More often than not, the forwards provide the grunt in the physical exchanges and the backs provide the finesse, but backline replacements are becoming an endangered species with more and more coaches opting for 6-2 and even 7-1 splits.
A fortnight ago, in round three, Ireland were the only squad in the Six Nations to opt for what was once considered a conventional split of five forwards and three backs, while France first trialled their 7-1 split for their 73-24 win in Rome.
This meant that of the 48 replacements across the three matches, 36 were forwards and just 12 were backs. Added to the starting XVs, round three featured 84 forwards to 54 backs.
This weekend is only fractionally better as Ireland have opted to meet the French 7-1 split with a 6-2 configuration, as have England and Italy for their clash in Twickenham on Sunday, while Scotland and Wales have both opted for 5-3 splits.
Hence, there are 35 forwards compared to 13 backs on the six benches; the combined match-day squads contain 83 forwards to 55 backs.
Wheeling out battalions of forwards is a bad look for the sport on many levels, not least as so many gargantuan forwards are thus crashing into tiring opponents, which must heighten the risk of concussion. With more and more uses of 6-2 and 7-1 splits, there is invariably a heightened emphasis on scrummaging and brutal physicality.
In the 2019 World Cup, Springboks head coach Rassie Erasmus named six forwards and two backs on his bench for the knockout matches, including their 32-12 victory over England in the final, a tactic which earned the ‘Bomb Squad’ moniker.
One can understand the rationale behind a 6-2 split, and it’s not the coaches fault that they are allowed to do this. But this unwanted blight on the game is also filtering down from the Test arena as well.
In these pages and in his guise as a studio pundit with Virgin Media, the former Waratahs, Leinster, Ulster and Scotland coach Matt Williams has described the tactic as being “against the spirit of the game”, and has also claimed it is an “abuse of safety laws”.
Similarly, current Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend reportedly aired concerns about the growing use of forward-heavy benches at a World Rugby meeting recently. He suggested the Bomb Squad tactic – which effectively allows teams to replace almost their entire forward pack – is not in the spirit or best interests of the sport.
The 6-2 and especially 7-1 splits give coaches little wiggle room and come with risks if there is an early injury among the starting backs. Ironically, when Townsend plumped for a 6-2 split in round two against Ireland, he had to use both backline replacements when Darcy Graham and Finn Russell clashed heads, forcing them both off for the remainder of the game at Murrayfield.
The tactic is also discriminatory against backs. The more it filters down the fewer opportunities there will be for young backs, and with less elbow room, coaches will loathe to introduce one or two backs too early in a game.
Certainly 7-1 splits, whatever about 6-2, are not what replacement benches were originally designed to achieve. It is a bad look for the sport and it is World Rugby’s duty to step in and outlaw the tactic by insisting the bench is made up of three frontrow forwards, two other forwards and three backs.
This would simply serve to make the game both safer and better balanced.
