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Springbok mastermind Rassie Erasmus has hit out at former Scotland coach Matt Williams over his comments about Steven Kitshoff's career-ending injury.
Williams has repeatedly criticised the tactic of loading the bench with forwards as he believes that it is a safety risk and "discriminates against backline players".
The Springboks made the tactic particularly popular in 2019 with a 6-2 split helping them with the Rugby World Cup before taking it a step further with a 7-1 four years later to defend their title.
Since then, more and more teams have started to employ the bench tactic, including France who used it three times en route to winning the 2025 Six Nations.
But Williams said he will "not shut up" about it despite World Rugby confirming that they have no plans to outlaw the tactic as they haven't found any evidence to suggest it made the sport more dangerous.
However, it was what he had to say about Kitshoff that caught Erasmus' attention and prompted a post on social media platform X, formerly Twitter.
Williams speculated that Kitshoff's injury was a result of the tactics and the Springboks' intensity of scrummaging.
The 83-Test cap prop announced his retirement from rugby earlier this year after suffering a neck injury that was "two millimetres" away from taking his life.
"We know about brain injuries, what is it doing for brain injuries by bringing fresh guys off the bench? What's it doing to the guys spines when it's being compacted unbelievably for 80 minutes?" he continued.
"What about Kitshoff, what happened to his spine in South Africa? Do we know if that is as a result of the scrummaging they are put through?"
Erasmus' posted a screenshot of Williams' quotes with the caption: "Nee wat [no what] !! How can a 6/2 or 7/1 split contribute to Kitchie's injury? "Do we know" No you dont."
Kitshoff sustained the injury while on duty for Western Province last year when he was working his way back to full fitness following a knee injury.
He came off the bench for Western Province in the match before sustaining the injury in a scrum.
Recently, Kitshoff appeared on Erasmus' podcast Rassie+ where he discussed his injury and the formation of the Bomb Squad.
During the episode, the Bok head coach asked the prop whether he believed the tactic actually extends a player's career.
"Don't you think that the way we did it, I know it was 83 Test matches, but doesn't it prolong a guy's career?" Erasmus said.
"One guy doesn't play 70 minutes and the other only 10 minutes, even when he is almost as good.
"A lot of people like to criticise it but surely it has helped you?"
Kitshoff replied: "100%, you give everything for 35 or 40 minutes and those extra minutes almost saves your body for the next week. Then you are fresher for Monday and Tuesday and you get through the week like that."
