Can the real champs please stand up?
17 Mar 2008
The Bulls can’t get any worse than they were against the Reds in Brisbane.
It seems South African teams have a habit of exploding in the most spectacular way at the Suncorp Stadium. The most notable defeat in this regard has to be Australia’s 49-0 demolition of the Springboks in the 2006 Tri Nations.
The Bulls, on Saturday, were equally atrocious. They sunk to a new low in succumbing to an opponent who would struggle to compete with the top teams in the Currie Cup. This with a team that boasted 10 Springboks.
At the corresponding time in the 2007 competition the Bulls were celebrating a 19-7 victory over the Brumbies in Canberra. That performance was everything Saturday’s wasn’t: controlled, clinical, intelligent. They defended for the vast majority of the match, but did so with accuracy and patience, absorbing the pressure before capitalising on the Brumbies’ errors.
Wins over the Waratahs and Highlanders followed to give them the best tour return of any South African franchise. But a replication of the Brisbane blowout and they should prepare to become the first side to slip disgracefully from the tournament’s summit to it’s cellar in consecutive seasons.
The Bulls haven’t communicated this publicly, but after losing a host of senior players – including revered lock Victor Matfield – 2008 was always going to be a re-building season. But even that doesn’t excuse the diabolical showing we were made to endure this weekend.
Bulls supporters can, however, take solace in the fact that’s probably as bad as it’s going to get for their beloved team. The Chiefs are dreadfully inconsistent but have superior individuals who will secure them a victory in Hamilton this weekend, while the Force are nowhere near clinical enough to put 50 on the Bulls. The Blues have hit what has now become an all too familiar mid-tournament wobble, but still boast a number of game breakers capable of routinely breaching a porous Bulls defence.
Thank goodness the Bulls have already faced the Crusaders – who passed the 50 point mark against the Cheetahs without so much as contemplating a shift from third to fourth gear. That could have destroyed what little self-confidence remains in the their camp.
The Bulls went into the Reds match as favourites having seen the equally embattled Stormers put the Reds to the sword a fortnight ago. Home ground advantage was cast aside when pundits considered the clash – the Reds simply weren’t expected to beat the defending champs with the limited player resources they have at their disposal.
Passion wasn’t lacking. Everyone that pulled on a blue shirt on Saturday morning would have died for the team – to coin a popular sporting phrase. But passion alone never won them the tournament in 2007. There was guts and character blended with superb coaching, effective attacking and defensive structures and a belief that, if they touched the ceiling of their potential, they could beat anybody in the tournament.
None of those characteristics were evident against the Reds.
Outside of Matfield, Pierre Spies and Gary Botha, whose loses are massive, the core of that championship winning squad remains intact. Which begs the question – what should the dramatic slump in performance be attributed to?
The fact that the New Zealand sides are back to full strength is a major factor, but it is becoming increasingly clear that head coach Frans Ludeke is out of his depth at Super Rugby level.
It could be argued that with a similiar record the same could be said about Stormers coach Rassie Erasmus. The Stormers performances, however, have suggested that they are a team in need of time to settle under a new coaching philosophy (where Ludeke has been quoted on numerous occasions saying that he would stick to the structures former head coach Heyneke Meyer set in place). They’ve [the Stormers] generally improved as the tournament has progressed, while the Bulls have stagnated and have drawn on the false confidence that came from beating a poor Lions side three weeks ago.
The ELVs have shown up the limitations in their game plan, and they’ve failed to adapt to the requirements of the revamped game.
They desperately needed a victory to kick off the Australasian tour. What they got was a hammering, and now face a damage control exercise.
South Africa needs its champion side to front up in the coming weeks. How that will happen is unclear, but at present they’re embarrassing a nation. Can the real champs please stand up?
By Ryan Vrede
291 Comments
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17 Mar 2008, 11:33 am
So how are the predictions for next weekend?
My predictions this past weekend sure suffered.
