Ludeke laments lame Bulls
3 Apr 2010
Frans Ludeke pointed to the Bulls’ poor defence and failure to dominate the breakdown as the primary reasons for defeat to the Blues.
The Bulls had their unbeaten run snapped by the Blues on Saturday, going down 32-17 in Auckland.
It was a disappointing all-round performance, but Ludeke was in no doubt about the facets of play that contributed most significantly to defeat.
‘There were just too many missed tackles for us to be competitive against a side as good as the Blues,’ Ludeke told keo.co.za.
‘Even when we didn’t miss tackles, they still got across the advantage line and that made it very difficult for us to contest the ball on the ground and control the tempo of the game.
‘They did that when they were defending [dominated the collisions], and the number of turnovers they were able to make shows just how important it is to be strong in the collisions under the new breakdown law interpretations.’
The Bulls conceded numerous penalties at ruck time and found Blues goal kicker Stephen Brett in no mood for charity. Brett kicked six penalties, and Ludeke stressed that they would have to be more disciplined in the coming weeks.
‘The penalties came as a result of pressure and we’ll have to address our reaction in those pressure situations because there are good kickers in this competition who’ll punish you if you give them the opportunity to.’
One of those penalties earned Pedrie Wannenberg a yellow card. The Bulls were trailing 16-14 at the time, but conceded 13 points in the flanker’s absence.
Gerhard van den Heever’s youthful impetuosity showed in that period as well, as he took a quick lineout feed to Zane Kirchner, who was quickly swamped by Blues players. They turned over possession and shifted the ball wide to Joe Rokocoko to score.
Brett’s conversion made the score 29-17, but the Bulls responded well, driving into the Blues’ territory and threatening to score.
However, Flip van der Merwe was binned for a shoulder charge just 13 minutes after Wannenberg’s return, significantly undermining the Bulls’ ambitions of a comeback.
Ludeke said no blame could be attributed to the trio. ‘We win together and we lose together. I’m not going to pick out individuals for blame and I don’t think those mistakes had a significant impact on the result.’
Ludeke’s disappointment was compounded with news that centre Jaco Pretorius is being treated for a serious facial injury, the exact nature of which is not clear at the moment.
Pretorius is likely to be replaced by Stefan Dippenaar for their clash against the Chiefs on Friday if he fails to recover.
By Ryan Vrede
44 Comments
3 Apr 2010, 16:59 pm
Ludeke had a Bulls gameplan based in fear consciouness. Terrible head space. The needed to be more bold and hungry.
3 Apr 2010, 17:00 pm
Bulls = best franchise in world rugby — sheep lovers going a bit over the top after 1 lucky win. Afrikaners = dominating world rugby
3 Apr 2010, 17:21 pm
Wynand Olivier was POOR. Guess our other teams are finding that touring overseas is not that easy. Very quick to bad mouth the Sharks and the Lions. I hope for SA they will come right though.
3 Apr 2010, 17:21 pm
It was a far win by a far superior Blues performance. We’ll be back.
3 Apr 2010, 17:27 pm
Finally a good reaction to the result. He correctly identified the causes, and therefore we can be confident that the problems will be solved.
This is better than excuses, and meaningless statements like “we made too many mistakes” or “we conceded too many penalties.” It’s also better than blaming the referee for the defeat.
3 Apr 2010, 17:54 pm
Good. JLP might as well start 12 with WO at 13.
Dippenaar in. Then perhaps it would have been best to see:
Flip in for Danie.
Gerrit-Jan in for Wannenburg (or Okkie, anyone will do).
Wacko Jaco should start a few.
Oh how I wish Chilliboy was ok, Maku=kaku.
Bakkies for 3rd phase please?
We need to import another wing.
3 Apr 2010, 20:31 pm
The ref Craig Joubert had a shocker today… he failed to give a yellow card to repeated off sides by the Blues . The yellow card of Petrie Wannenberg was ludricous as well …. The Bulls should also have taken all their shots at the goals. I think the Bulls will be back next week . Thank heavens the Sharks just pulled it off
3 Apr 2010, 20:36 pm
Also if Van den Heever didn’t give away that try … it would have been a different story … Pity Matfield lost a crucial lineout as weel … Overall i thought the Bulls have it to win the Super 14 … It was just an off day at the office …
3 Apr 2010, 20:43 pm
We were beaten by a team with a better pre-determined gameplan today. The Blues employed high impact physical play and were stretching the rules a little as well, but it worked for them because the ref allowed them to do it. Cudos to them.
