Sharks braced for running of Bulls
4 Sep 2008
Sharks assistant coach Grant Bashford says the Blue Bulls have laid to rest the criticism that they are one dimensional, citing Morne Steyn as the catalyst for an ever improving backline.
The teams face off at Kings Park on Saturday in a match that will determine who tops the Absa Currie Cup log at the end of the weekend.
Bashford was acutely aware that the Bulls would rely on the physicality of the pack in the search to gain the ascendancy, but said to underestimate their back division would be a grave error.
“I’ve been really impressed by them this season. They’ve evolved their play wonderfully,” Bashford told keo.co.za.
“Their forwards have always laid a good platform for attack, but the difference now is that they have Morne there at 10. They don’t waste good go forward ball now by passing the ball 10m backwards,” he said in reference to former flyhalf Derick Hougaard’s penchant for slipping into the pocket.
“He [Steyn] takes the ball a lot flatter, attacks the gain line and is able to get those outside of him away . If you look down that backline you notice that they have some outstanding players and he’s the one that gets them involved.”
The Bulls are the tournament’s top scorers with 33 tries, while the Sharks follow closely on 26. Bashford said that the continuity in selection the Bulls have enjoyed has played a major role in their success to date.
“They’ve had a side pretty similar to the one they fielded in the Super 14, which has obviously helped them and the results have been there,” he said.
“Ourselves and Western Province have been hit hard by Springbok call-ups and to have those guys available now is really good.”
The Bulls have included Springboks Pierre Spies, Danie Rossouw, Fourie du Preez and Victor Matfield in their run-on side.
The Sharks have included Springboks Jannie du Plessis (tighthead prop), Ruan Pienaar (scrumhalf), Frans Steyn (outside centre) and Odwa Ndungane (wing). In addition, they will also welcome back Springbok lock Johann Muller from injury. In total they’ll boast eight Springboks in their starting 15 and three on the bench.
The Sharks have indicated that they will utilise Steyn primarily as a midfielder and his inclusion at 13 forces Waylon Murray to the wing with Brad Barritt partnering him at centre. Frederic Michalak continues at flyhalf and Bashford said they were extremely encouraged with his development.
“Fred is starting to benefit from an extended run and we’re starting to see the fruits of that in his play,” he said.
“In the first six weeks of the tournament we used five different flyhalves because of injury and Springbok call-ups, which wasn’t ideal. But hopefully we can stay injury free going into the last couple of weeks because we believe we have a team with massive potential and continuity in selection is key to success.”
Sharks - 15 Stefan Terblanche, 14 Waylon Murray, 13 Frans Steyn, 12 Brad Barritt, 11 Odwa Ndungane, 10 Frederic Michalak, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Keegan Daniel, 7 Jean Deysel, 6 Jacques Botes, 5 Johann Muller, 4 Allistair Hargreaves, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Skipper Bardenhorst, 1 Deon Carstens.
Subs: 16 Bismarck du Plessis 17 Patric Cilliers, 18 Steven Sykes, 19 Albert van den Berg, 20 Skholiwe Ndlovu, 21 Rory Kockott , 22 JP Pietersen
By Ryan Vrede
130 Comments
Pages: « 1 2 [3] Show All
4 Sep 2008, 11:31 am
#99 grootblousmile: Blou masjien! Ek moet gaan werk.
Cheers second best provincial teams and Blue Bulls.
4 Sep 2008, 11:31 am
Only change to Bulls team I would make is Mametsa at 13 in place of Delport
Heyneke played Mametsa at 13 a few times already.
4 Sep 2008, 11:35 am
#99 grootblousmile: Sit jou bestelling vir wildsvleis in. Die jag seisoen is verleng na Saterdag. Daar gaan ‘n hele paar bokke k@k in Bloem.
Ek het die lekkerste Springbok wors resep.
4 Sep 2008, 11:36 am
where’s skabenga these days?
4 Sep 2008, 11:36 am
#103 adj nm: Ek sal vir jou wildsvleis verlui vir ‘n paar Haai steaks
4 Sep 2008, 11:38 am
#102 capebull: Why don’t you rate Delport? When he started of at wing I thought this guy could go places unfortunately you can’t play wing in SA if you’re white. So I thought a move to 13 for him was a good move. Big strong good pace. But I’m not a Bulls supporter so would be interesting to know your thoughts?
4 Sep 2008, 11:41 am
#103 adj nm:
Eish ek hoop so! Dis sleg vir die Bulle as die cheaters wen, maar ek geniet altyd as WP verloor! Veral nou met Lulu en Mujati in die span sal dit nog beter wees.
4 Sep 2008, 11:43 am
#71 Tacitus: Fantastic idea Tac, wish that somehow the Administrators would pull their heads out of their asses and see the sense in what you have proposed.
It would certainly vindicate the cost of test tickets at last if the public knew they were getting 100% commitment without the excuse of fatigue to hide behind.
4 Sep 2008, 11:43 am
#106 adj nm:
Delport is die swak skakel. Ek sal ook graag iemand anders daar wil sien.
4 Sep 2008, 11:45 am
Sharks by 11!! Yahoooooooooooooooooooo
Cheetahs by 14…….
Mwooooohaaaaaaahaaaaaaaaaaaaa
4 Sep 2008, 11:46 am
#107 Supa Die Bloubul: Hoekom sleg vir julle? As julle al julle games vorentoe wen dan is julle mos oraait.
Julle gaan nou teen ons verloor maar tweede op die log is nog steeds goed?
