Wikus: Victory is vital
16 Sep 2008
Wikus van Heerden says a win for the Blue Bulls in their Absa Currie Cup match against the Cheetahs on Saturday is non-negotiable.
The Springbok and Bulls flanker says the team are acutely aware that a win in Bloemfontein will virtually secure them a home semi-final. They are just four points clear of the third placed Lions, but have an easier final fortnight with matches against the Griquas (away) and the Valke (home).
Defeat for the Bulls at Vodacom Park and victory for the log leading Sharks over the Valke would almost certainly erase any hope pf finishing top of the pile. That expected victory would see the Durban boys open up a seven point gap (assuming the Bulls don’t get a losing bonus point and the Sharks grab five points), with the Lions (away) and Griquas (home) to finish their league phase.
“We’re not taking anything away from the Griquas or Boland, we respect them, but we would back ourselves to win those games. That makes the Cheetahs game almost like a quarter-final for us in the sense that it would put us in a great position for a home play-off,” Van Heerden told keo.co.za.
“The Sharks are likely to beat the Valke and beat them well, and the Lions will fancy their chances of getting five points against Boland, so a defeat for us would make things very difficult. We want to control our own destiny in terms of a home semi-final and possibly a final, so we simply have to win. It’s vital.”
The Cheetahs will be desperate to arrest their slide of two successive defeats and keep the fifth placed Western Province at bay. This makes the Bulls’ task even more difficult.
“They’re the defending champions and that didn’t happen by accident. They’re a very competent team, especially at home, and desperate to stay in the hunt for a semi-final, so we know it’ll be a massive challenge to win there,” he said.
Van Heerden noted that despite the Cheetahs’ defeat to the Sharks last week they had been impressive in various facets play, particularly their loose forwards.
“The balance of that trio is very good with Hendro [Scholtz] playing towards the ball and Juan [Smith] and Duanne [Vermeulen] acting as their ball carriers. Then they have a guy like Heinrich [Brussow] coming off the bench. That’s a pretty potent group of loosies,” he said .
“They’re always good at the breakdown and we’ll have to work hard to counter them there, but we have a pretty good bunch ourselves I think.”
The “bunch” Van Heerden refers to is likely to comprise of Deon Stegmann, Pierre Spies and himself – the back row who performed brilliantly in the latter part of the Super 14. To add to their threat in that department they have Pedrie Wannenburg and potentially Dewald Potgieter to call on off the wood.
“Deon, Pierre and I didn’t get it right against the Sharks a couple of weeks ago but the more we train and play together the closer we get to the sort of partnership we’d developed during the Super 14,” he said.
“We have clearly defined roles – Pierre is a big ball carrier for us, I play primarily as a blindsider who also plays towards the ball at certain times and Deon is an out and out fetcher. We’ve combined well in the past and I’m sure if our tight forwards get going we can ask some questions of the Cheetahs.”
Regarding the composition of the team, Van Heerden said Danie Rossouw (heel injury) and Bryan Habana (hip and shoulder) played a limited role in Tuesday morning’s training session and took no contact.
“They looked okay and a call on their selection will be made later today [Tuesday]. They’re Springboks, so obviously they’re important players to have in your starting line-up, but we pride ourselves on our depth and while we hope they recover, we’re more than confident in whoever replaces them.”
By Ryan Vrede
96 Comments
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16 Sep 2008, 14:16 pm
#47 blhoo: ok,ok, not murdered. we got lucky with morne wearing the wrong boots, but if the final is at the tank, the bulls will battle to put the sharks away.
16 Sep 2008, 14:19 pm
#37 Andre_WP: Groot hoeveelhede Ritterlyn, Prozac en geen kaffiene werk vir my – wat’s jou verskoning?
16 Sep 2008, 14:19 pm
WP are more likely to overtake the Lions than the Cheetahs. The Cheetahs just need 1 point out of Saturday’s game, and they’ll be safe in third spot.
16 Sep 2008, 14:20 pm
#51 rangerman: Agree wholeheartedly. Going to be a big one!
