"We want to go out there and smack Italy. I said to the boys 'go out and give them a good hiding’."
Eddie Jones is full of outrageous quotes but like a game of darts in the pub, you just got to keep throwing and eventually one will land. In the 2017 Six Nations, one landed with the media. He made it clear that he had no substitutes against France but instead he had finishers. A fascinating statement at the time. But now in 2020, you see match winners from numbers 16-23 across all top international and club teams.
Rugby is now a 23 man game with the starting team laying down foundations for the bench to win the game.
Origin of finishers
Let’s go back to the World Cup final in 2007. South Africa lifted the golden Web Ellis trophy and only used two substitutes in the final. Both came on for only the last 10 minutes. 12 years on and South Africa rolled out all six new forwards onto the pitch with nearly 20 minutes to go. Furthermore, the full bench was out on the pitch before the final whistle. However, having match winners off the bench (their designated role) stems further back to one nation. Yes, you’re right – the mighty All Blacks.
I noticed in 2015 they had two world-class impact subs ready to change the game. This came in the form of Sonny Bill Williams and Beauden Barrett. Beauden came off the bench at half time in the quarter-final and at 49 mins in the semi, where he scored the match-winning try. Roll onto the final: he scored the sealing try as everyone knows. Interestingly, he came on with 15 minutes to go. Add this to the fact SBW came on at half time in the final and provided one of the best offloads not just in a final but in rugby history to set up the decisive Ma'a Nonu try. Both were involved in two of rugby's most iconic moments. Before 2015 can you name an iconic rugby moment from someone in jersey’s 16-23? Rugby from this world cup onwards began to put far more emphasis on these players. Starters control games. Finishers win them.
South Africa's 6 2 Spilt
Four years later South Africa took the philosophy of impact subs to the next level due to changing their bench structure: The 6 2 split. 5 forwards and 3 backs was the norm because you can cover every position. But to win world cups you must have more than a world-class XV.
It isn't just the fact this move was made, as it was seen before but rather the impact these players made off the bench. It changed how coaches now think about the game.
Erasmus post the final whistle in Japan made it clear that the reason South Africa's pack dominated England was the fact England's props have been playing 60-70 minutes every week for the past seven weeks. In contrast, South Africa cleverly rotated their pack throughout the tournament meaning they were so much fresher and could cause more of an impact for the first half before a full new batch of forwards were thrown on. Simply, they were equal in ability. Do this every week and your pack will have nearly half the game time of all the other countries - Rassie Erasmus, you are a genius!
Yet, the key is you must have the quality on your bench. Normal thinking coaches with four world-class second rows would try fit one in at 6. But not South Africa, who basically have a full engine room change for the second half. This means the physicality they bring with all these monsters can constantly be retained. But it doesn't come without its risks: imagine a specialist position in the backs getting injured with no cover. That's when you can fall into difficulty. Unless you have a utility back, who can play across the whole backline. Francois Steyn for South Africa, was vital to the Springboks bench structure. At 33, he played 10,12 and 15 throughout his career, providing that essential versatility.
Jordie Barrett is fast becoming the best utility back in the world having now played nearly everywhere in the backline for New Zealand. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him in the second row soon at this rate. Young utility backs will only continue to evolve and is fast becoming the new norm.
The Future
South Africa accelerated the thinking of how to use your bench effectively, but to win the next World Cup you must bring more new innovative approaches. The question though- how to do this?
One phrase that I think sums up the future of rugby- interchangeable positions. Backs playing as forwards and forwards playing backs. The main man Eddie Jones comes back here with one of his outrageous quotes when he said Jack Nowell might play flanker for England. Obviously, he didn't mean this literally, but he is right! In the next 5-10 years stuff like this will happen.
South Africa showed the advantage of a full fresh pack off the bench, and in order to cover for injuries you will need a flanker who can slot in at 12 in the event of an emergency. You might laugh at this statement but Bath and England couldn't decide whether Sam Burgees was a 6 or 12. Imagine Eddie Jones was in charge in 2015- it’s scary what he could have done with Burgees. Start him at 12 then last 20 use him as a free roaming extra back rower? This would open up so many new exciting impact players who could come off the bench.
This type of interchangeable forward and back player screams NRL looseforwards. Rugby League constantly provide these hard running direct players and it would be great to have more converts to Union. But they must not be shoe horned into one position.
Modern-day rugby players are only getting bigger; we have wingers like Tagele Naiyaravoro at 6 Foot 5 and 132 KG. On the wing! These monsters are bigger than most team’s forwards. If they could slot into the pack during the second half or as injury cover, it would offer so many more options to have on the bench. Even Bastareaud has played a bit at number 8 in recent years.
The key to do this is coaching. Sam Warburton new role is as the Welsh break down coach. Yes, why do they need him for that? But digging deeper: he went into camp and spoke about up skilling backs with clear out work. It is amazing how many backs don’t know how to hit a ruck, even at international level. We need more Jack Nowells who are incredible at ruck time. Options for coaches is everything.
It is now certainly a 23 man game and coming up with new innovative ways to maximise bench output is the next progression.
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