The ‘bomb team’ was one of the most memorable images of the South Africa squad that would defend its 2019 Rugby World Cup title four years later in France. This rugby idea involved holding back your best players on the bench and then releasing them all together in the second half to maximize impact and win the match. Steve Borthwick and England have started to use this tactic with great success.
It is difficult to say how much this tactic helped the Springboks win the 2023 World Cup, as Rassie Erasmus’ team lost to Ireland in the pool stages but won three consecutive knockout tests by only one point each time. All games that could have easily gone the other direction. But it is becoming more and more clear that the current England team is building a huge depth.
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During this Test window, both Jamie George (left) and Ellis Genge (centre) were used as impact subs.
The score at the time was 10-7 for England, the Test being in doubt. Within eight minutes, Pollock had sped across the line to score a brilliant try, securing the match in favour of the home team. Cowan Dickie scored another late try.
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Pollock, who was on the bench for the final try against Australia last week, scored it from the bench.
Borthwick again used five subs in one go, this time at the 53rd-minute mark with the score of 21-18. The Test was on the line.
Henry Arundell (later) and Maro Itoje were the replacements. Fiji was defeated in the final quarter by George, Arundell and Itoje. Uncanny.
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Henry Arundell’s pace was electric as he sealed the win for Fiji.
Borthwick and Genge, as well as Ben Earl, the player of the game, all spoke about the importance of the bench in their interviews after the victory over Fiji.Borthwick stated that the team played a physical, tough game against Fiji, a team with a lot of speed, power, and skill. “You could see the players doing a great job throughout the match,” Borthwick added.”Managing it, knowing that the game was going to be tight and finding the ability at the end to accelerate and convert opportunities.”You have seen our Test games, the margins were so tight. Every team goes into the fourth quarter within just one or two points.”So, understanding the fitness of players, their ability to last 80 minutes, as well as the impact of a bench, composure, and resilience are all important factors to finish the game the way you want.
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Steve Borthwick, the head coach of both Test matches this November, has deployed five replacements at pivotal moments in Test matches.
There’s a lot of competition to get into the top places. This is fantastic. The most pleasing part is that everyone is competing to get places but it’s also a collaborative effort. Most importantly, the team comes first.”Genge, the captain of the Test said: “I believe sometimes we are misled by Fiji’s not necessarily ranking too highly in the rankings but their players in their team were absolutely amazing.”For us to do what was done in the first-half, I thought it was a great job to keep Fiji within this sort of score. Then we talked about this in the following week. I was so proud of how the boys finished the last quarter.Earl continued: “It was the hardest game of rugby I ever played. The opposition has world-class players on the pitch, but our team deserves credit for the victory.
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Ben Earl, who was named the player of the Match in the victory over Fiji, praised his bench afterward
Each opponent presents different opportunities. They called it a Test for a good reason, and we were tested by their gameplan. Fiji brought a gameplan that was difficult to handle in the opening half, but their bench played fantastically and everyone from the one to the 23 players were great.What’s next for England? They will host New Zealand next Saturday at 3:10pm, at Allianz Stadium at Twickenham. For Fiji, the next game is against France in Bordeaux on Saturday, November 15th at 8:10pm GMT.
2025-11-08 20:26:00
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