And who knows Francois might just oblige!
16 Sep 2008, 14:21 pm
#53 Tacitus:
are you gonna hand them that 1 point
16 Sep 2008, 14:23 pm
#55 st.a.t.w:
For all we know the Cheetahs may get 4 points out of the game, so I don’t think anyone will be handing anything to anyone else on Saturday. These games are usually tough affairs.
16 Sep 2008, 14:24 pm
#53 Tacitus: 4th place on the log sounds just about right for the late-comers.
16 Sep 2008, 14:27 pm
#57 blhoo:
There is of course still the outside chance that the Lions will beat the Sharks at Ellis Park, in which case the final order could be:
Bulls
Sharks
Lions
Cheetahs
I don’t see that as being a likely scenario, but anything is possible, I guess.
16 Sep 2008, 14:28 pm
#56 Tacitus: Solank ons net in die semis is…. imo kan ons enige span wen….maak nie saak waar nie! Sal moeiliker weg wees maar nie onmoontlik nie.
16 Sep 2008, 14:32 pm
#59 Staal:
Ja maar Staal, ek is moeg vir hierdie alewige geworry oor watter Bul span by die veld gaan opdaag.
My gunsteling jaar was nie 2007 nie, dit was 2005, toe die Bulle baie voorspelbaar en een dimensioneel was. Jy kon voor die wedstryd voorspel hoe hulle gaan speel. Die massiewe pak voorspelers het die opposisie vir 60 minute sag gemaak, en dan het ysters soos Danie Coetzee, Danie Rossouw, Andries Human en Jacques Cronje in die laaste 20 minute opgekom en die game vir ons in die sakkie gesit.
Week na week, dieselfde patroon, en dieselfde resultaat. Op Lofuts was ons onoorwinbaar. Dit is lekker rugby, want jy daag op met ‘n verwagting, en dit word gerealiseer. Nie soos deesdae waar jy nooit weet hoe die Bulle gaan speel nie.
16 Sep 2008, 14:35 pm
#56 Tacitus:
maybe they get 1 point may be 4 fact is they need 11 points to make it.
if they get 1 point from this game they need 10 from the remaining 2 games all though it’s weaker opposition anything can happen
and as far as i can remember the cheetas are’nt a prelific try scoring machine.
only the boland have scored less tries then they have this seosen
16 Sep 2008, 14:37 pm
#60 Tacitus:
Hello Tac.
The team should have been put through a koppestamp session on Monday, for allowing those 3 tries in by Boland at the end.
I tipped the Bulls to win by 84 points, and with about 15 minutes to go and the score at 69 nil, I thought I was safe!!
I was very dissapointed at the end.
A champion team buries the opposition, and you only stop at the final whistle.
16 Sep 2008, 14:38 pm
#61 st.a.t.w:
Come now. The Cheetahs can only realistically lose 1 more game, and that’s this weekend. After that, it’s plain sailing for them. Same for the Bulls. The Lions however, have two massive games left. They will most probably lose both.
16 Sep 2008, 14:42 pm
#48 WP Till I Die:
Yep its changing by the minute..
Much like in the NFL
Quarterback no longer confined to the pocket,need athletic ability to make plays
Arising more and more of dual backs/running backs.1000yard recievers/1000 yard rushers(ie:Brian Westbrook/Reggie Bush)
Same analogy,its just harder in rugby for some to understand/acknowledge as its inundated in conservatism.
But it makes for exciting viewing at times,dont it?When did one ever think theyd see some of the tries scored this yr by tight fwds?Phenominal athletes coming through
16 Sep 2008, 14:42 pm
#62 tight head:
To be honest, in a game like that the victory margin is irrelevent to me. You could see guys like Matfield and Spies were just trying to avoid injuries when they came on in the last 20 minutes, while Heinie Adams was so focused on setting up more tries that he totally forgot about defending.
The thing is, if a top team has a clear advantage in a specific area over a weaker team, they could go ahead and score 15 tries by exploiting that specific advantage. But that means nothing if that advantage does not exists against a stronger team the next weekend.
