Rassie surprises by not picking a 'bomb squad'

There is no "bomb squad" to count on for the Springboks when they take on the All Blacks in their blockbuster Rugby Championship encounter at Eden Park in Auckland tomorrow.

- Ross Roche

Coach Rassie Erasmus (below) named his match 23 on Thursday, just a few hours after the All Blacks, and mirrored his New Zealand hosts by naming a 5-3 bench split between forwards and backs for the game.

The Boks have relied heavily on their forward-dominated bench ("bomb squad") to get them out of trouble over the past seven years under Erasmus' reign, but over the past year they have been slowly trying to not be as reliant on those players.