England head coach Steve Borthwick could well follow the example set by the Springboks and France and attempt a 7-1 split among the replacements.
The tactical innovation, which was first used by South Africa in a 2023 Rugby World Cup warm-up, sees the team stack their bench with forwards.
Although the Springboks used it twice more during the tournament – against Ireland in the pool stages and versus the All Blacks in the final – it was over a year before head honcho Rassie Erasmus rolled the dice again.
Since then, France have adopted it to great success, doing so on three successive occasions during the 2025 Six Nations as they hammered Italy, Ireland and Scotland to claim the title.
England’s back-row depth
According to the Telegraph, England are ‘exploring’ the option and could be the next side to try it with the wealth of back-rowers at his disposal potentially convincing Borthwick to trial the 7-1 next season.
The back five of the scrum has become a real area of strength for the English and the head coach is struggling to fit all that talent into the team.
It obviously comes with inherent risk, given that there will only be one out-and-out back among the replacements, but flanker and number eight Ben Earl is someone who has covered centre in the past.
England also believe that Alex Dombrandt is an option there should injuries arise during a game, and that hybrid player is crucial for the tactic to be viable.
In March, Les Bleus were forced to put a forward into the backline against Ireland following the departure of Antoine Dupont and Pierre-Louis Barassi, but Oscar Jegou did a magnificent job at centre.
“Longer-term, with how many good back-rowers we’ve got – the list is long – it makes sense to have as many of those players in the squad, in a six-two, potentially a seven-one, as possible, especially when we have the positional versatility that we have,” Borthwick said after they defeated Argentina 2-0.
“[Alex] Dommers [covers centre] really well and we’ve seen Ben Earl do it in the past. I want to keep building that as I see six-two as the long-term plan, to get as many of these good players in.”
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It is an innovation which has its detractors, with Matt Williams and Sir John Kirwan among those to openly voice their criticism of the ‘Bomb Squad’.
Williams feels it “discriminates against backs” and that it makes the game more dangerous, despite evidence suggesting that is not the case.
Kirwan, meanwhile, reckons it hinders the quality of the sport, with the All Blacks great suggesting that being able to put on a fresh pack of forwards reduces the opportunities to attack.
Scotland boss Gregor Townsend also reportedly expressed reservations about forward-heavy benches at a World Rugby Shape of the Game event, even though he himself has gone with a 6-2 split on occasions.
However, the governing body do not have any plans to ban it going forward with research showing that, for now, it does not impact player welfare.
Props covering hooker
The 7-1 is not the only South African-inspired idea England could utilise with their head coach potentially looking at getting props to cover hooker.
Borthwick namechecked flanker Deon Fourie, who has played a significant amount in the front-row, when discussing forward versatility, but he could well be looking to copy the example set by Jan-Hendrik Wessels.
The Springbok can play loosehead prop and hooker, and has had stints in both positions for club and country.
“We are exploring the possibility, as we develop some of these younger props, of them being able to play hooker, too,” Borthwick said.
“We’ve seen that done. The one that jumps out straight away would be [loosehead] Cian Healy for Ireland against Scotland and Deon Fourie.
“Although we’re not at that stage yet, these kinds of things [help] at World Cups… it’s part of our project planning, as well as seeing which back-rowers can play in the centre, to allow us to go six-two, potentially seven-one.”