Former Springboks head coach Nick Mallett has opened up on France’s decision to copy South Africa’s tactics and how it helped them during their recent victorious Six Nations campaign as well as the threat Les Bleus pose to the Boks ahead of the 2027 Rugby World Cup.

Much has been said and written about the controversial ‘Bomb Squad’ bench tactic which France used with great success during the Six Nations.

The Boks started the trend with a 6/2 forwards/backs split on their replacements bench during their 2019 Rugby World Cup triumph in Japan before going 7/1 four years later at the global showpiece in France.

Les Bleus imitated that tactic by using a 7/1 bench split in their last three Six Nations Tests against Italy, Ireland and France and they sealed impressive victories in each of those encounters which helped them claim the title.

Writing in his column for News24, Mallett said he believes Fabien Galthie‘s side have emerged as a genuine threat to the Boks, who are aiming to become the first side to win three successive World Cups after their 2019 and 2023 triumphs.

“Six Nations champions France have become a force in world rugby and will prove a major obstacle for the Springboks in their quest to win a hat-trick of Rugby World Cup titles,” he wrote.

“And Les Bleus have done so by taking a leaf out of the world champions’ book.

“Oscar Wilde had a comment where he said, ‘Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery that mediocrity can pay to greatness’.

‘Imitated what the Springboks have done’

“And by this I don’t want to say that France were mediocre, but their coach, Fabian Galthie, has certainly imitated what the Springboks have done.

“Since 2023, this French team has developed. Galthie has selected really big ball-carrying forwards and now he’s gone to the 7-1 ‘Bomb Squad’ split on the bench as well.

“And this while everyone criticised South Africa for doing it! It was said that it was against the spirit of the game.

“Here’s another coach who has embraced it and it’s definitely made a massive difference to the way in which the French have performed.

“Getting a whole new pack on with about 35 minutes to go helped them destroy Ireland in Dublin and also put away Scotland in their game at home where they didn’t start that well.”

Apart from France using their own version of the Bomb Squad, Mallett also highlighted Les Bleus’ copying the Boks’ aggressive style of defending which has been a key part of their success for several years.

“And there’s an added aspect to it… obviously the press defence,” he added.

“Galthie recruited Shaun Edwards, who was Wales’ former defence coach and a Rugby League defence coach. He has made a big difference to the way in which they concentrated on their defence – in the same way South Africa did prior to the 2019 World Cup.

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“The Boks always pride themselves on their defence and physicality in defending. The French are also doing that.

“A guy like number eight and captain Gregory Alldritt, as well as their other loose forwards, are very physical. And they tackle, they get off the line fast, put pressure on the opposition and are also menaces around the breakdown.

“So, that buys into the way that South Africa won the World Cup in 2019.”

Another key aspect of the Springboks’ back-to-back World Cup successes was their excellent tactical kicking which Mallett also identified as a strategy which Les Bleus have copied.

‘They will only do that now over transitional play’

“Another way is the territorial kicking game from 9 and 10,” he wrote. “The French used to be a team that would sometimes attack from 80m out. But they will only do that now over transitional play – if they get a turnover and it’s a four on two overlap, then they’ll have a crack because they have retained their really good passing skills and great support lines.

“They, therefore, still score long-range tries, but generally it’s off opposition errors. It’s when the opposition either kick badly, or a player gets isolated and they turn the ball over, or he’s dropped the ball and they get that long-range try.

“Last weekend, the long-range try Louis Bielle-Biarrey scored was off Scotland dropping a ball virtually in the 22m area of France. Romain Ntamack just snapped it up and it was one pass.

“This is very similar to the way South Africa score tries. We would defend, defend and defend… force the opposition into a mistake and then use the speed of our outside backs – like Cheslin Kolbe and Kurt-Lee Arendse – who could run the ball in from 60, 70m.

“So, the French have retained that transitional play, attack from deep… but from any set phase, scrum or lineout, their territorial kicking game is very important to them.

“The scrumhalf kicks for distance out of his 22 and he box kicks, or cross kicks it on attack, and that is between his own 22 and the opposition 10m line.

“They go for distance when they’re in their own 22m area – a guy like Antoine Dupont is very good at that. So is his deputy Maxime Lucu, who played against Scotland last Saturday.

“Then they’ll transition to kicking, but it’ll be territorial kicking by trying to win the ball back. They do this either via a box kick for the winger or a cross kick from the 10 – a high cross kick or a high contestable – to try and get the 50/50s.

“This is exactly what the South African side has been doing and which won us two World Cups.

“France have basically been imitating what South Africa have done under Rassie Erasmus.”

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Src: Planetrugby.com - https://www.planetrugby.com/news/nick-mallett-pinpoints-how-france-have-copied-springboks-tactics-to-become-a-force-in-global-game