Bomb Squad – Genius or Madness?

The Springbok squad announced today by the Jacques/Rassie brains trust has raised eyebrows across the rugby world and the consensus is that no one knows whether this is genius or madness. I am leaning towards the genius side but only just marginally because they are more than often correct on the big calls. The 7-1 split on the bench seems extreme but when you drill down on the players themselves it doesn’t seem as crazy as it sounds. The key word is versatility which is often bandied around as coaches speak to explain certain selections. Previously when the bench was a 6-2 spoilt it was the role of Francois Steyn covering multiple positions and it worked because he was the epitome of versatility. 

This current squad has multiple Francois Steyn’s locked and loaded for this clash and it all starts with the rocket man Cobus Reinach. He has electric speed which makes him a more than capable winger cum scrum half or vice versa and more than enough bravery to handle the wingers channel on defence. The second bomb squad weapon is Kwagga Smith who can also man a wingers channel thanks to his extensive sevens skills which makes him a tigerish prospect with the ball in hand and in defence. This is actually the more important position swinger as he can make the move mid match should he need to shift if Cobus is already on at scrumhalf for Faf. One has to give Jacques and Rassie credit for doing the groundwork in the warm up games to test the ability of the very controversial 7-1 split of the Atomic Bomb Squad. Winger sounds like an easy position to play as it needs less distribution than other backline players but the key issue is position play in a modern game where kicking is vital for winning the positional battle. By testing these players on the wing it allowed the possibility of making the 7-1 split possible because the previous Francois Steyn versatility only allowed cover for flyhalf, centre or fullback and not wing. 

Looking at the players in the starting lineup that can help with this revolutionary tactic is none other than Faf (covers flyhalf), Willemse (covers flyhalf, fullback and centre), Jesse Kriel (covers outside centre and wing), Cheslin Kolbe (covers flyhalf, wing, fullback and scrum half at a last resort) and lastly Kurt-Lee Arendse (covers wing, fullback and outside centre at a push). This is a backline that oozes versatility which gives the coaches a real trump card which is being able to give the Irish what they fear the most – two full packs of South African beef over the course of 80 minutes. This pack doesn’t need to hold back for one minute as they have a guaranteed replacement to step up should they be gassed earlier than expected. 

So in conclusion I believe that this is a genius move as it is a win-win move for the Springboks because even if they lose on Saturday they have a crack at France (as discussed in my previous article isn’t all that bad). The Irish have to account for the wrinkle that this selection has presented which will almost certainly throw them off their game plan. With the pressure cooker of the RWC the media scrutiny is intense and Rassie knows better than anyone that diverting attention away from the players before a big match is a great tactic. All the talk this week will be about the Atomic Bomb Squad with very little attention given to the players themselves whilst the Irish will be asked all week about how to stop this tactic. There is a very fine line between madness and genius with Rassie/Jacques treading this line with ease as long as it all goes to plan. We will only know the answer to that question late on Saturday night which will go a long way to seeing who will be the favourite for the RWC crown going forward.