Ireland legend calls for Springboks’ tactic to be outlawed

Former Ireland skipper Keith Wood believes that the Springboks 7-1 bench split is unfair and should be banned by World Rugby.

Speaking to the Off The Ball podcast, Wood insists that the approach will drastically alter Rugby World Cup.

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IRELAND LEGEND CONDEMNS SPRINGBOK APPROACH

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He feels that the approach should be outlawed despite teams currently being allowed to staff their bench as they see fit.

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The only real provisos on substitutes relate to the replacement of front row forwards and even then teams can still choose not to have any forwards on their bench at all, risking uncontestable scrums should a frontranker go down injured.

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“I think it will change after the World Cup, I don’t think it will be allowed to happen going forward, but it’s within the law, and I think it’s playing to their strengths,” Wood said.

“The idea of coming up with something novel is something he (Erasmus) has consistently done for the last period of time.

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“I don’t know that it’s necessarily fair. It works to the advantage of teams with huge forwards. They tend to be the only team that rely almost exclusively on that sense of having giants of men,” he said.

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BOKS FRIGHTEN WOOD

Wood expressed the view that it was frightening to see the Springboks bring on seven fresh forwards.

He feels that it runs contrary to rugby’s ethos as a game for people of all sizes and shapes.

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“If you go back to the original view of the game, it’s a game for all people and sizes and it’s to try and have it so it is safe and fair,” Wood added.

“I think they may bring the number of subs down after the World Cup and I think it will look for a balance that fits rugby slightly differently than it does at the moment.

“It was a kind of frightening sight to see seven forward changes.”