FILE. Former England international Ben Foden advises teams against copying the Springboks’ successful strategies, emphasising the importance of embracing their unique DNA and playing to their strengths. Photo: AFP
Image: AFP
As the undisputed dominant force in rugby since 2019, it must be tempting for nations to copy what the Springboks are doing, but this should be avoided at all costs according to former England international Ben Foden.
Since they’ve won the last two Rugby World Cup titles in a row, the dominance of the Springboks is begrudgingly acknowledged outside of South Africa.
The Springboks, and by extension coach Rassie Erasmus, are widely regarded as the most innovative rugby nation.
The Bomb Squad (a 7-1 split on the bench of seven forwards and just one back), for example, are innovations made by Erasmus. However, straight replication of what the Springboks do well will not work for other nations, insisted Foden.
“They [other nations] should follow their DNA. One thing that used to drive me mad about Stuart Lancaster when we were in camp with him is that he would always show us clips of New Zealand or South Africa doing something,” Foden told BOYLE Sports, who offer the latest Six Nations odds.
“I was always thinking, ‘Why are we watching the teams that we play and saying this is how we want to play?’
“With video analysis now, you have to look at teams and study them and figure out what they're good at. But you have to have your own DNA. You want the world to be watching you, not looking at what everyone else is doing. I think where England are now, they don't need to be looking around and copying people.
“They just need to do what's right for them. Whether it was the "Bomb Squad" coming on, they just need to do their own thing.”