Do not panic! South Africa bench split 7-1 won't destroy rugby

Quagga Smith, usually a defender, was named among Springbok's replacement as a striker. Photo: REUTERS/Matthew Childs

For sport Rugby union, which has undergone significant structural changes over the past 20 years, making it unrecognizable compared to the New Zealand World Cup held just 12 years ago, does not always cope well with change. Evidence of this is some reaction to the South African bench in a 7-1 win against New Zealand.

It should be emphasized that the selection of seven strikers and one defender was not part of Jacques Nienaber's original plan. A kick to Willy le Roux's ribs in practice saw him off the bench and Quagga Smith was called up at the last minute with the number 24 on his back.

Smith has vast sevens experience with Blitzbokke, won a Commonwealth gold and an Olympic bronze, and will adapt better to a back-line role than most forwards. However, his back row position meant that South Africa had seven forwards and one defender, Kobus Reinach, on the bench. All seven strikers took to the field — Pieter-Stef Du Toit was the only survivor in the starting line-up, although he got a short break after spending 10 minutes in a trash can, and Reinach ended up replacing Makazol Mapimpi on the flank.

There was something interesting here. Whispering it might even be fun. Can the deep-seated pathos of the Qatar Airways Cup (check notes) survive such a dramatic upheaval in the structures of rugby union?

It might not have been such a hype if the New Zealand team had indeed shown some of the improvements that have been evident since Jason Ryan took over as striker coach following their series loss to Ireland last year. On the other hand, losing your first tight head to Tyrell Lomax and sending off Scott Barrett for two yellow cards before half-time will leave your already weaker team highly vulnerable to possibly the best striker in the game. The New Zealanders' 35-23 victory at Ellis Park last year was the result of the superior quality of their attackers. At Twickenham, where Lomax, Barrett and Shannon Frizell were not present, they meekly surrendered as the extended South African bomber squad feasted on them.

Du Toit (left) was the only member of the South African team to start and finish against New Zealand. Photo: GETTY IMAGES/Julian Finney

Does this mean that South Africa is dropping plans to host the Rugby World Cup and plan to use 15 test hitters? Of course not. Just because it was effective once, there seems to have been a loss of awareness of the risks involved in returning just one specialist to the bench. If the attackers switch roles with the defenders, this may work for a short time from a physical point of view, but it can destroy the attacking and defensive systems. Using a flanker to play in the center or on the wing is normal in a friendly game, but potentially disastrous in a Rugby World Cup knockout match.

Apart from another late injury, this will probably never happen again will happen again. So why not just enjoy it?

Matt Williams, former head coach for Scotland and now pundit in Ireland, complained that South Africa was «just abusing the bench at the moment», referring to the bench's original purpose: «For safety reasons, to keep people out of positions that they are not prepared so that we do not have injuries.”

Of course, there is debate about the number of substitutions that should be allowed outside of the first line, as Eddie Jones often beats the drum, calling for a reduction in the bench to make the players on the field more and more tired. thus opening up more opportunities for attacking rugby.

But using South Africa's 7:1 split as a vehicle to promote this version seems rather false, while any backlash against it was over the top. The headline on the team's official website, AllBlacks.com, read: «Controversy over bench split in South Africa 7-1.» Do they really exist? A quick social media search yields only people's comments about outrage at the 7:1 split, with little evidence of outrage itself (other than Williams).

If anything, we should all challenge Nienaber and Rassey. Erasmus will have to put together a whole bench of eight strikers and see what happens. Replace the whole deck and see what kind of bedlam you can make, good or bad. Then you won't have a «split bench» but just a powerful force on the ice, ready to cause havoc. And some very tired defenders, which plays to the benefit of your favorite team.

The sport is currently suffering from serious problems with financial disasters when clubs close, and the risk of serious brain injuries, currently time is under the most severe attack. This is possible thanks to an updated set of rules and strict refereeing to protect the players. But a 7-1 bench split is not a major problem. We should enjoy the features of the game more when they happen.