At the 2023 Rugby World Cup, it seemed like a cultural shift was moving the game in a particular direction. When South Africa decided on a 7-1 split on their bench for the Pool B game against Ireland, they hatched a simple plan of brawn on brawn to crush Ireland with big men and then more big men.
Seven forwards and one backline player had never been deployed from the bench in World Cup rugby before, although it had been used in a Test match earlier that year by South Africa against New Zealand at Twickenham. The Springboks were also the first team to use a 6-2 split when they did so at the 2019 World Cup, which they went on to win.
Since then, the 7-1 split has not disappeared, but initial fears of a permanently changed landscape populated by giants ebbed rather than flowed and flooding the zone with muscle mass has not become the norm.
But last weekend France made the size issue relevant again when they used 15 forwards in their match to run in 11 tries against hapless Italy with a 7-1 bench split. It wasn’t subtle.
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On 48 minutes six forwards replaced six forwards, with the seventh coming on about 20 minutes later. The entire frontrow, two backrows and a lock came off together to be replaced by fresh players. The seventh forward, Alexandre Roumat, replaced lock Thibaud Flament on 65 minutes.
With the arrival of Le Bombe Equipe in the second half their forward dominance continued, orchestrated with finesse and panache by Antoine Dupont − he scored two tries as France ran in 73 points.
Whether Ireland can expect the same when they meet in Dublin on Saturday week is a moot point as coach Fabien Galthie will have seen what an excellent job the Irish bench did against Wales, and when Ireland met South Africa in their 2023 World Cup match in Stade de France.
Less than two years ago, the same reservations were shared about an almost complete fresh pack feeding into the game in the second half.
The talk was of mismatches and the possibility of danger, with tired small bodies facing fresher bigger men. An emboldened Irish coach Andy Farrell, however, embraced the challenge rather than shrink from its novelty.
[ France cross for 11 tries in scintillating demolition of ItalyOpens in new window ]
“I love it; I respect it,” said Farrell in France. “I like the fact they know their squad and brought four scrumhalves over, a hooker who has not really played in that specialist position before. It shows they know their players and which direction they want to go. Hopefully, they think the same about us as well. I am pretty confident in the five forwards we have got coming off the bench and the impact they’re going to have and the type of game we’re going to play when that happens.
“There are all sorts of different permutations. Even with a 5-3 split, you can’t cover everything. But you need to be adaptable, which is something we have worked hard at with our planning over the last few years. I suppose they [Springboks] have done exactly the same with the 7-1 split.”
On the day Ireland had 376 caps among the replacements, including last Saturday’s team captain Dan Sheehan, who was the first player off the bench. The Irish hooker was followed by three backs and four forwards in Robbie Henshaw, Conor Murray and Jack Crowley; and Finlay Bealham, Ryan Baird, Iain Henderson and Dave Kilcoyne.
Galthie is canny enough to know the result in Paris was a 13-8 win for Ireland and that stand-in Irish coach Simon Easterby has brought an Ireland team to this Six Nations in the image of Farrell with the same philosophy running through the squad.
What Galthie’s forward power did in Stadio Olimpico was allow Dupont to work off quality front-foot ball and do what he is best at, releasing the willing strike runners he has around him and going himself when instinct demands. The tactic brought the best player in the world into the game more frequently, which is no bad thing. Dupont won the man of the match award.
France will arrive in Dublin having made a statement against Italy and knowing they stand between the home side and the championship. If they rip a page from the Springbok playbook a second time and subject Ireland to Le Bombe Equipe and a battle of collisions, there is at least the satisfaction in knowing that the DNA is there to meet it.