Bakkies Botha got suspended against the BILs last year for illegally cleaning and it was stipulated that in future players must bind onto the ruck before they make contact with their opponents, and for a few months there the refs were very strict. Now it seems completely forgotten.
The Blues, when they carried, entered through the gate at the tackle legally, played over the ball and stopped. That is all fine and within the rules, but then, when Bulls cleaners and/or fetchers approached, they played these guys off the ball and prevented a fair contest for the ball by tackling them or driving them back BEFORE they can entered. I think this is a grey area in the rules which should be addressed forthwith by the authorities, or else adapted to by the Bulls.
My understanding is that the cleaners, once part of the ruck, cannot exit the ruck on the opposition side and play entrants to the ruck off the ball. Can someone please cast more light on this?
3 Apr 2010, 20:54 pm
@bluebullcapetown: I agree, we’ll be back. It might sound a little lame, but fact is, the hoodoo is off their backs now. They don’t have to worry about their chances of being unbeaten this year. Now they can just play every game on merit. I think we will now see the true Bulls team playing to their full potential without restraint from the next game onward.
Go Bulls!
3 Apr 2010, 21:07 pm
@timmy:
actually you might find that the sharks are the best known franchise in the world!!
to abroad and ask around – it might expand your knowledge by a degree or two
3 Apr 2010, 21:07 pm
@charo:
sorry guys…to= go
3 Apr 2010, 21:49 pm
Victor Matfield loafs at ruck time, only peering in and inspecting it from the rear. And, when things started going pear-shaped, did he have the captaincy skills to haul out a Plan B? Not on your nelly. All you saw was Furry duPreez whining unceasingly and windmill-gesticulating at the ref, and looking even more ridiculous with a mealie-pip stuck up his bloody nostril.
They got done like a roast beef dinner at Eden Park.
3 Apr 2010, 21:56 pm
@TheTackler: what is a ‘mealie-pip’?
3 Apr 2010, 22:00 pm
@TheTackler:
do they serve roast dinners at eden park?
3 Apr 2010, 22:11 pm
@timmy: A lucky win for who? the Bulls have never won at Eden Park so hardly lucky for the Blues who played harder to keep a record and tradition intact.
3 Apr 2010, 22:19 pm
@bluebullcapetown: Craig is one of South Africas best refs along with Mark Lawrence and Jonathan Kaplan, so lets not blame him for the frequent infringements of the Bulls, as for the offside line they both did it and both got away with it, majority of the penalties were for ruck infringments which the Bulls were committing the better team won in the end and I hope the Chiefs deal to the Bulls…. maybe just to help the Tahs.
3 Apr 2010, 22:20 pm
@Big Hit: it is a maize grain that he had in his nose.
poor bully boys, with the headless chicken Jaco P and van den Heever ‘I cannot tackle’ the writing was on the wall.
3 Apr 2010, 22:22 pm
“Jaco Pretorius is being treated for a serious facial injury”
the plastic surgeon has a chance to make some improvements now, give him a meisiekind kinda look.
3 Apr 2010, 22:24 pm
@catleya:
My understanding is that the cleaners, once part of the ruck, cannot exit the ruck on the opposition side and play entrants to the ruck off the ball. Can someone please cast more light on this?
I hear you … in recent weeks the antipodes have been doing this more and more. We should do the same.
3 Apr 2010, 22:25 pm
anyway RL is out …
my team remained unbeaten this weekend and Red is just happy.
3 Apr 2010, 22:28 pm
@RedLion: congrats for your team not losing!
3 Apr 2010, 23:02 pm
@charo: You can be served whatever you like at your box at Eden Park.
Or even at Ellis Park (unless Suzie is in town, in which case you’re far better off eating a steak-and-kidney pie from the BP garage shop).
3 Apr 2010, 23:41 pm
whats with all this soul-searching for ‘reasons’ why the team lost, as if their destiny was solely in their hands ?
check out the stats for who many missed-tackles, penalties conceded and YCs awarded against the Bulls. That means ONE thing in rugby -> PRESSURE !
Love seeing they blond-eyed pansies shy away from tackling the Brown Brothers too, brings a tear to the eye.
3 Apr 2010, 23:50 pm
@RedLion: @20
yeah but he is only a plastic surgeon, not a miracle-maker
4 Apr 2010, 02:10 am
I wouldn’t get too carried away. This year’s S14 is proving so unpredictable any team can win on any given day. The Bulls have points up their sleeve which is why they will be hard to beat on the home stretch. My beloved Chiefs will need everything going for them if they are to topple the Bulls next weekend. Even if one of their own reserves took up the whistle and two blind mice ran the touch. Nah can’t see it happening. The Bulls will be back with vengeance.
