When Rassie Erasmus took over as South Africa coach in 2017, nothing was dominant. They had been defeated for the first time by Italy in 2016 and fell to their then equal lowest-ever world ranking of sixth.
Once England halted the Springboks maul at Twickenham in the autumn of 2018, Erasmus called for change at the set-piece after he felt his side lacked a pressure point against opposition.
Former South Africa scrum coach Matt Proudfoot recalls the 2018 Rugby Championship, and in particular a game against Argentina, as to where they found their best combinations at the scrum.
"We looked at who was the most destructive loose-head, and it was Beast [Tendai Mtawarira]. So, we built the combination around who would scrum well with him," Proudfoot said.
"Then the Bomb Squad front row was who just had power, which was around [Malcolm] Marx, who was the most powerful and we built him with Steven [Kitshoff] as they scrummed well together.
"The starters were the most destructive and the finishers were the power, almost like taking the shine off the ball in the first 10-15 overs of a Test match."
The research and practice were undertaken. The 'Bomb Squad' - which is now known as the forwards who come off the bench - regularly at the same time, to finish the game - were ready to roll at the World Cup.
The starting front row of Tendai Mtawarira, Bongi Mbonambi and Malherbe were replaced - aside from unplanned injuries - early in each second half by Malcolm Marx, Steven Kitshoff and Vincent Koch in their knockout victories over Japan, Wales and England.
With the added bulk of flanker Francois Louw and locks RG Snyman and Franco Mostert, the Springboks opted for six forwards on the bench and only two backs as an innovative way of maintaining their dominance up front for the entire 80 minutes.