So, if you have a wing that runs around the opposition wing 12 times against Boland, that may not even give you 1 try against WP if their wing is just as fast as yours.
So the fact that Bekker scores 5 tries against the Valke – what a farce it is for a lock to score that many in a game – it really doesn’t mean a thing when they face decent opposition.
16 Sep 2008, 14:46 pm
#63 Tacitus:
i did’nt say they could lose to the other teams they must still play i was mentioning the fact that they are unable to score tries on a reguler basis.do you think they are capable of scoring 12 tries in the next 3 weeks. boland valke probebly
but surely the bulls defence can’t be that weak to let in 4 tries
16 Sep 2008, 14:46 pm
#48 WP Till I Die:
I could always bore you with details on how to dominate collissions and how to attack space through dynamic rugby principles.
16 Sep 2008, 14:47 pm
#66 st.a.t.w:
They’ll score 4 tries in each of their last two games easily. Against the Bulls all they need is to lose by less than 7.
16 Sep 2008, 14:52 pm
#65 Tacitus:
I agree with what you say.
However I also know that it is very dificult for a team to keep it’s structure and composure when they are winning 69 nil.
That is why, to me, that is a good time to test your ability to keep controlled, and play the right way, instead of letting the game become an open free for all, which always suits the losing team.
In other words it is not about the score, as you say, but more about testing your discipline.
It is a good mental exercise to be able to keep your structure and finish the job, even though there is the temptation for every player to just get try line fever.
16 Sep 2008, 15:00 pm
Cheetahs will probably beat Bulls this weekend…Lions ******** up is WP best chance.
16 Sep 2008, 15:57 pm
dont say this often about the baby blue bullies… but GO BULLE!!
16 Sep 2008, 16:09 pm
#37 Andre_WP: Jou wiskunde laat jou in die steek. WP leef op hoop van die valke en boland. Die Cheetahs het nog 2 easy games. En wp moet nog die leeus wen. Julle het te laat waker geword.
16 Sep 2008, 16:34 pm
#65 Tacitus:
The Bulls ran in 13 tries against the Reds a year or so back. Was that a farce too?
16 Sep 2008, 16:36 pm
Keo?s Bigmouths , who’s the champ ? say again ?
16 Sep 2008, 16:38 pm
and while you all fight amongst urselves for positions the sharks are cruising and i a position to rest many stars
a nice position indeed
tacitus although one never can say never i doubt the lions will beable to stop the sharks
thus meaning in durban the week after the sharks again can rest many players
this is helping to keep the sharks injury free
i think we mustnt forget next week smitty will be back and even if bismark starts smitty’s presence will make the sharks even stronger
i doubt the sharks will change capt’s now
16 Sep 2008, 16:40 pm
amazing how sharks dominate all other scrums and their forwards coach isnt given the credit
a certain balie swart
16 Sep 2008, 16:42 pm
#73 WP Till I Die:
Do I really have to answer that? Come on now, you’re playing dumb, and you know it.
How many other teams have put 80 points past the Reds? IA Super 14 team.
In contrast, the Lions put 84 points past the Valke just a week ago. I would say there is a slight difference between the two achievements. Come to think of it, off the top of my head the only other performance I could compare with the Bulls 92-3 victory over the Reds, was their 75-14 slaughter of WP/Stormers a couple of season before.
Hehehe…
16 Sep 2008, 16:48 pm
#77 Tacitus:
And how many teams have put 40 points past the Bulls?
I can think of the Reds, for one…
16 Sep 2008, 16:48 pm
The WP has 27 points. Max they can get is 15. Total 42
The Lions require another 7 points to eliminate WP. Thus they only need 2 bonus points in the games against Sharks ans WP.
The Sharks really has the final say. Leak 2 bonus points to the Lions and its the end of WP
16 Sep 2008, 17:17 pm
#79 dWeePer: Don’t think the Sharks will leak any bonus points to the Lions. Maybe one!!! hahahaha. I think WP will make the semi but its upto the game this weekend against Cheetahs and Bulls. Bulls win this weekend think that WP will be in the semi playing either the Sharks or Bulls.
