Former Leinster and Scotland coach Matt Williams has taken aim at the Springboks utilisation of a 7 – 1 split on the bench.
The Australian’s comments come after the Springboks handed the All Blacks a record 35 – 7 loss at Twickenham on Friday evening.
Williams, who is a regular guest on the Irish radio show “Off The Ball,” took aim at Jacques Nienaber and his coaching staff’s tactics, saying: “When you look at the way the South Africans are just abusing the bench at the moment.”
The former coach then goes on to state the reasons for having different players who can cover set positions, namely citing safety as to why players are there to cover different roles.
Continuing on, he then says, “Seven forwards on the bench. Really, seriously?!”.
Further pressing his points, Williams called on World Rugby to action against the Bok tactics.
“World Rugby must act on this; the way you deal with this is, say, you have to have three backs on the bench.
“Right now, South Africa just changed their whole pack.”
Given the strength in depth in South African Rugby, would it be fair to outlaw them utilising their team how they see fit?
Should teams learn how to deal with the pressure? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
Matt Williams: “South Africans are just abusing the bench”
by u/Electrical-Lemon187 in rugbyunion
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