South Africa have been the talk of world rugby this week, after their sensational victory over New Zealand in Twickenham last Friday became the new record defeat for the All Blacks.
The Springboks ran riot in London, and were 35-0 up by the time the All Blacks got a late consolation try on the board in the final ten minutes.
After some mixed form over the past 12 months, the victory over New Zealand was a clear statement of intent from the defending world champions as the World Cup approaches in France next week.
The game was not without controversy, however, as a controversial bench tactic used by South Africa has arguably captured the public attention more than their exceptional performance.
Though most test sides choose to utilise their eight bench spots with a 5-3 forward-back split, South Africa debuted a contentious innovation at Twickenham, naming seven forwards on the bench and introducing all seven in one fell swoop in the 46th minute.
South Africa's "bomb squad" made headlines in 2019, when their World Cup win was defined by their decision to name six forwards on the bench - and the reaction to the extra forward has been polarising.
Earlier this week, Matt Williams slammed the bench split, calling it a "blight" on rugby and said, "It should never have been allowed to get to this...what South Africa did the other day I think is totally against the spirit of the game...totally against player safety."
However, Bernard Jackman has jumped to the defence of the Springboks, praising the innovation shown by their tactics, and saying that the world of rugby should encourage such creativity.
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South Africa: Bernard Jackman defends Springboks' 7-1 bench split
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Speaking on RTÉ's rugby podcast, former Leinster and Ireland hooker Bernard Jackman was asked for his thoughts on South Africa's innovation off the bench at Twickenham.
Jackman said that the was a fan of their tactics, and that the Boks were merely playing to their strengths:
I love it, I personally believe that we should be lauding coaches who are taking risks or being creative. Obviously they have a profile of player that a lot of us don't have, and a lot of countries would be afraid to go 6-2, because it doesn't suit the profile of players they have. They should be allowed, and encouraged to play it.
With Ireland facing South Africa in one of the headline games of the World Cup group stages next month, there was understandable fear struck by their opponents' newfound strength against the All Blacks.
Jackman, however, went on to quell such concerns, saying that the impact of the 7-1 split had been slightly overblown, and that he was not convinced that it would sweep over Andy Farrell's Irish side:
I would love to play South Africa if they went 7-1 against Ireland. I don't think they will, but there's a massive risk to that.
It was 21-0 to South Africa when they brought on those subs - the first choice pack had done the damage. It wasn't anything to do with the bench coming on and winning the game late, and player saftey - it's fearsome. You have to be able to deal with it.
South Africa's World Cup campaign gets underway on Sunday September 10th with a mouthwatering clash against Scotland, and they will face Ireland in group B on September 23rd.
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