Here’s what I’m thinking for this weekend (and these are thinking with my head, not my heart!):
Crusaders v Waratahs: Crusaders by 22
Brumbies v Cheetahs: Brumbies by 11
Highlanders v Force: Force by 4
Blues v Stormers: Blues by 14 (I know, I know!)
Chiefs v Bulls: Chiefs by 4
Reds v Lions: Reds by 10
Sadly, therefore, I think that no SA teams will win this weekend…but the Stormers could well prove me wrong! Come on Stormers!
17 Mar 2008, 11:33 am
Thanks rangerdude
17 Mar 2008, 11:37 am
O en by the way……. ek het Vrydag vertel van my skoonsus wat gister ‘n breinoperasie moes kry om ‘n Tumor te laat verwyder…….
Alles het goed afgeloop, die Tumor was in die breinvlies, net bo die brein…… ‘n hele 125ml groot……. alles is suksesvol uitgehaal, sy is steeds in ICU maar maak goeie vordering. Die Tumor was nie kwaadaardig nie, gelukkig nie.
Dankie vir al die goeie wense Vrydag…….
17 Mar 2008, 11:37 am
WPTID WRONG DUDE
try this
Crusaders v Waratahs – CRUS by 25
Brumbies – cheetahs – Brumb by 5
Highlanders – force – Highl – 6
Blues – Stormers – Stormers – 8
Chiefs – bulls – bulls – 4
Reds – Lions – lions by 7
17 Mar 2008, 11:38 am
no worries gbs. i always support saffa teams against the rest.
but i just read the title of this thread again and I AM STANDING!!!!!!!!!(jokes).
17 Mar 2008, 11:38 am
GBS bly om te **** sterkte vir haar
17 Mar 2008, 11:39 am
sheesh gbs, i didnt hear about that mate! so sorry to hear and our prayers are with your skoonsus and your family mate.
glad to hear it all went well.
17 Mar 2008, 11:41 am
Rangerman
Howzit bud. Worst game of rugby I had to sit through in many a year. Ludecke is busy destroying everthing build up by Meyer. Cannot for the life of me think why the Bulls got a coach like him in….did’nt get a proper hooker and invested in centres. Its not as if they dont have the money and then to top it of they get a has been like slaptjips to ferk it up even more.
Loooooooong season ahead!!!
17 Mar 2008, 11:42 am
Bly om te **** GBS
Sterkte ou bees!!
17 Mar 2008, 11:44 am
Ek gaan nou eers tille slaan vir ‘n wyle, ons chat later….
17 Mar 2008, 11:46 am
ja kwagga, ludicrous seems to have been an uninspired choice. the sad thing is the lack of discipline. it tars the supporters with a “dirty” label and south african rugby as a whole.
it is sad and unexpected.
i didnt get to watch the game as i got taken out by some kind of stomach virus but i was shocked when i was told the bulls lost. so much so that i didnt believe it.
looooooong season is right. i just hope that ludeke doesnt destroy guys like habana by playing him when he is still injured, in the hope of him turning a game around. it can put him out for a long period and the boks need him to fire.
so much for the confidence building year of 2007!
17 Mar 2008, 11:54 am
Ryan
The Bulls have become a larger entity than to allow…”a rebuilding year”, as you would call it.
Meyer was afforded time a few years back to build a side and get a recruitment structure in place.
To be fair…the Currie Cup 2003 saved his arse.
Bulls fans will not tolerate this these days though.
When Alex Ferguson took over Manchester in the mid 80′s, he was also given time to build and win, do you think a new United manager would be afforded as much time. Hell no…it’s top 3 finish or it is curtains. Same with every club that has serious ambitions.
I’ve supported Ludeke in previous weeks because, to be fair, the bulls,although they have lost have played tactically sound rugby for long periods. But now we have a problem, the players will be looking at the coaching to staff to inspire confidence…and well, Ludeke has no past track record to look back on to do this. People say the senior bulls players may well be behaving as if they are uncoachable. Duh!!!…the senior bulls players know more about winning super 14 games than Ludeke and CC games for that matter.
