The French didn’t take their 2023 Rugby World Cup quarter-final defeat at the hands of the Springboks with a lot of grace.
After the one-point thriller ended in despair for the home side, France captain and superstar Antoine Dupont slammed the performance of New Zealand referee Ben O'Keeffe.
"There were a few clear things where the whistle wasn't blown,” Dupont said after that fateful night in Paris.
"I don't want to be a bad loser and moan about the refereeing but I'm not sure the level of refereeing was up to the level of the game today."
After that the French crowds jeered the Springboks during the remainder of the World Cup, even getting behind England in the semi-finals before backing New Zealand’s All Blacks in the final.
But the Springboks prevailed, winning their second consecutive title and unprecedented fourth world championship. France, who had been touted as one of the favourites for the tournament, were left to sulk in the corner.
One of the cornerstones of the Springboks’ success was again the use of their bench, with the famous “bomb squad” again playing a massive role as the South Africans won all three of their knockout matches by one point.
After using a 6-2 split with great success at the 2019 World Cup, Erasmus ramped it up four years later. The Springboks tested a 7-1 bench split in a 2023 Rugby World Cup warm-up match against the All Blacks with great success, before using it again in the pool stages against Ireland and unleashing the ‘nuclear’ bench again in the final.
Most pundits, rugby bosses and coaches in the Northern Hemisphere have been against the Boks' use of their bench.
Former Scotland coach Matt Williams has been vocal in his criticism of Erasmus and the Boks’ ‘bomb squad’, saying it “discriminates against backline players” and it’s “dangerous”.
However, in 2025, there seems to be a change of heart in how teams in Europe view the 'bomb squad' tactic, with almost all the teams in the Six Nations using bench splits that are heavily in favour of the forwards.
France, who sit atop the Six Nations standings, this past Saturday employed a 7-1 split against Ireland, the second time this season that they employed the tactic. And the French blew the Irish away, even after losing Dupont to a season-ending knee injury.
France take on the Springboks in November for the first time since that quarter-final, and it could be the first match featuring two 7-1 bench splits (unless it happens before then …).
It’s clear that France are following the Springboks’ successful blueprint, and think that they will need to fight fire with fire when the two teams collide in Paris at the end of the year.
The Springboks have been the best team in the world in the last quarter of matches because of the freshness off the bench brings that clarity of thought and execution. It was the difference in the narrow wins in the World Cup knockouts.
France are trying to develop a similar system. They know only an 80-minute performance can subdue the Springboks.
Besides their recent history, both using a 7-1 bench would amplify that November clash so much more. A chess match within a Test match, for sure.
Williams will have to look away that night … He is not going to like what he sees! The rest of us, however, are already salivating over that notion of a brutal contest between the two best teams in the world.
@JohnGoliath82