The Springbok Bomb Squad 7-1 split was not against the Spirit of the Game: Here’s why

The Springbok bench split against the All Blacks at Twickenham on Friday 25 August has generated a lot of unwarranted and unnecessary controversy.

Springbok fans were delighted with their team’s 35-7 victory. Detractors were outraged that the Springboks had acted against the “Spirit of the Game” by using a 7-1 split on the bench. Seven forwards and one back. What is important to remember here is that Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber originally named a replacement bench with a 6-2 split. 

Shortly before the match started, replacement backline player Willie le Roux was withdrawn and Nienaber opted to replace Le Roux with the multi-faceted Kwagga Smith. Smith is regarded as a forward, but his sevens skills mean he could cover wing in an emergency. A very clever ploy by Nienaber and Erasmus when facing an unexpected situation.

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The outraged pundits

Some rugby pundits were upset by this development, but only after the game and the Springboks had won. There were no complaints at the time the change was announced. We can only wonder what the response would have been if the bench split backfired and the Springboks lost.

Two of the most vocal “pundits were ex-All Black Jeff Wilson and statistically the least successful coach of Scotland, Matt Williams.

Wilson was speaking on the New Zealand TV show, the Breakdown:

Williams was speaking on a Virgin Media podcast:

Do the pundits have a point about the “Spirit of the Game”?

The short answer is no. Everyone talks about the “Spirit of the Game”, but have these pundits read and comprehended what this actually means? It certainly does not override the laws of the game and any pundit who uses the term should be challenged. We will delve into the meaning of the “Spirit of the Game” below.

Pundits and followers of similar opinions will be surprised when they realize that using the “Spirit of the Game” is not a silver bullet for everything that they do not agree with.

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Does this tactic increase the risk of injuries as claimed?

There is no evidence of this and player workload is managed by all teams. If there was scientific evidence of this, World Rugby would not have given the Springboks the go-ahead to continue with their innovative use of their Bomb Squad bench.

For those interested in some of the reasoning behind that decision, you will find the following thread on X (Twitter) very informative.

Been seeing a lot of discussion about the 7:1 split, which quickly becomes discussion about subs in rugby, more generally, and a proposal, often thrown out with confidence that comes from taking a reductionist view of a complex thing, that "fewer subs will reduce injury risk" 1/ https://t.co/7lagMCv3At

— Ross Tucker (@Scienceofsport) August 29, 2023

So what is this Spirit of the Game thing?

Despite what some pundits would have you believe, the “Spirit of the Game” is no holy grail of standards that needs to be followed at all times. The concept is also not a replacement for the Laws of the game.

World Rugby does not refer to the “Spirit of the Game”. They speak about the Spirit of Rugby and Rugby Values. 

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The Spirit of Rugby

The Spirit of Rugby refers to the ‘mission to grow the global rugby family and vision of rugby being a sport for all, true to its values – discipline, respect, integrity, passion and solidarity.”

‘The above quotation and supporting information that explains the Spirit of Rugby can be found here.

The Values of Rugby

This conversation won’t sit well with many readers. That is fine. It shows the gulf between the fan who respects the values of rugby and an organization that “offers” that but is not honestly able to do so. The values are often quoted and appear in World Rugby’s Playing Charter, a “guiding document” and no more than that. A guiding document is not a substitute for the Laws of the game or competition rules.

A grassroots amateur era concept applied to the professional game

The rugby values as adopted by World Rugby are noble and should rightfully be supported. The snip below taken off their website is very clear that they are trying to preserve the original and therefore amateur era sporting qualities. It should also be noted that these values were adopted as recently as 2009.

Rugby has fully embraced the professional era but has retained the ethos and traditions of the recreational game. In an age in which many traditional sporting qualities are being diluted or even challenged, rugby is rightly proud of its ability to retain high standards of sportsmanship, ethical behaviour and fair play.

What should not be forgotten is that loosely quoting the Spirit of Rugby and rugby values is not a panacea for all the ails of the professional game. The Laws will always take precedence. Search for any Laws of rugby regarding how a bench should be filled, all you will find is that a full replacement front row is a requirement. Nothing about how a coach may fill the rest of that bench.

Maybe a little recognition for innovation is due, along with a large serving of respect for being willing to take the risk the Springboks took with that split on the bench.