In hindsight, the bulls senior execs should have just gone out and bought the best coach with the best record that money can buy. I still think roussow will be a good investment but am a little concerned about Pote though.
The Bulls breakdown work has become so poor in such a short period that it is beyond belief. Withregards to the pack, Roussow and Bakkies at lock.Wikus and stegmann must start, as must Wannenburg. Ludeke must start using his bench more intelligently. Wannenburg being replaced by Potgieter after 60 minutes and the same with Bakkies and Steenkamp.The pack must start stamping their authority on a game and maintain the physicallity through the 80 minutes. This was the pre-eminant factor in the bulls rise under Meyer and we must get that back.
Nel must now be dropped with Steyn moving to 12 and Olivier to 13.
…unlikely that ludeke will realize what is a simple but effective formula.
..so basically, for this season, we are screwed.
17 Mar 2008, 11:55 am
258. The reason is that one tends to start believing their own propaganda. At the start of the season White wrote an article that the ELV’s are likely to suit the Bulls or SA’s style of forward dominant play.It was apparent to everyone that this was not going to be the case. The problem is when a team is so far down the road and have spent so much time and effort in a particular style of play, it is difficult to accept reality even when you are looking down the barrel of a gun. And particularly when the same style has been so successful in the past. After all a World Cup cant be wrong? The Bulls execution is a problem but their style of play is a bigger problem.
17 Mar 2008, 11:57 am
#261 Sad but true my friend. Not sure what the brains trust at Loftus are doing but if this the way thing are headed for in 2008 expect a very empty Loftus for the remainder of the S14.
Ludecke is not motivating the guys. Whether it is a respect thing (which HM had a lot of) or just plain a slapgat culture that entered the Bull ring nobody knows but unless they want to become the worst champions ever they had better sort it out.
17 Mar 2008, 11:57 am
Ludicrous is just 50% of the issue there, your players are just walking into games with the attitude of we will win no matter what. FL cannot be blamed in entirety because of whats happening in bull land some of your players must also accept responsibility, respect is deserved not given someone should explain that to Derick Kuun and co last years bulls deserved respect this year they need to earn it.
17 Mar 2008, 12:00 pm
#262 Agree. Between Ludecke and Slaptjips it like the blind leading the blind.
17 Mar 2008, 12:05 pm
Mr Lam
I hear you but where do you start when guys who played like demons last year all of the sudden has a shocker of a season. They sure as hell did’nt become kuk overnight. Motivation respect and a coaching staff clever enough to adapt to situasions no matter what. These three aspects boils down to the coach and we have none of the above at this point and I doubt Ludecke will be able to swing that around…..
Last years Bulls would’ve died for HM. Can the same be said for Ludecke?
17 Mar 2008, 12:06 pm
I’m not entirely sure of the statistic…but the bulls look to have conceded more points in 5 games than they did in the entire tournament last season.
That is just unbelievable!!!!!
Something that people don’t seem to acknowlege is that the ELV’s do not change the basic principles of rugby.
look,I’m not a fan of a couple of these new rules but certain aspects are the same.
.If your pack dominates you have a better chance of succes.
.If you don’t concede tries you have a better better chance of success.
.If you have 15 players on the park you have a better chance of succes.
If the ball handling of the outside backs is precise you have a better chance of scoring more tries.
etc.
etc.
The A,B and C’s of rugby have not changed with the new rules.
17 Mar 2008, 12:07 pm
Kwagga
slapchips is technically quite good but seriously look what he has to work with
DH (liefling)
JP red card nel
Mesiekind I cant tackle cause it messes up my hair olivier
the only substance you have is morne steyn
and habs and habs is definately playing injured because ludicrous is desperate Zane however is also a blessing as soon as he comes back from suspension things can improve but until some serious reshuffling takes place in your back line they will not perform and the only reason they performed last year is that the tight 5 were great which is not the case this year
17 Mar 2008, 12:11 pm
….Roussow has a backline of S14 winners to work with of which 3 have world cup medals as well.
