Matt Williams says South Africa are abusing rugby in outspoken rant
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Well then.
Former Scotland head coach Matt Williams has gone off on South Africa in an outspoken rant following their victory over the All Blacks last weekend.
The Springboks made light work of their All Black counterparts in an impressive 35-7 win – but it’s their selection that has everyone talking, including Williams.
The Boks are renowned for their 6/2 bench splits where they opt for six forwards, and just two backs on their bench – aptly named the ‘Bomb squad’ as they roll off the bench to great effect.
But on Friday night they went one better, opting for a 7/1 split with seven forwards and just one back. But Williams thinks this shouldn’t be allowed…
“World Rugby should have seen this coming because for years teams – not just South Africa but France – were picking a six-two bench. It should never have been allowed get to this,” Williams told the VMTV Rugby pod.
“All World Rugby had to say was ‘Three of your bench have to be recognised backs’. That’s all they had to do and this problem would not be there. What South Africa did the other day I think is totally against the spirit of the game, and certainly totally against player safety. I am just totally against this.
“World Rugby should act in the next week and say ‘During the World Cup, you need three recognised backs on your bench’ – problem over. The fact that they haven’t, South Africa are not breaking any rules.
“It is a blight on the game that needs to be stopped now. What’s going to happen is exactly what happened on Saturday. The outside backs should have bought tickets in the stand because they were just spectators. South Africa played the game between their forwards and their scrum-half.”
What do you think? Should World Rugby intervene?