Flashback to 2005, when the ‘Bomb Squad’ was known by an entirely different name.

At that time, a young Rassie Erasmus made waves by selecting his Cheetahs lineup for the Currie Cup final. His unconventional move was to include an extra prop on the bench.

Traditionally, teams would assign just one prop to cover both the tighthead and loosehead positions, mainly for moving from one scrum to the next. However, Erasmus had a different strategy in mind.

He opted to forgo a lock substitute, instead bringing two complete sets of front-row players into the game. These players were rotated onto the field at the 25th, 50th, and 70th minutes, a tactic that ultimately led to the Cheetahs clinching their first finals victory in 29 years.

This strategy was dubbed “Stutfaktor” or “prop factor” by a local Free State newspaper, a playful nod to the popularity of Simon Cowell’s talent show at the time.

Since then, the importance of the bench has continued to grow. Erasmus has remained a pioneer, guiding the Springboks to World Cup victories in both 2019 and 2023, while the rest of the rugby world is still working to catch up.

Rassie Erasmus of South Africa pioneered the use of the ‘Bomb Squad’, inspiring his Cheetahs side to Currie Cup glory in 2005  

Eddie Jones (right) used to refer to his England replacements as ‘finishers’

As England coach, Eddie Jones tried hard to remove the stigma around players being named on the bench. He referred to them as ‘finishers’ and lambasted the media when they questioned his decision to drop George Ford at the 2019 World Cup.

‘I didn’t drop him,’ snarled the Australian at a press conference. ‘I changed his role. And he was brilliant. Maybe you guys need to start reporting differently. Rugby has changed. Come and join us in modern rugby. Give me your email and I’ll send you an invite.’

The email never came through. But Jones was right. Two decades on from the birth of the Bomb Squad, and the English rugby audience are finally getting on board. The sight of Ellis Genge and Henry Pollock charging off the bench has become the most popular scene at Twickenham this autumn.

Egos have been parked and roles have been adapted.

‘The Bomb Squad stemmed from Rassie’s belief that the game is won in the second half,’ explains Matt Proudfoot, who was the Springboks’ forwards coach at the 2019 World Cup and later worked with Jones at England.

‘At the back end of the 2019 Rugby Championship, we almost built two packs. Rassie said: “This pack will play this game and this pack will play this game.” It created quite a lot of competition between the two packs and we reached a point where it was hard to pick the best one. Instead of playing it game for game he said: “If I’ve got 16 incredible forwards, then I want as many of them on the field as possible.”

‘The philosophy started way back when he was coaching the Cheetahs. He believed more tackles were made by forwards, more ball carries were made by forwards, more breakdowns were hit by forwards, more work was done by forwards. So, he picked more forwards.’

With the Springboks, Erasmus settled on a split of six forwards and two backs on the bench. By sacrificing one of his backs, he placed added importance on players who could cover more than one position. 

Henry Pollock came off the bench to score against Australia at Twickenham at the start of the month 

Steve Borthwick gives instructions to his England squad this week. He has packed his bench for the All Blacks Test with star players

‘The Bomb Squad stemmed from Erasmus’ belief that the game is won in the second half,’ says Matt Proudfoot, who was the Springboks’ forwards coach at the 2019 World Cup

Flanker Kwagga Smith would often be moved into the backline in case of emergency. Winger Cheslin Kolbe would also cover scrum-half. This autumn, South Africa have had former Harlequins centre Andre Esterhuizen in the pack.

‘The flexibility of Francois Steyn and Schalk Brits initially gave us the ability to do it,’ says Proudfoot. ‘As we see now with Esterhuizen, there has to be at least one player who is adaptable in different positions.

‘You have to be very honest with the players about how you sell it to them. There was one scrummaging session where we were toying around with the front rows and something just clicked. We had Tendai “Beast” Mtawarira, Bongi Mbonambi and Trevor Nyakane and their height was really similar. Steven Kitshoff, Malcolm Marx and Frans Malherbe’s height was similar and they just scrummed so well together as a unit.

‘Marx had been the world’s best player and all of a sudden he’s on the bench. Rassie sat them down and said, “Listen, this is the way I want to go”. They bought into it and created their own little energy about it. It was RG Snyman who coined the “Bomb Squad” name. He was always larking around with Franco Mostert. 

‘The players became proud of the work they did in that late stage of the game. It’s a lot like cricket. You have your opening batsmen who you want to hit the shine off the ball so that No3, No4 and No5 can come in and do the work.’

It has been backed up by sharp tactical nous. Timing is key, with the best coaches able to make the best reactive decisions about when to pull the pin.

‘The 2019 World Cup was very defence orientated,’ says Proudfoot. ‘You needed tight forwards who were fresh to defend in the second half. In the final, as forwards coach, I wanted to hold the front-row substitutions a bit longer. Rassie wanted it earlier because we knew England were going to attack. That decision was made around 42 minutes in to change the front rows. I wanted to hold it but Rassie said, “No, no, no, we’re making it early”.

‘Having a fresher front row on the field earlier, we probably lost a little bit at scrum time but we gained a lot in defence. The damage had been done at the scrum because of Kyle Sinckler’s injury so Rassie knew England would push the button in attack and that’s exactly what they did.’

Malcolm Marx had been the world’s best player and all of a sudden he was on the bench

South African flanker Kwagga Smith would often be moved into the backline in case of emergency

Ben Earl offers the versatility that allows England to pack the bench with forwards 

Against the All Blacks on Saturday, Borthwick is hoping his reinforcements can secure England’s first victory over New Zealand since 2019. England failed to score a point in the final quarter of their three Tests against the All Blacks last year, so the finishing power of their six replacement Lions could be crucial.

‘England have a bit of their own Bomb Squad going on now,’ acknowledges Proudfoot. ‘Maro Itoje is important to that. He has the physical ability to go 80 minutes and that creates some continuity through the pack. We had Eben Etzebeth and Duane Vermeulen to do that. They would tie the pack together for 80 minutes and you could make changes around them.

‘There’s power and pace on England’s bench. I like Chandler Cunningham-South on the bench. Luke Cowan-Dickie and Ellis Genge play very well together, they’re very aggressive. Ben Earl is in there as a guy who can cover positions. 

‘New Zealand are not quite as comfortable as they have been and I think Steve’s picked an intelligent side for the second half. They’re running well and I like their chances.’