Certain aspects of the bulls backs is a concern at the moment but the pack is the biggest.
no backline can play with slow static ball.
like I already said, for the backs, their defense is the biggest problem so far this season.
17 Mar 2008, 12:11 pm
268.
100% correct.
17 Mar 2008, 12:14 pm
Kwagga agreed about the coach respect thing
this was obviuos in 2006 CC pote was f…up and HM stepped in to turn things around. But senior players i believe should drill respect into teh younger players for teh coach no matter what .
This was also a major issue with the stormers and fester nobody respected him and the senior players didnt instill discipline in the youngsters, Rassie leaves the discipline up to senior players and they lead by examnple which works wonders in any setup.
17 Mar 2008, 12:15 pm
#269 I hear you Lam but HM and Louden managed to get them going. So who does it point to yet again. Sure the players need to clean up their act too irrespective if the like Ludecke or not
17 Mar 2008, 12:17 pm
I also can’t understand the useless tactic of Danie Rossouw taking the crashball at inside centre.He is a better centre than either of the 2–but the Reds were just waiting for him.
17 Mar 2008, 12:20 pm
Mr Lam
In retrospect one could now argue that the only thing that was short in the Province setup was respect. Something Rassie obviously demands and breeds into that team and voila!! Still early days for them but they are realy looking good. Massive test of caracter for them this weekend!!
17 Mar 2008, 12:23 pm
275
yep really looking forward to it hopefully we win, but win or lose as long as we play and give them a run for their money i am positive we will get one of teh last two games in our favour maybe both, I think defensively are the stormers teh best SA team this year
17 Mar 2008, 12:25 pm
#276 All the best Mr Lam. Gotta run. Have a good one.
Cheers
17 Mar 2008, 12:26 pm
Kwagga ludeke should never have got the job its atrocious how a caoch can be chosen for winning team and he possibly has the worst superrugby record even worse than fester
17 Mar 2008, 12:27 pm
cheers
17 Mar 2008, 12:49 pm
ruck 17
“C’mon boys – Remain true to the team, like we down south did….good times/bad times…It’s like a marriage…”
agree with what you mean, BUT… marriage???….. 50 000 guys with horns calling DH Liefling….. does that make loftus the biggest *** club in the world? eish, spare a thought for real bulls of old like thys, frik and the like…..
17 Mar 2008, 12:51 pm
#280 Horing ou grappie daai sunshine try weer!!
17 Mar 2008, 12:59 pm
deur Jan Oberholzer – Oud Blou Bul kaptein en speler op Blue bULL RUGBY WEB
Die Reds 40 en ons Bulle 8. Watter skok vir enige Blou ondersteuner. Baie ondersteuners sê dit is die swakste wedstryd
wat ons Bulle nog ooit in die Super 14 gespeel het, maar ek stem nie saam nie want ek dink daar was al swakker.
Nou is die groot vraag – “Wat nou gemaak?”
Ek sien ons beleërde afrigter sê dat ons Bulle van nou af met passie moet speel en karakter wys, maar passie is nie
genoeg nie want ‘n span het ook goeie afrigting en ‘n werkbare wedstrydpatroon nodig om in die Super 14 te wen. Ek
twyfel sterk of Frans Ludeke dit kan doen, want dit lyk nie of hy die vermoë het om ons Bulle uit hierdie gat te kry nie. Dit is
duidelik dat hy en sy bestuurspan nie moderne rugby en die nuwe reëls verstaan nie, want enige afrigter wat Wikus,
Pedrie en Danie, seker die stadigste losvoorspelers in die hele Super 14, as ‘n losvoorspelerkombinasie kies, weet nie
waaroor moderne rugby gaan nie.
I see that John McFarland, the defensive coach, is saying in a press statement that the Bulls are a very disciplined team
with only four spear tackles in the last 5000 tackles. Great news John, but please tell the supporters how many of those
spear tackles were in the last few matches and how many of those 5000 tackles were missed in the last few matches. I
think that John must stop using excuses and must start working on our defenses in which the gaps is becoming bigger
and bigger every week and through which 19 tries were already being scored this year.
