VIDEO: Bulls coach balks at rolling subs idea
CURRIE CUP SPOTLIGHT: Rolling substitutions will be used in this year’s Currie Cup tournament and Blue Bulls head coach Pote Human is not a happy man.
The rule was introduced earlier this year in the SuperSport Rugby Challenge. Teams will be allowed to use 12 rolling substitutions during each match, of which four must be reserved for players in the front row.
Human confirmed the news at the Bulls team announcement on Wednesday ahead of the opening 2018 Currie Cup clash against the Free State Cheetahs in Bloemfontein on Friday.
“They are playing the same rules as the SuperSport Challenge, so there will be 12 rolling subs, four of them must be in the front row, so it’s a new thing for me,” Human told reporters in Pretoria.
“I’m old school, I want to play with what I got, but now there is a bit of a different strategy now.
With only seven players on the bench in the Currie Cup, Human believes front row substitutions can become a bit tricky.
“You only got 22 players. You can only have one prop that can play both sides that is why Dayan [van der Westhuizen] is in the mix [on the bench] – he can play both sides.
“The other props are specialists on the loosehead and tighthead.”
There is also the rule that when a team causes uncontested scrums, they will be reduced to 14 players on the field until the end of the match.
“I’m not a guy for uncontested scrums and I hope that doesn’t happen on Friday,” said Human.
“I’m not for that. I don’t like the idea of rolling subs.
“With 23 guys you can develop a tighthead or a loosehead specifically in his position.”
By Warren Fortune
@FortuneWarren
@rugby365com
