Collective introspection for champs
11 Feb 2010
The Bulls aren’t fazed by the Cheetahs’ public disclosure of their desire to run them ragged.
It’s an open secret to those who have followed this fixture closely – the Cheetahs will attack the Bulls in the wide channels. It is worth noting that the tactic has yet to yield a victory.
The Cheetahs, however, have held stubbornly to the belief that attempting to stretch the Bulls across the track is the formula for success, and are again crowing about their plans to do so, the latest offering in this regard coming from Cheetahs flyhalf Naas Olivier.
It smacks of tactical naivety, made worse by the fact that they have a pack well equipped to play directly and the fact that a review of the last three seasons, including all the Pretoria franchise’s opposition, will lead the Cheetahs’ brains trust to find that that approach has seldom been effective.
The Bulls’ mantra has been to ‘control the controllable’ and it was from this perspective that head coach Frans Ludeke responded to questions around the Cheetahs’ proposed game plan.
‘We’re used to that from them and from other opponents,’ Ludeke told keo.co.za.
‘There seems to be a belief that our players are vulnerable against sides that run it wide. It wouldn’t be my place to comment on the strategy of other coaches, but we feel we are equipped to deal with anything that is thrown at us.
‘Our work rate against the Lions [in a pre-season warm-up] was phenomenal and the players are as fit as I’ve seen them. So from a conditioning perspective we won’t struggle to cover the length and breadth of the field. But our focus is on our own game, we’re looking within our team. I’m not too concerned about what the Cheetahs will try and do.’
To reference a popular saying among modern coaches, the Cheetahs will have to ‘earn the right’ to play expansively. That begins with set phase solidity.
Given that they are likely to look to circumvent the Bulls’ lineout potency by kicking infield and backing their defensive line to pressure them into errors, the scrums will become a focal point.
For all their failings in recent years, it is the one facet of play the Cheetahs have been competent in. Ludeke acknowledged their threat there.
‘They consistently been one of the best scrummaging teams in the tournament and that be a massive contest again on Friday,’ he said.
‘We had some problems there towards the end of 2009, but it’s an area of our game we’ve put a lot of emphasis on and I feel we’ve made significant progress there. That said, we’ll only have an idea of how much [we've progressed], if at all, after the Cheetahs game.’
Four of the Cheetahs’ starting 15 will debut at Super Rugby level, while three of their substitutes have yet to play in the southern hemisphere showpiece, but Ludeke was non-committal when asked whether the Bulls viewed them as vulnerable.
‘Winning is the primary objective for a coach, so I don’t think Naka [Drotske - Cheetahs coach] would have selected those players if he didn’t think they could win a match for him,’ Ludeke said diplomatically.
‘They may be inexperienced at Super Rugby level, but some of them showed enormous potential in the Currie Cup, so we’re certainly not taking them lightly.’
By Ryan Vrede
105 Comments
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11 Feb 2010, 15:33 pm
Pearly well done on your monitoring if the “other” site … keep up the good work …
How is your dossier on carol looking?
11 Feb 2010, 15:41 pm
Can I ask the Shark fans here whether they know why the Sharks franchise failed to renew Steve’s contract in 2006, but now is putting faith in him as their flyhalf?
Is this purely based on his time at Perpignan? And if so, and he had such an impact, why did Perpignan contract Dan Carter last year?
“Steve Meyer (March 21, 1984 – ) is a South African professional rugby union player currently playing for French outfit USA Perpignan in the position flyhalf.
Meyer attended high school at Kearsney College, a well-known South African sports boarding school in KwaZulu-Natal, from 1998 to 2002. In his Matric year(2002), Meyer was the head boy of Kearsney College. He excelled at soccer, cricket and rugby, and played both hockey and rugby at high school before committing to rugby in his later school years. Meyer was also a very strong academic, ranking in the top 20 in his graduating class. He considered studying to become an actuary, one of the most challenging degree options in South Africa.
He attended the University of Cape Town briefly at the start of 2003, before moving back to Durban to begin his professional career. He began playing for the Natal Wildebeest side in 2003. After several successful seasons with them, he moved to the Super 14 league team Natal Sharks. When his contract with the Sharks was not renewed in 2006 he moved to USA Perpignan in France, where he has played since October 2006.
In April 2007 Meyer tore a knee ligament in a game against Albi.
He returned to the Natal Sharks prior to the 2010 super 14 season.”
11 Feb 2010, 15:47 pm
@rossoneri: 12
hE WAS DUE TO PLAY SAT…..NOW RETIRES !!
hOW STRANGE!
11 Feb 2010, 15:50 pm
@grant10: Grant are you serious? I honestly thought you were joking? Where is the story?
11 Feb 2010, 15:57 pm
I’m so glad Juan de Jongh is playing, he fills the quota requirements … we don’t have to sit with oros quota january!!!!!!!!!!
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