Springboks: Schalk Burger slams ‘broken record’ accusations over ‘abusive’ tactics and predicts more ‘agony’

Springboks great Schalk Burger has hit back at Matt Williams’ complaints about Rassie Erasmus’ Bomb Squad tactics and predicts more “agony” for the former Scotland coach.

Williams has been hugely critical of the Springboks’ forward-heavy bench tactics, slamming the 6-2 and 7-1 splits repeatedly in the past.

The ex-international coach turned pundit believes that it is an “abuse of safety laws”, claiming it is “against the spirit of the game” and most recently sensationally stated that it is “discriminating against backline players”.

Burger hits back

A World Cup winner with the Springboks in 2007 and a player who featured 14 times off the bench in 86 internationals, Burger has since reacted to Williams’ latest remarks.

“He’s like a broken record,” the ex-flanker said on the Boks Office podcast.

“You can’t guarantee a player’s safety whether they are playing 50 minutes or 80 minutes. You could get injured in the first five minutes.”

Rassie Erasmus hits back at pundit after claims Springboks are ‘abusing’ rugby’s traditions

Fellow ex-Springboks Hanyani Shimange and Jean de Villiers agreed with Burger, with the former saying: “Any team can choose whatever bench they want, the only requirement is that there has to be a full front-row.”

De Villiers added: “Yes, the rest of the bench can be made up of whoever or whatever you want, and you can bring them on whenever you want to.”

Burger believes that the Springboks are currently in a space where they have more squad depth than they have ever had and the return of injured players will only rub salt into Williams‘ wounds as South Africa’s bench will only get better.

“We are playing to the rules and we are fortunate that we’ve got a lot of depth,” he added.

“I think that Springboks have the greatest pool of depth at the international level that they have ever had, and there are more players to come back to Mr Williams’ agony.

“Imagine when a Lood de Jager comes back, Jasper Wiese is about to finish his suspension, Damian Willemse is also coming back, Steven Kitshoff comes back. That’s only going to enhance our squad depth.”

“We do it our way, and other teams like Ireland let Andrew Porter go deep into the game, and so does Furlong. And where it becomes hard for them is at 45 minutes, the Boks go and pretty much empty the entire bench.

“That’s how much we back our squad system and our players and versatility. We are trendsetters in that regard, but we have been ever since Rassie took over.”

Springboks accused of ‘abusing rugby traditions’ as Rassie Erasmus ‘discriminates against backs’

Rassie wasn’t the first

While Shimange agreed, he explained that the use of substitutions to have an influence on the game is nothing new and a tactic that had been effectively used by Springboks and All Blacks coaches in the past.

“Everyone goes on about the Bomb Squad, but do you remember when Nick [Mallett] used to have Ollie le Roux on the bench, swap the hooker, Bobby Skinstad came on and changed a lot of games,” he said.

“Franco Smith and Andrew Aitken came on, so there have always been those kinds of changes.

“Steve Hansen also did it with Charlie Faumuina, Andrew Hore, Victor Vito, TJ Perenara, Damian McKenzie and Beauden Barrett.

“It’s not a new thing; the issue is the fact that it is six forwards, and that’s where this whinge comes from, but the rules are the rules, and if we are sticking to them and if it works for us, then it works for us.”

Burger’s bold prediction

Rugby’s laws currently permit eight players on the substitution bench, a tally increased by World Rugby in 2012 after being upped to seven in the early 2010s. Prior to that, teams were allowed to select six players on the bench during the 1995 World Cup, and before then, substitutions weren’t even a thing.

While Williams is calling for regulations to limit the amount of forward replacements and even reduce the number of players on the bench, Burger believes that the trend will continue with the number of substitutions increasing.

“If anything, I think in the years to come for player safety and more stringent HIA safeties, the squads will actually get bigger and go to 25 players,” he said.

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