Five-three Springbok bench can silence Bomb Squad critics against England at Twickenham

Comment by Ashfak Mohamed

It was a sight to behold when the Springboks brought on six forwards in one fell swoop in the 46th minute against Scotland at Murrayfield last Sunday.

Malcolm Marx, Gerhard Steenekamp, Vincent Koch, Siya Kolisi, Pieter-Steph du Toit and Jasper Wiese all joined RG Snyman – who came on at the start of the second half already for Franco Mostert, who needed a breather in what was his first comeback match from injury since July.

The Bok boss made his bold move at the Friday team announcement when he named seven forwards on the bench, and it was mainly due to the short six-day turnaround to this Saturday’s England Test at Twickenham. In that regard, it was an understandable ploy, but I don’t think it necessarily worked as well as it usually does on the night.

Yes, the scrum dominance from the first half continued and perhaps even increased, with Gerhard Steenekamp in particular getting stuck in at the scrums. The line-outs also settled a bit in the second half with the presence of Marx, Snyman and Du Toit, while Wiese added a noticeable hard edge and work-rate to the defence, which was sloppy at times, with a number of missed tackles.

But the Bomb Squad didn’t exactly overwhelm Scotland.

Erasmus explained beforehand that he wanted to keep some of the forwards fresh for the England clash, which is why stalwarts such as Kolisi, Du Toit and Wiese were replacements.

But they would not have been used to playing off the bench, which is a skill on its own. It is why someone like Kwagga Smith is almost a different player as a replacement compared to when he starts – he deserved it for his 50th Test, although he should’ve been at openside flank instead of No 8.

The same appears to apply to Snyman, and arguably Grant Williams and Elrigh Louw as well – at least at this stage of their careers.

So, for the England game, Erasmus is sure to reinstate Kolisi and Du Toit into the starting XV, but what about the rest of the bench at Twickenham? The Bok coach will name his match-23 tomorrow, and it would be worth considering a 5-3 bench split.

Due to the 7-1 selection in Edinburgh, Williams had to be held back as late as possible in case of injuries to the backline, even though Jaden Hendrikse was having a tough outing, especially in clearing the breakdowns.

Williams’ impact was almost immediate as he added real zip to the Bok attack for the last 12 minutes, and such a delay must be avoided in London – whether the Sharks star dons the No 9 jersey or is a replacement for either Hendrikse or Cobus Reinach.

It is also important for Willie le Roux to reach his 100 Test caps on this tour, as such a milestone shouldn’t be left to chance for next year. So, even if Aphelele Fassi regains the No 15 jersey, Le Roux proved at Murrayfield that he still has what it takes to make a difference to the Bok attack.

It is expected that the usual starting backs such as Damian de Allende, Jesse Kriel, Cheslin Kolbe and Kurt-Lee Arendse will all be reinstated against England, and the one question mark is at flyhalf, where Manie Libbok will hope to get the nod after missing out against Scotland.

Considering that Mostert will feature in just his second game back from a broken leg, it would make more sense for him to start again and bring on Snyman as the lock reserve, with Smith the loose forward on the bench. Another option would be to start Du Toit at No 5 lock, with Mostert missing out and Louw continuing at blindside flank.

But whichever combination Erasmus goes for, it would also be sweet for the South Africans to beat an English side hurting from another narrow 42-37 loss to Australia with a five-three bench – just to silence those northern-hemisphere critics of the Bomb Squad ...

Possible Springbok strtaing XV: 15 Aphelele Fassi 14 Cheslin Kolbe 13 Jesse Kriel 12 Damian de Allende 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse 10 Manie Libbok 9 Cobus Reinach 8 Jasper Wiese 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit 6 Siya Kolisi (captain) 5 Franco Mostert 4 Eben Etzebeth 3 Thomas du Toit 2 Bongi Mbonambi 1 Ox Nche; Replacements: 16 Malcolm Marx 17 Gerhard Steenekamp 18 Vincent Koch 19 RG Snyman 20 Kwagga Smith 21 Grant Williams 22 Handré Pollard 23 Willie le Roux.