team.”

Success and copycats

As mentioned above, Erasmus would successfully implement the Bomb Squad tactic at the 2019 Rugby World Cup with the bench playing a significant role in the deciding matches.

The Boks had the upper hand in the set-pieces in most games and that dominance was stark against Japan in the quarter-finals as they quite simply outmuscled the hosts in a 26-3 triumph.

In the semi-final, it was the introduction of Francois Louw that proved pivotal as he won a clutch turnover resulting in the winning penalty shortly after he had replaced captain Siya Kolisi – an action few coaches would have taken in a closely fought World Cup play-off. The bench played a big role in the final against England too with the replacements able to replicate the physical advantage the starters had gained.

After the World Cup, Jacques Nienaber and Erasmus would also deploy the Bomb Squad to great effect during the 2-1 series victory over the British and Irish Lions while the same was true at the 2023 World Cup.

Before the tournament in France, the Bok coaches rolled the dice with a 7-1 split after an injury to Willie le Roux before kick-off in the warm-up match against the All Blacks in Twickenham. It was the first time that the South Africans had gone to the extreme of just one backline replacement but it paid dividends as they claimed a record 35-7 victory over their fiercest rivals.

But during the tournament, the mindset and philosophy of the Bomb Squad tactics really shone through when the coaches returned to the traditional set-up of a 5-3 split. The mindset instilled from using the tactic over the years gave the coaching team the ability to make what can be viewed as brutal decisions, which was the case during the World Cup semi-final when they hooked Manie Libbok off the pitch before half-time of the Rugby World Cup semi-final against England.

A reminder comes from Erasmus’ quote in 2019: “The Bomb Squad either come in and fix it when it is not going well on the park.” That day it wasn’t going well for Libbok who was struggling to dictate proceedings with England getting the upper hand in the tactical kicking battle. Handre Pollard came on at fly-half to defuse the situation and steered the team to victory and progress to the World Cup final where Boks would deploy the 7-1 bench for the third time – which was successful against the All Blacks yet again.

It’s common in professional sports that when a tactic proves successful teams will attempt to replicate it and that is certainly true with the Bomb Squad. Several nations have started to reduce their bench set-up by at least one backline player, which is the case with Scotland, England and Italy.

However, France are perhaps the one team that has done so the most with head coach Fabien Galthie religiously selecting a 6-2 split on the bench after the 2019 World Cup and going one notch up during the 2025 Six Nations with a 7-1.

But other teams have trialled it a handful of times, including the All Blacks, who did so just once, in that defeat to South Africa at Twickenham. Ireland have tested it occasionally with mixed success but others have been more reluctant.

💣 Scott Robertson issues ‘clear’ message to Springboks and France over controversial ‘Bomb Squad’ as All Blacks boss makes interesting admission

Calls for its banning

Change and innovation is always met with resistance and that has certainly been the case with Erasmus’ Bomb Squad ploy.

The main criticism of the tactic have been made under the assumption that it is not safe in terms of player welfare to introduce six or seven fresh forwards in the latter stages of matches.

The most vocal critic has been former Leinster and Scotland coach Matt Williams, who has not been short on the superlative in his attacks when addressing the Bomb Squad.

“The South Africans are just abusing the bench at the moment,” Williams told OTB in August 2023.

“The bench came in all for safety reasons. People didn’t come on for positions they weren’t trained for so we weren’t putting back-rowers in the front-row. Everything was done for a reason.

“They had seven forwards [against New Zealand]. Seven forwards… really? Seriously? And World Rugby has just got to act on this.

“The way you fix it is say you must have three recognised backs on your bench. And that stops it.”

He has since gone on to claim that it “discriminates against backs” and claimed that World Rugby ‘oligarchs’ are blocking law changes that don’t ‘benefit’ Springboks.

💣 Springboks accused of ‘abusing rugby traditions’ as Rassie Erasmus ‘discriminates against backs’

Williams also believes that it is ‘against the spirit of the game’ and that is a view that Scotland coach Gregor Townsend holds too.

At a World Rugby summit, Townsend reportedly stated that the tactic was not in the best interests of the sport, with more teams going forward-heavy with their replacements after the success of the Springboks.

He confirmed his stance ahead of the 2025 Six Nations match against France.

“If you want my view, I don’t think the bench was set up to suddenly have a new forward pack coming on. But that’s for World Rugby to decide what you do with the bench, and to make any changes,” he told reporters.

“But just now you can put eight forwards on the bench if you want. We’ve faced it already with South Africa (South Africa won 32-15 at Murrayfield in November 2024).

“We thought we rose to that challenge really well when they brought their seven forwards on and our forwards matched them.”

Other notable figures in the game have also expressed their objection to the tactic including renowned former referee Nigel Owens and ex-Ireland hooker Keith Wood.

“The first thing I do, I would reduce the amount of substitutions,” Owens said on World Rugby’s Whistle Watch when asked what laws he’d change if he had carte blanche.

“I think eight players on the bench is too much. So I’d reduce that and change the way you can use them, so it can’t be a tactical substitution.

“It can only be, as it used to be years ago, for an injured player. I think that would open the game up because you would have players then who would have to play 80 minutes and instead of carrying 130kgs they may have to carry 115kgs because they need to last 80 minutes.”

👉 Keith Wood weighs in on bench debate and calls for change from eight players

World Rugby’s response

However, World Rugby chief executive Alan Gilpin has since confirmed that the game’s governing body have done scientific and medical research which has shown no distinctive view that the tactic results in more injuries for players.

“We looked at it from a science, medicine perspective. Was there a distinctive view that a bunch of fresh players coming on with 20‑30 minutes to go is going to create a more injurious position, and the science said that’s not the case,” he said.

“So there was no reason from that perspective to look at how we might do replacements differently. Ultimately, there are a lot of different ways to win a rugby match.”

Sports scientist, Ross Tucker has repeatedly stated as much too having worked closely with World Rugby.

Tucker is of the view that fewer replacements could actually lead to more injuries for players having studied the effects of fatigue.

So for the time being, the Bomb Squad tactics look set to remain in rugby.

💣 READ MORE: 👉 Rassie Erasmus issues two-word response after World Rugby decides the fate of the Bomb Squad

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