Boks go nuclear with 7/1 power bench for Scotland showdown at Murrayfield

Former England cricket captain Chris Cowdrey tells a wonderful story about going out for the toss with West Indies legend Viv Richards before a Test in 1988. 

Cowdrey arrived at the traditional ceremony in his whites and a blazer. Viv, the most intimidating batter and captain of the most intimidating team of any era, arrived at the pitch in shorts and flip flops. 

When Cowdrey started reeling off the names of his team to face the mighty Windies, as was the norm at the time, Viv cut him off midstream. “No problem, man, you play who you like,” Viv said with a shrug. And when Cowdrey won the toss, Viv actually asked him what he would like to do. 

It was the ultimate flex. Viv was saying that no matter who England picked, or whether they chose to bat or bowl first, the Windies believed they had the team to win. For the record, the West Indies won by 10 wickets.

Bok coach Rassie Erasmus named seven forwards and one back in his team to face Scotland. (Photo: Steve Haag Sports /Gallo Images

Nuke squad 

The Springboks are similar in that coach Rassie Erasmus picks his team with his objectives in mind. That’s why the Boks, for so long, have named their team well in advance of the designated deadline. 

They simply have such overwhelming belief in their personnel and their process that what the opposition chooses to do with their lineup is not central to the Boks’ thinking. 

This week was an unusually late team naming — by Bok standards anyway — for Sunday’s clash against Scotland at Murrayfield. That was due in part to some injury complications in the week with lock Ruan Nortje going down at training and being ruled out of the tour. Nortje was set to start.

But it might also have been down to some mind games by the Boks. Erasmus is always calculated and there is zero chance that he had sleepless nights pondering his team lineup. It would have been decided during their training camp in Jersey the previous week. 

With a six-day turnaround between the Murrayfield match and facing England at Twickenham on 16 November, the teams for the first two outings of the tour would have been locked in. 

And Erasmus has done it again, choosing seven forwards and one back on the bench, upgrading the bomb squad to the nuke squad.

“We’ve done this because we play against England in six days and we hope this way, they won’t be ‘pap’ for England,” Erasmus said.

“Ideally they (the forwards) will each play a half of rugby against Scotland.

Scrumhalf Grant Williams is the only back among the reserves, while starting No 8 Kwagga Smith offers the ability to move into the backline if required. 

Smith will make his 50th Test appearance, after making his debut in Erasmus’ first-ever team as Bok coach, which was against Wales in Washington in 2018.

Lock Eben Etzebeth captains the Boks, with Siya Kolisi on the bench. There are returns for locks Franco Mostert and RG Snyman, who both missed the Rugby Championship through injury.

Mostert has fully healed from a broken leg and slots in beside Etzebeth in the starting second row, while Snyman will add impact from the bench.

Read more: Boks to lead southern hemisphere rampage in unforgiving north seeking No 1 ranking

Every time the Boks choose a 7/1 split — and this is the fourth time — it comes with risk. In last year’s Rugby World Cup final they went 7/1 and lost hooker Bongi Mbonambi inside three minutes. But they have won two of the three games when they’ve employed the tactic.

“This is a seasoned and quality team and 21 of the 23 players (in the match-day squad) have won a Rugby World Cup title, with some having won two. So they know what it takes to perform at this level,” Erasmus said.

“Many of these combinations have also played together this season, which will be valuable against a quality team such as Scotland.” 

The only way a 7/1 can be pulled off, is by having versatile backs. In Canan Moodie, who is starting on the wing but can play outside centre and fullback, the Boks have options. 

Starting flyhalf Handrè Pollard can also operate at inside centre, with starting outside centre Lukhanyo Am able to play wing if needed. Even fullback Willie le Roux can cover flyhalf if Pollard is required to move into the centre, while starting scrumhalf Jaden Hendrikse also provides flyhalf cover. 

“We are expecting an extremely physical match, so we opted for a seven-one split of forwards on the bench, and this was aided by the fact that we have such versatile players in the backline, who can cover different positions if necessary,” Erasmus explained. 

Scotland flyhalf Finn Russell will be a marked man when he faces the Springboks on Sunday. (Photo: Steve Haag/Gallo Images)

Power game 

Considering Smith is starting alongside Marco van Staden and Elrigh Louw in a mobile looseforward trio, the Boks are likely to play with pace early on before introducing the heavy artillery of Pieter-Steph du Toit, Jasper Wiese, Malcolm Marx and Kolisi later in the game. 

Scotland will want to play with tempo and create a platform for flyhalf Finn Russell to dictate, or at least, produce some magic. 

They have a good backline, with centres Sione Tuipulotu and Huw Jones in fine form. Wing Duhan van der Merwe is a lethal finisher, while usual fullback Blair Kinghorn is excellent under the high ball and will be deployed at wing.

Russell and the rest of the backline’s impact on the game will only be as good as the foundation the forwards provide though. The Scots have gone 6/2 to at least attempt to live with the Bok forwards for the entire match. 

“We definitely think they do more than attack with Finn Russell now,” Erasmus said. “They have a good kicking game and they have been keeping us guessing. 

“We live in reality. We beat them 18-3 at the World Cup, but we know how tight that game was.

“As a team we have moved away from the fear of losing, although it’s always there when you represent your country, to the fear of not leaving everything out there when we play. 

“We never want regrets and to be sitting in the changeroom after the match saying that we played within ourselves and we weren’t brave enough.”

Scotland’s starting pack may be able to hold its own initially. They have some real quality in an all-Glasgow back row of Jack Dempsey, Matt Fagerson and Rory Darge.

British & Irish Lions prop Zander Fagerson is a fine operator, and their locks Grant Gilchrist and Scott Cummings are excellent lineout exponents. But there is no way Scotland’s reserves can match what the Boks bring off the bench. 

The Boks have 377 caps worth of experience and Scotland 119. That in itself tells a story.

 “It is the biggest challenge in world rugby right now, playing the double world champions,” Scotland coach Gregor Townsend said. “And they are in fantastic form, they won the Rugby Championship and have been able to play different teams and show their depth is so strong with quality performances.

“When you think of the Springboks, you think of physicality and we have to match that. It will come in the ball carries, defence and set-piece.

Teams

Scotland

15 Tom Jordan; 14 Blair Kinghorn, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Sione Tuipulotu (captain), 11 Duhan van der Merwe; 10 Finn Russell, 9 Ben White; 8 Jack Dempsey, 7 Rory Darge, 6 Matt Fagerson; 5 Scott Cummings, 4  Grant Gilchrist; 3  Zander Fagerson, 2 Ewan Ashman, 1 Pierre Schoeman

Reserves: 16 Dylan Richardson, 17 Rory Sutherland, 18 Elliot Millar Mills, 19 Max Williamson, 20 Josh Bayliss, 21 Jamie Ritchie, 22 Jamie Dobie, 23 Stafford McDowall.

 South Africa

15 Willie le Roux, 14 Canan Moodie, 13 Lukhanyo Am, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Handrè Pollard, 9 Jaden Hendrikse, 8 Kwagga Smith, 7 Elrigh Louw, 6 Marco van Staden, 5 Franco Mostert, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Thomas du Toit, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Ox Nche.

Reserves: 16 Malcolm Marx, 17 Gerhard Steenekamp, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 RG Snyman, 20 Siya Kolisi, 21 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 22 Jasper Wiese, 23 Grant Williams.

 Referee: Christophe Ridley (RFU).

Kick-off: Sunday, 10 November at 6.10pm (Supersport)