What is happening to our backline? Morne Steyn is no fullback, Akona is at times just useless, Hanana is without any
motivation, Olivier is out of form, JP is playing like a brainless player, “Liefling” is not suited for modern rugby and Fourie is
trying his best, but the captaincy is his big handicap at the moment. Poor Pieter “Slaptjips” Rossouw who must try and get
some life into this backline.
The scrums were the worst I have ever seen from a Blue pack of forwards and I am sure that Rayno Gerber earned his
wings on Saturday by hanging in the air in most of the scrums, by being outscrumed by the unknown Red player.
Saterdag is dit die Chiefs en dit kan weer nag wees en glo my die Blou ondersteuners is diep
ongelukkig en hul wil weet wat gaan gedoen word om ons Bulle te red.
Gegroet ou Blou grote tot volgende keer.
17 Mar 2008, 13:07 pm
281 nog steeds by die horings lol. yea it’s an old joke… out dated like the lyrics of a certain song…. but hey, hope it goes better this weekend …
17 Mar 2008, 13:09 pm
282
thats what I said about slaptjips
17 Mar 2008, 13:11 pm
Jees, they were aweful on Saturday. Absolutely clueless on attack.
Habana, FDP and Bakkies look like they dont want to be in that setup.
JP Nel is a useless thug. Meisie kind is terrible.
Akona is getting good under the highball, but suspect that’s because it’s their only attacking option.
The Reds opted for scrums on a few penalty occasions-madness
The losies are nowhere.
And there is a real dicipline problem in that camp, which suggests that none of the players respect their coach too highly.
17 Mar 2008, 13:21 pm
seamus
that was the general concensus here, seems the bulls have more kak internally this year than what the stormers had last year bakkies wanting to leave and even risk costly court case, case in point everything that HM built in the last 5 years is teethering on the brink of destruction if critical interference is not applied which will not happen because then the bulls administrators would have to admit they f…. up by employing ludicrous
17 Mar 2008, 13:58 pm
I wonder what HM thought of while he was sitting at home watching this pile of rubbish??
17 Mar 2008, 13:59 pm
# 105
But come the Tri Nations your scrum won’t be!
17 Mar 2008, 18:01 pm
Still reeling from their shocking display and an almost unthinkable defeat of 40-8 against the Reds on Saturday, the Bulls are now holding thumbs that Bryan Habana, captain Fourie du Preez and Wilhelm Steenkamp will be fit for Saturday’s match against the Chiefs in Waikato.
could get a lot worse…
17 Mar 2008, 21:08 pm
Bottomline, the core of the team are still there, what has changed? the coaching staff, which is incompetent and the players do not trust/accept them. Even if they follow the structures put in place by HM the coaching staff and especially the main drol in the drinking water, EF EL is not respected by the players. Nobody expected them to carry on where they left off, but this is plain kak and if the team is not managed now, they will end up last on the leaderboard. EF EL & co. will not be able to do this on their own.
18 Mar 2008, 04:55 am
And after that HUGE freaking embarrassment for their supporters: Not a word!
Not a word from THAT DAMN COACH, not a word from the players, nothing!!
I WANT AN EXPLANATION DAMMIT!! I am pissed, and I am considering swapping allegiance to the Blues (hey I grew up in Pta, but live in Auckland) because of the sheer MAGNITUDE OF THE BULLS MANAGEMENT STUPIDITY.
I objected to Ludicrous being appointed with his record of nothingness and **** ALL performance. We were told it would be business as usual, and even then , I doubted he could even just keep a strong motor running.
HE CAN NOT, and Bulls management need to do something about it ASAP – or face a vote of no-confidence from their own fans.
And this from a union which proposed a motion of no confidence in Jake Whaite! huh! I propose that the whole board of directors hand in their resignation RIGHT NOW for sheer ******* stupidity!
Right, I have had my rant. Motherfu@kers…
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