Springboks explain who'll cover what on their 7-1 bench

South Africa have doubled down on their faith in the 7-1 split for Saturday’s Test against Wales, with assistant coach Mzwandile Stick laying out exactly how the backline cover works inside a forward-heavy bench.

The Boks’ stacked bench includes Bongi Mbonambi, Zachary Porthen and Asenathi Ntlabakanye as front-row reinforcements, while Eben Etzebeth provides the heavyweight engine-room punch. Marco van Staden and Ben-Jason Dixon offer fresh back-row legs, with Kwagga Smith again doubling as the hybrid option.

The lone back, Cobus Reinach, completes this iteration of the ‘Bomb squad’.

Stick was in no mood to entertain the usual panic about running light on backs. As he put it, the Boks have had the blueprint in place for years.

“If you look at the past couple of years, whenever we opted for a 7-1 split, it was always probably Grant (Williams) or Cobus (Reinach) providing cover in a few positions, especially with their pace,” he said.

“In this case, we have Cobus on the bench, who can cover wing for us as well, and we’ve always been vocal about Kwagga (Smith) as backup for us, especially with his skillset coming from a Sevens background. So, I don’t think we’ll have challenges there.”

Canan Moodie’s versatility also features heavily in the equation. “Canan Moodie is at wing and can also play fullback for us, so we went through all those scenarios this week,” said Stick.

With Damian Willemse able to cover fly-half, the Boks are happy to roll the dice on losing backline players in Cardiff.

South Africa are expecting a bruising, high-tempo challenge and Stick pushed back at any suggestion that Wales are there to make up the numbers.

“It’s been a long tour, but the most important thing for us is to make sure that we finish strongly,” he said. “A lot of their younger players are getting opportunities, and they’ll also want to impress their coaches, so they’ll give everything they’ve got. Siya touched on it also earlier on that in their game against the All Blacks, at around 50 minutes, Wales were still in the game.

“So, we can’t take things for granted and underestimate them. They are a proud nation when it comes to how they play the game, and they are very physical, so it’s going to be tough.”

Saturday’s match will close out the Springboks’ year, and Stick used the final media slot of the season to nod to the support that has followed them from Dublin to London to Cardiff.

“I’d like to thank everyone back home for all the support throughout the season, and those who travelled on tour because we always felt their presence,” he said.

“The players will probably go back to their teams and play for their franchises, and for the coaches, we’ll be giving back to other teams.”

With the Blitzboks also in action this weekend, Stick signed off looking beyond Saturday night.

“The Blitzboks are playing in Dubai this weekend, so we’ll also be supporting them, and hopefully I can go support them in Cape Town, so thanks to everyone for their support, and we hope they enjoy the festive season and the family time.”