The trendy rugby tactic that 'backfired badly' for the Stormers in Dublin

It was always going to happen – a forwards-heavy six-two or seven-one bench split backfiring. Pioneered by Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus – who has managed to escape the dreaded boomerang – it is becoming a more fashionable trend in the game.

The Stormers became the first high-profile ‘victim’ of the practice flopping when they were left without a specialist flyhalf at a crucial juncture in their United Rugby Championship loss to Leinster this past weekend.

A three-try blitz in seven second-half minutes saw the Irish province record a comprehensive 36-12 win over the Stormers in Dublin at the weekend – stretching their unbeaten run in the URC to 10 matches.

URC Head of Match Officials Tappe Henning unpacks the role of a TMO

URC Head of Match Officials Tappe Henning unpacks the role of a TMO

The Irish giants outscored the normally free-flowing Stormers by five tries to two.

Stormers Director of Rugby John Dobson said they were well-beaten in every aspect of the game, but the real problems started in the line-outs – where they barely managed to win 80 percent of their ball.

“It was, unfortunately, the same case in Paris last week,” he said of their 22-31 loss to Racing 92 in Round Four of the Champions Cup – a result that saw them being knocked out of both first and second-tier Euro competitions.

“The whole thing cascaded as a result of the pressure they put us under.

“It is a lesson for us, how they played without the [20-odd Ireland squad] players they had in Portugal [at a Six Nations training camp].”

The other big concern was the loss of ace Springbok flyhalf Manie Libbok in the 38th minute with a knee injury – a potentially long-term lay-off.

“Once we lost Manie [Libbok], we had a 20-year-old centre [Jonathan Roche] at flyhalf.

“We lost the backfield [backline] battle.

“However, it started with the set piece [problems] and then [flowed over] into the breakdown.”

The Stormers boss admitted he made a bad call in not having a backup flyhalf on the bench.

“We were 7-10 down and your world-class flyhalf goes off,” Dobson groused about a setback at a crucial junction in the contest.

“I must take responsibility for not having another flyhalf on the bench – we went for a six-two [forwards heavy] bench.

“We took a bit of a gamble that backfired badly on us.

“Manie [Libbok] very seldom comes off injured. We never replace him.

“That is when you could see the backfield, [with] Warrick [Gelant] often by himself.

“It [Libbok’s injury] was a big loss for us.

“Once Manie [Libbok] was gone and [lock] JD [Schickerling, injured in the 29th minute] was gone.

“It has been the story of our season.

“We lost Sacha [Feinberg-Mngomezulu] three times in the first half, we lost Damian [Willemse] once or twice in the first half and we lost Manie [Libbok] in the first half.

“Those are world-class playmakers.”

It is a call that the Stormers boss may still rue – with his team in 12th place in the standings and a challenging series of domestic derbies in the next month.