4 Apr 2010, 02:52 am
@timmy: Afrikaaners dominating world rugby??? obviously someone missed the EOYT last year did they? one year dominance isnt such a big thing, win 4 3Ns in a row like NZ did then I’ll agree on the “afrikaaner dominance” angle… until then shooosh…
4 Apr 2010, 03:12 am
@Black Panther:
Blonde pansies currently top of the log (and by my count there are only 2 in the side), brown brothers mid table. Did not realise that one had to judge a rugger side by the colour of the skin of the players??
4 Apr 2010, 03:13 am
and that from a Kiwi….
4 Apr 2010, 05:18 am
All NZ victories in Super Rugby and the Tri-Nations are against the backdrop of the travel advantage. If you have any doubt about this, talk to Mils Muliaina.
4 Apr 2010, 05:20 am
@sglazer: hahahahahaha
serious??
bwahahahahahahaahahahahahahaaha
4 Apr 2010, 05:30 am
@sglazer: gees, its only SA teams that travel, last year alone you had to play ONE game in NZ while we had to play TWO in SA…
cry me a river…
4 Apr 2010, 06:16 am
I don’t get why people are blaming refs or saying the Blues cheated. The Bulls missed 25 tackles. The blame lies squarely with the Bulls.
4 Apr 2010, 07:47 am
Lamentabulls…
4 Apr 2010, 11:05 am
The Bulls have won only 4 out of the 32 Super 14 games ever played in Australasia. That’s shabby.
4 Apr 2010, 11:15 am
Lame Bulls is appropriate. How can the best performing team in the competition capitulate evey single time away from home.
The Sharks should have been 3 from 4 if it wasn’t for the Aussie ref leaving his brain cells behind in the two cases of VB at home.
4 Apr 2010, 12:32 pm
need to hit back against Chiefs…..no room for error anymore bulls.
4 Apr 2010, 13:03 pm
Chiefies next week, will not be easier than the Blues.
However,
Bully Boys should be more acclimatised by then.
I do hope they enjoy Hamilton.
8)
4 Apr 2010, 14:03 pm
The Bulls should be better next week. For some reason, the second match touring is the hardest for Saffa teams. Maybe it is a mental thing (missing the biltong and mamma’s beskuit before getting used to it?)
Last year, the Bulls won their first match against the Hurricanes (playing the second half with 14 men after Stegman got red-carded for spearing Conrad Smith), then got clobbered by the Highlanders of all NZ teams at Palmerston North 36-12. In their third match they lost to the Saders 16-13 in a match that could have gone either way, they then beat the Tahs 20-6 before narrowly losing to the Brumbies 32-31.
As for the other SA teams last year, Cheetahs lost all their tour matches, Lions only won their third match against the Reds, Stormers only won their last match against the Hurricanes and the Sharks actually manage to win all but their third match (vs Reds) down under.
4 Apr 2010, 16:46 pm
As difficult as it is to say this…the bulls misses Habana badly. He always works his *** off and active all over the show. Both Hougaard and vdH need to learn from him because their defense is not rock solid like Habana’s
Give Stefan Dippenaar and JL Potgieter a chance in the backline
Give Flip vdm more game time.
Start with Wannenburg and Kuun, they make a huge impact.
Dewald Potgieter need to cut his hair, he is not a Stormer.
Go Bulls!!!!!
4 Apr 2010, 18:13 pm
@ossewa: You like to live in the past man? Ossewa….Habana…..Wannenburg Dewald Potgieter to cut his hair….. HAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!! You should get a life man, preferably away from the laager, boet!
4 Apr 2010, 18:17 pm
@catleya: The game vs the Blues was lost in the seconf half when Wannenburg came on…..and went off…….13 points scored against us in the 10 minutes he was off! You’re right, that was a huge impact!
4 Apr 2010, 23:57 pm
Lack of real pressure fom VD Heever in teh kick chase and at kick off allowe dteh Blues to put pressure on us in our own half.
I personally believe that G vd Heever and the other wings lost the game for us by their poor kick chase performance. The Bulls game plan is based on it, but when its executed poorly, it allws the other team to get lots of possession and put the Bulls under lots of pressure with minimal possession. The Force handled it well by catching well, but the Blues got it handed to them by sloppy performance from our wings. You just do not give a side like the Blues too much good possession.
5 Apr 2010, 00:27 am
bulls
did not
clean out
at all
that’s
why blues
could
pick
and drive
at will
that
was their
foundation
olivier played
like the
moron
he used to
play as
a few
seasons
ago
it seems
he can only
be
very good
or
very bad
i hope
the bulls’
spirit
is not
broken
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