THE Springboks dominance stemming from their notorious “Bomb Squad” – the impact of players brought on as substitutes to give an explosive burst of energy and power – is potentially rugby’s worst-kept secret.
Defending Rugby World Cup champions South Africa are now a victory against the All Blacks away from repeating the feat of 2019, and much of that is down to the sheer power of their forwards, both in the starting 15, and those called into action off the bench.
Those replacements embrace their roles down to a tee. The starters begin the process and, as legs grow weary, the job is finished by a host of fresh man-mountains from the bench.
In their semi-final duel with England, it was the latter who controlled much of the contest and in turn applied the scoreboard pressure.
Desperate to avenge their crushing final loss to the Springboks in 2019, England head coach Steve Borthwick set about neutralising their opponents threat up front.
Dan Cole and Joe Marler were given the nod to start, two of England’s strongest scrummaging props and the decision looked like a masterstroke.
The pack wreaked havoc during South African line-outs and turned over countless mauls as frustration slowly seeped into the defending champion’s camp.
However, the Boks had the Bomb Squad lying in wait, and England did not have the force to match in reserves.
Ellis Genge and Kyle Sinckler are completely different to the tandem of Cole and Marler, being much more geared towards ball carrying.
Only this was not England’s game plan. Farrell and co rarely held possession for any length of time, kicking away a staggering 93% of the time.
Enter the Boks’ answer: Vincent Koch, Ox Nche, RG Snyman, Kwagga Smith, Deon Fourie, Faf de Klerk and Willie Le Roux. With the exception of de Klerk and Le Roux, the rest are forwards.
From 15-6 down, the replacements changed the game. Snyman bundled over for the contest’s lone try.
Meanwhile, the scrum parity turned fully in favour of South Africa, and a resulting penalty in the 77th minute led to a match-winning kick from the evergreen right boot of Handre Pollard.
So, why all of the controversy surrounding Rassie Erasmus’ side? Is it fair and is it warranted?
The truth behind the matter is that we have seen penalties resulting from scrums grow exponentially in recent years.
Changes were introduced to protect player welfare, including the prevention of “pre-loading” whereby front-row players place the crown of their heads on their opponents’ shoulders between the “bind” and “set” calls of the scrum.
With the increased volume of penalty calls, South Africa saw a loophole they could exploit.
Koch has been unrelentingly vocal in the fact his side actively seeks to gain penalties from the scrum.
Elsewhere, his partner-in-crime Nche has been cryptic when questioned about their tactic – seemingly protective of the secret behind his side’s advantage.
On defeating England, the prop said: “That is the dark arts. It is hard to explain to you.”
In all seriousness, there is so much confusion surrounding scrummaging that the majority of the time commentators are left scratching their heads at the reasons behind certain calls.
In fact, if you dissected every scrum in the game, you could probably find an infringement in most of them.
What the Boks do astonishingly well, due to their size and power dominance, is force their opponents into more obvious, visible mistakes.
These infringements are clearer to referees and thus are more likely to result in a penalty being awarded in their favour.
It might be a South African who makes the first move to create the penalty, but their subtleness is an art form and one that has become a key characteristic behind their recent dominance.
Rugby loopholes have been exploited for years and I would safely assume will continue to be long into the future.
Is there an argument to be had for World Rugby to revisit the rules around scrummaging and perhaps be more lenient handing out penalties? Perhaps. But equally, I do not believe it is fair to heap criticism on a savvy South African team who are just better at playing the system than everybody else.
