“I don’t care how well Am played on the wing. Mallett went on to criticize the rearrangement which moved Lukhanyo Am to the right wing, rather than his partner in the centres, Damian de Allende: (Photo by Lee Warren/Gallo Images/Getty Images) Jesse Kriel was sidelined early in the Springboks’ loss to the All Blacks following an attempted tackle on opposite Caleb Clarke. The 6/2 bench has become automatic ever since Rassie Erasmus took over as Springbok coach in 2018, but Nienaber must be agreeing with at least some part of Nick Mallett’s analysis, because he has reverted to a more orthodox split with five forwards and three backs for the first game against Australia in Adelaide next Saturday. We saw Damian Willemse go to inside centre, Damian de Allende to outside centre and, even worse, Lukhanyo Am moved to the wing after Kriel left the fray. “If you get a wing going off early, as Jesse Kriel did on Saturday, you suddenly have to make a lot of changes. It’s a real problem when you have to make virtually three changes to your backline when one player gets injured.
“The real issue facing this team presently, I think, is the 6/2 bench split that has landed the Boks in trouble for three straight Tests now. The ex-Springboks coach, who presided over one of the most successful periods in South African rugby history between August 1997 and December 1998, when the Bokke won 17 matches in a row, recently recommended the scrapping of the 6/2 bench split in his News 24 column: It looks like Jacques Nienaber is coming around to Nick Mallett’s way of thinking.
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