16 Sep 2008, 17:18 pm
#78 WP Till I Die: Then again think the Bulls beat the Reds 93-3 or something like that.
16 Sep 2008, 17:22 pm
#64 mshiniwami: Brian Westbrook? hahaha, marion barber, romo and the rest of the cowboys make westbrook and the rest of the eagles look like plonkers last night!!! 41-37, go cowboys. yes I do live in dallas and no this isn’t a football thread.
As for the rugby, my head goes with the bulls to win the cc, but my goes with the lions (I am from johannesburg) or the sharks (my favorite SA team) to win it. but I would like to see a sharks bulls rematch of the super 14 final and have the sharks finally come out on top. sharks v bulls matches of the last couple of years have been some of the best rugby games I have ever watched. I look forward to it.
16 Sep 2008, 17:25 pm
Interestingly no one considered the historically proven possibility of a draw.
Should it be the outcome what’d the log look like then?
16 Sep 2008, 19:24 pm
#82 miteemunkee:
Tried to stay up and watch the game(3am SA time!!!) but had work in the morning,fell asleep on couch…hav to watch Sportscenter for highlites…41-37 hardly sounds convincing though…
Used to live in Connecticut so nearest team I supported and still support are the Superbowl Champs…THE G-MEN!!!!!!!!(Eli and Jacobs would eat Romo/Barber alive…LOL!!!!!)
ps…at least McNabb and Westbrook have won a playoff game….More than I can say for Romo/Barber
Ouch….
16 Sep 2008, 19:37 pm
#84 mshiniwami: It was a crazy game. cowboys actually almost blew it, and the defense sucked for both teams, except when it counted most. well, you know what they… third times a charm! Romo can’t blow 3 times in a row. if he does I will have to cry myself to sleep, and the giants winning the superbowl last year was pretty awsome! I don’t like the patriots.
The cowboys division is by far the best in the NFL, eagles and giants are both contenders for the superbowl. anyways I gotta go, I am at work right now. later
16 Sep 2008, 20:03 pm
There is one team and one team only – the Green Bay Packers – even with no Favre (an absolute legend!).Ryan Grant is THE man. Other fav running back and the kabamba floors of the NFL is Jones-Drew of Jacksonville……punches WAY above his weight. Best QB by a long shot is Eli’s big boet Peyton – no question – romo and brady are luke watsons – i.e. showboaters (lets put philip rivers in the luke watson mold as well)
Lastly – i had a vision of the men in white smashing the bulls in the house of orange – hoping it was a prophetic vision
16 Sep 2008, 20:04 pm
Tacitus and Co,
Talking about Wikus, who do you guys think will be hia likely successor at the Bulls? Will FL buy in extra or turn to his youngsters? A guy like Dewald Potgieter comes to mind. Does it make sense to play him off the bench @ 8 when he could start at 6 for instance? In fact, him and Spies could be rotated. Both carry well, but Potgieter is stronger defensively. It is a toss-up between them. And then there is Danie Rossouw, although under the ELV’s they seem to prefer him at lock nowadays, or is it just because Bakkies is injured?
16 Sep 2008, 20:05 pm
hia = his
16 Sep 2008, 20:28 pm
Come on Wikus!!!!!
isn’t it about time a champion player and person such as yourself, already with a S14 and World Cup winners medal…..got his hands on the Holy Grail of South African rugby?
…..a Currie Cup Winners medal?!?!
16 Sep 2008, 20:40 pm
#89
#89 St.Petersburgbok
Patience, all good things come to those who wait! I reckon the Bulls are in the process of taking a massive step up.
If I were the Sharks I’d be scared sh8less at having had to rely on off- days by the Bulls 10 and 15, normally two of their stars, and a bit of luck via Keegan Daniel, to keep them out on my homefield. Instead of the patent arrogance I would have expected a more circumspect approach here on the blog. Same from my Province counterparts on the other thread, don’t you think?.
