The Australian coach and analyst Matt Williams isn’t particularly popular among South Africans when it comes to rugby, and now he might face even greater criticism from Springbok supporters.
Bok coach Rassie Erasmus respond to former Scotland and Waratahs coach Williams' remarks about Steven Kitshoff His neck injury recently forced the prop to retire from the sport.
Earlier this week, Williams appeared as a guest on the DSPN with Martin Devlin In this podcast, he once more took aim at the preference for a six-two or seven-one forward-heavy lineup, a strategy that Erasmus employed effectively to secure consecutive Rugby World Cup victories for South Africa in 2019 and 2023.
"We understand the impact of head injuries; how does rotating new players into the game help with this issue? And what effect does subjecting players' spines to intense compression over an 80-minute period have?" Williams asked.
What about Kitshoff? What occurred with his spine in South Africa? Do we have information on whether this was due to the scrumming he experienced?
Erasmus wasn't about to let this slide. On Wednesday evening, he shared a screenshot of Williams' remark regarding Kitshoff and responded with: "Nee wat (no way)! How could a 6/2 or 7/1 distribution have anything to do with Kitchie’s injury? 'Do we know'? Nope, clearly not."
Williams went into detail criticizing the 'Bomb Squad' strategy, admitting that France had similarly employed this tactic during the Six Nations tournament.
"I respect the thoughtful approach of this from a coaching perspective. It doesn’t bother me at all regarding the coaches – this isn’t an issue related to their selections or motivations," he stated.
I understand, it functions well. France versus Ireland (in the Six Nations), it definitely works, but how does that affect our match?
I'm ready for some serious criticism from everybody. I am okay with that because walking away would mean neglecting my old friend's heritage.
Each time I step out, former forwards and ex-props approach me saying, “You’re correct.” Never have I encountered someone claiming it’s nonsense unless they were a handful of South Africans who find it favorable for their country.
All forwards claim, 'you're likely correct.' However, I view this as a significant problem. Although I stand alone in my opinion, due to my teammate Grant Harper (formerly a prop for Western Suburbs, now paralyzed following a collapsing scrum), I won’t remain silent about it.
The Guardian newspaper in London recently reported that World Rugby had no problem with the Bomb Squad being used by teams.
World Rugby CEO Alan Gilpin said: “We looked at it from a science, medicine perspective.
Was there a notable perspective suggesting that bringing on several new players with 20-30 minutes left would lead to a higher risk of injuries, and scientific evidence indicated that this was not true?
So, from that point of view, there wasn't any need to consider alternative methods for making substitutions. In the end, there are numerous strategies to secure victory in a rugby game.
Erasmus also reacted positively to the tale, commenting with “So lekka” along with emoji representations of the South African and French flags.