'Seven forwards... really? Seriously?': Irish pundit calls for Springboks 'abusive' tactic to be outlawed

Former Scotland coach and Irish rugby pundit Matt Williams has slammed South Africa for the way they used their bench against New Zealand.

The Springboks went with a 7-1 split in the reserves which meant they were able to nearly able to replace their entire pack early in the second half.

The set-piece dominance they achieved was colossal as a result of a red card to All Blacks lock Scott Barrett.

But Williams believed they have gone a step too far and are now ‘abusing’ the original purpose of the reserves.

“The South Africans are just abusing the bench at the moment,” Williams told OTB Monday Night Rugby podcast.

“The bench came in all for safety reasons. People didn’t come on for positions they weren’t trained for so we weren’t putting back rowers in the front row. Everything was done for a reason.

“They had seven forwards [against New Zealand]. Seven forwards… really? Seriously? And World Rugby has just got to act on this.

“The way you fix it is say you must have three recognised backs on your bench. And that stops it.

“But right now South Africa just change the whole pack. Now if they do that and we’re not up to scratch, they’ll be found out.

“South Africa’s tactics are obvious now, what they are going to do. We have to be ready for it.”

However, Williams had a warning for South Africa saying that they are ‘walking the tightrope’ by leaving so little cover for the backs.

If they suffer multiple injuries out wide the strategy will come back to bite.

“In 1999 when the Wallabies won the World Cup I was coaching the Waratahs,” Williams recalled.

“We had one tighthead prop, who did the whole tournament. We were one injury away from disaster.

“To win you’ve got to have luck going your way too.

“South Africa are walking a tightrope, if they get an injury in the backline, it could come back to get them.”