16 Sep 2008, 22:12 pm
The Cheetahs cannot afford another loss,so I reckon they will pull
this one off at home,against all odds.Strange that the WP relies so
much on their Boks and imports ( from Lions and overseas) does
not say much for our rugby strength if we have to rely on 22 Boks
to liven ‘up the Currie Cup.
16 Sep 2008, 22:37 pm
CurrieCup
Good news for Blue Bulls
2008-09-16 22:14Email | Print
Habana ready for Cheetahs
Morris Gilbert
Pretoria – There was a double dash of good news for the Blue Bulls’ Currie Cup rugby team on Tuesday.
Springbok wing Bryan Habana and Bok lock Danie Rossouw have both passed their fitness tests and will be able to take the field against the Cheetahs at 17:05 on Saturday in Bloemfontein.
This means that with the exception of prop Gurthrö Steenkamp and lock Bakkies Botha, the Bulls will be able to select their strongest available side.
Steenkamp underwent surgery on Monday after fracturing his left hand against the Cavaliers and Botha sustained a serious knee injury during the Tri-Nations series.
On top of the good news about Habana and Rossouw there also came the assurance from Vlok Cilliers, the Blue Bulls’ kicking coach, that there is no concern in the Bulls’ camp about the place-kicking form of flyhalf Morné Steyn. Cilliers conceded that Steyn did not come up to scratch in the Bulls’ last two games, but said this lapse was purely temporary.
“There is nothing wrong with Steyn’s technique or self-confidence,” said Cilliers. “He has been kicking consistently well during training. Yes, he did struggle against the Sharks, but that is the one field on which most other place-kickers also find it difficult to take accurate aim. It is especially difficult to judge the wind correctly.
“Against the Cavaliers he hit the upright once, and that could just as easily have been over. What I don’t doubt is that he will be a trump card for us again against the Cheetahs on Saturday.
Drop goal
“It’s actually as if he always puts his very best foot forward against them. Just think back to earlier in the season when he succeeded with eight kicks from nine in the Super14 match between the Cheetahs and ourselves. And that doesn’t include the drop goal he slotted so tidily.”
Meanwhile more and more theories are beginning to emerge about which teams will ultimately square up in the semifinals.
For all practical purposes the Sharks are already assured of their place because of their 42 points – which is the most that WP (fifth with 27) will be able to collect if they pick up maximum points in their three remaining matches.
All that the Sharks still have to do to make it officially through to the semis is beat the Falcons in Brakpan at the weekend.
The Bulls, too, can clinch a semifinal spot for the sixth successive year with a victory over the Cheetahs. The Bulls are in second position with 40 points and need only one win to qualify.
However, if they want a home semifinal, they will have to win all three remaining matches.
17 Sep 2008, 09:04 am
Methinks the Bulls would try by all means to make sure that they lose this game so as to avoid meeting the on-form PROVINCE in the playoffs……….
17 Sep 2008, 19:01 pm
#93 Nkalakatha: They’d rather meet WP than Sharks
And vital? no kidding…. feel the pressure
17 Sep 2008, 19:10 pm
#93 Nkalakatha:
You must have a serious drinking porblem.
17 Sep 2008, 20:18 pm
#58 Tacitus:
Your scenario could happen easily.
And as much as I hate the idea WePee could sneak up to 3rd place.
Assuming WePee get 5 points from all their games and derprive the Lions of a point AND
Assuming all 5 of the sides get 5 points from all their games against the minnows then
* If Bulls deprive the Cheetahs then WePee go above the Cheetahs
* If the Sharks deprive the Lions of a point then WePee can go above the Lions
BUT
If the Lions get 2 points from WePee and/or Sharks AND the Cheetahs 1 point from the Bulls the WePee get 5th place.
Quite frankly WePee are on the up so as a Sharks supporter I would rather avoid them in the semis. Let the Bulls and WePee kick the cr@p out eachother
But alas – too many permutations. So all one can do is win ones games and hope for the best
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