Dalton Papali’i reveals nickname for All Blacks bench to rival Boks’ Bomb Squad

While the Springboks have their much-vaunted ‘Bomb Squad’ of replacements, All Blacks flanker Dalton Papali’i revealed that his team have a name for their own group of back-up players ahead of Saturday’s Rugby World Cup final between the arch rivals in Paris.

Known as the ‘Easy Company’, Papali’i said the moniker was adopted as he was part a group among the All Blacks who had been watching the HBO television series Band of Brothers which is about the United States 101st Airborne and Easy Company who had taken on their motivation of wanting to go and finish the job towards the end of the European campaign of World War Two.

Bok bench packed with quality players

South Africa pack their replacements bench full of quality players who would be pushing for a starting role in many rival international teams and their ‘Bomb Squad’ is often forward-heavy.

The Bok bench played a leading role in their 16-15 World Cup semi-final triumph over England, when their back-up forwards put the English scrum under pressure in that game’s closing stages.

Star fly-half Handre Pollard, who also came on as a replacement late in the first half, eventually kicked the match-winning penalty after England loosehead prop Ellis Genge capitulated under the pressure at a scrum to book their spot in the Saturday’s Rugby World Cup final against New Zealand.

“Talking about the Bomb Squad, they’ve proven themselves and they can come on and change the game like that,” said Papali’i, who came on as a replacement for All Blacks captain Sam Cane in their quarter-final and semi-final win over Ireland and Argentina respectively.

“Whoever’s on the bench, they need to really be screwed on up top and give them hell,” he added.

Papali’i opened up about the group of players in their squad watching Band of Brothers in their team room and how they adopted their nickname.

“I made a little joke, you know they’ve got the ‘Bomb Squad’, so we can have ‘Easy Company’!” he said.

“We want to go on and finish the job and be in the trenches.”

New Zealand forwards coach Jason Ryan admitted: “(The Springbok) set-piece is phenomenal. They are a big team. They have got a really clear identity of the way they want to play and they’ve got good bits of variation of how they use the ball.

“This contest is going to be a title fight.”

Regarding the Boks’ replacements, Ryan said: “It would be good to take some gas out of that bomb, wouldn’t it?

“They have got their DNA as a forward pack. We’ve got trust in our plan this week and we believe we will be able to be there right until the end.”

Previous results will be irrelevant

Ryan is of the opinion that previous results on their way final at the Stade de France were largely irrelevant for both sides.

“I don’t think they let themselves down at all,” Ryan said in response to the Boks’ performance against England.

“They are playing in a final. It doesn’t matter if you win your semis or quarter-final by one point or 30. You have just got to get to the final.

“They will have confidence, they know how to win World Cups. They love the big stage, as we do. They are the current world champions and hold the trophy.

“Last week is irrelevant for this game. This whole competition, what’s happened before, is irrelevant.”

READ MORE: All Blacks rookie wary of Springboks’ scrum power ahead of Rugby World Cup final