Coaches set a new benchmark for the game

IT isn’t an exact science so when coaches assemble or turn to their bench, they know they potentially enter the realm of ridicule.

Who to put on the bench and how to deploy them is a tightrope they have to walk as aerobic ability and physical durability demands participation of all 23 players.

“The days of relying on 15 guys are long gone,” insisted Cheetahs coach Franco Smith, whose team trailed the Sunwolves 28-13 at half time last weekend before he rang the changes. The Cheetahs won 32-31. Fans, however, are often left sobbing into their beer when coaches withdraw a player who is having a blinder or slap the computer screen when players who tend to shine when the shadows are long, are earmarked for the bench.

“The perception around it has to change,” said Smith. “We are in a modern age. From a spectator’s perspective we in South Africa don’t always understand that it’s about an 80-minute game and you have to maintain quality.”

Smith is meticulous when he weighs up his bench. “I have a distinct plan in the way I go about it. I can’t reveal all of that here.”

In selecting your bench, you can’t look at the match in isolation, explained University of Cape Town coach Hanyani Shimange.

“You don’t want to start with the same guys over and over again. The other guysmay not get properly match fit so that is something you have to manage well.”

Lions coach Johan Ackermann admits sometimes when he considers the virtues of the players on the bench, he is caught between two stools.

“Sometimes your starting XV does so well you are reluctant to change it and the same goes for when they train well.

“The way I set up my bench also depends on a rotation policy but some guys are just better off the bench because they excel when the game gets loose.”

On match day, Shimange says, coaches need to differentiate between a substitute and an impact player.

“Danie Rossouw was a good example of a guy that was used well. Ollie le Roux was another, as was Andrew Hore with the All Blacks.”

Smith explained why he’d

Some guys are just better off the bench . . . when the game gets loose

rather deploy fresh legs en masse.

“By making substitutions you try to enhance performance. If you sporadically deploy the players you potentially disrupt the team’s rhythm. Of course injuries come into it but you want as little disruption as possible.”

Ackermann devises a strategy for every game but unlike Smith he is mostly guided by how the game is unfolding.

“It isn’t a rigid plan. You are faced with difficult decisions. Do you substitute a star player who is struggling? Then you think of how well he played before,” said Ackermann.

“You are loath to change and hope he plays better. It is very difficult to change a halfback after just 30 minutes.”