There’s been a lot of talk about the bench recently, which is good as I think it has been one of the ABs biggest issues. It’s obvious these days that finishing with your strongest 15 is preferable to starting with them. So, here’s an idea I’ve been thinking about: In 2024 we beat Ireland and England largely because Roigard coming off bench was so effective at upping the tempo during the crunch of those matches. This makes me wonder whether Roigard should actually be a finisher, not a starter. The issue is, you want him on the field as much as possible. So, what if you start Cortez or Hotham, play them for 30 minutes, and bring Cam on to warm up at the end of the first half, then really hit his straps for the second? This is more or less what the Boks did by accident against us in Wellington. SFM started at 10 but got injured and replaced by Manie maybe 15-20 mins into the first half, and it was incredibly effective. I pitched this idea to a semi-professional prop the other day at a party and he thought it had promise. But we were also on the piss. So I’m wondering if there are any reasons that I’m not aware of as to why you definitely wouldn’t do this?   submitted by   /u/Professional_Rip_966 [link]   [comments]