4 Sep 2008, 11:48 am
#109 Supa Die Bloubul: Ja maar hoekom? Onthou ek het nie so indiepte kennis van die ou se spel nie. Ek onyhou net toe hy verskyn het op die scene het ek nogal gedink hy is oraait?
4 Sep 2008, 11:50 am
#111 adj nm:
Hoe meer die Cheetahs en HAaie verloor hoe groter is ons gap tussen hulle, dus n home semi.
ha! Dan wen ons maar die finaal. Solank die koppie blou word gee ek nie om hoe nie!
#110 thefeather:
Wishful thinking.
4 Sep 2008, 11:54 am
women
should not
have the vote
like they should not
have moustaches
4 Sep 2008, 11:55 am
#114 Porra: since when does cafe’s have internet connections?
4 Sep 2008, 11:57 am
A key reason that the Bulls are loading the team with Boks so quickly, is that a home semi and home final are really important to them from a financial perspective. They had a poor S14, and most their home games against big teams in the Currie Cup happened while the Boks were away, so the attendances were pretty low.
Now that the Boks are back, they have no major games left at Loftus. So their payday will have to come from home semis and home finals. That’s why they’re gonna use the Boks in all the crucial games that remain (meaning the Sharks and Cheetahs games) to try and get those home playoffs at every cost.
Money talks, especially if you want to retain some high earning stars.
4 Sep 2008, 11:58 am
#115 adj nm:
greengrocer
4 Sep 2008, 11:58 am
#112 adj nm:
Hy het my oook beindruk op vleuel as n jong speler. Hy het sterk gehardloop en kon self step. Nou speel hy nie vir my goed nie. Hy is gereeld by dinge betrokke van die bal af. Hy bly sterk, wat n voordeel is, maar ek het hom nog NOOIT n gap sien slaan nie. Sy defence is ok, maar hyt ook nie veel van n skopvoet nie. Jy sien hom bitter min betrokke by mooi bewegings, WO Olivier maak deesdae dinge gebeur, nie Delport nie. Sy balverspreiding is ok swak.
Dink hoe gereeld sien jy JDV, Jacobs, Bosman, Walter Venter, JAco Pretorius gaps slaan en dinge laat gebeur. Nie Delport nie.
Dit gese, hyt baie potensiaal, maar het dit nog nooit verwesenlik op ccup vlak nie.
4 Sep 2008, 12:00 pm
#117 Porra: Well I’ll be damned!
4 Sep 2008, 12:02 pm
#118 Supa Die Bloubul: Met WO op binne senter en in redelike goeie form – dalk kan hy dinge maak gebeur vir delport? Maar ek **** wat jy se en stem saam.
4 Sep 2008, 12:03 pm
#116 Tacitus:
That might be one reason or advantage but certainly not the main reason. EVERY team want to finish top of the log, have a home semi and win the cup in front of your home crowd. Its not just the Bulls, the Sharks, Cheatahs etc want the same thing.
4 Sep 2008, 12:07 pm
#120 adj nm:
Ek sal bly wees, JDV doen dit goed (om dinge te laat gebeur). Ek sien nooit regtig Delport van WO se skouer af hardloop nie, iets wat Jaque Fourie, JAcobs goed doen. As hy perfom sal baaaaaie bul supporters bly wees. Ongelukkig het hy sover nog nie veel bewys nie.
4 Sep 2008, 12:14 pm
#122 Supa Die Bloubul: Ek het vir lank vleuel gespeel en toe na buitesenter geskuif. Is vrek moeilik om op jou binne senter se skouer te hardloop as mens so lank vleuel gespeel het. My baie lank gevat om aan te pas – en is vrek gespesialiseerde posisie op verdediging. Maar dit is sy werk so ja of hy moet dit aanleer of hy gaan meer splinters in sy boud begin kry.
4 Sep 2008, 12:28 pm
BULLS BY 9!!!!!!!!!! GO BULLE
4 Sep 2008, 12:36 pm
Bulls only got Delport as the weakest link, Sharks got 15. hehehe
4 Sep 2008, 13:53 pm
#125 Kalahari Kid:
there goes that high pitched giggle again
4 Sep 2008, 15:07 pm
#121 Supa Die Bloubul: I agree M Delport was the only player in history to play SA u21 3 years in row, but he has failed to produce any thing , Mametsa is far more committed ( even though he has less skill )
4 Sep 2008, 17:29 pm
#116Tacitus it is not just the union`s who want to play their springboks i think the sponsors would want them to play as well,as they spend big bucks on the boks and the CC and they want the best teams available to compete for the CC.The fans also want their boks to play and strengthen their teams and i agree with you the boks anly have to play the two games against the sharks and free state and then they can have a rest for a few weeks before the semi`s are due and then i hope to see the CC back where it belongs at LOFTUS.
4 Sep 2008, 18:40 pm
#93 David: But they played S14 a long time back. Bok rugby is much, much harder and all the travel too compare that to CC. Just thing that the Boks in these sides should have had a 2 week rest before joining in the CC. Going to pick up a lot of injuries for sure before end of year tour.
4 Sep 2008, 19:03 pm
#351 on Meyer thread vindicated: bye vindi. look at the bright side of life, you’re not living Aus. In SA there are all types of doctors and life can be surprisingly nice if you are. Don’t think twice, be nice, I have legal advice. anyway Mufkop, cheers.
Pages: « 1 2 [3] Show All
Have your say
You must be logged in to post a comment.