Trouble with transition
7 Mar 2011
RYAN VREDE writes that the Bulls have to exhibit more tactical flexibility and game intelligence if they are to defend their Super Rugby title.
Last week I wrote that the Bulls looked ominous. I based that assertion on the fact that they had ground out two away wins in derby matches despite deeply flawed performances. I predicted that those mediocre showings would prompt reanalysis of their ‘systems’ (a word readily used by their players and coaches) and that they would be astute enough in that analysis and accurate in their execution going forward, to make a statement of intent.
Instead what we got on Saturday evening was a replication of the errors that were a marked feature of their first fortnight. The players must take responsibility for their ability to execute the attacking and defensive game plans.
Speaking at half time, head coach Frans Ludeke identified the defensive deficiencies accurately – a weak tackle fight and too little numbers at the breakdown was allowing the Highlanders to dictate the tempo and of flow of play. They looked vulnerable every time the Highlanders swung the ball wide, as they did when the Lions and Cheetahs tested them in this manner. Their cause was undermined by the fact that they were consistently falling off tackles, with senior Springboks among those who were poor in this facet of play.
It is a poor effort to concede 35 points at home – including two tries gifted to Kade Poki through diabolical defence – against a side as limited as the Highlanders. The usually stingy Bulls have now conceded 10 tries against three of the weaker teams in the tournament (the Highlanders will point to their three from three record but they’ll be no more than mid-table competitors by the close of the season). Only the rookie Rebels have a worse defensive record (13).
However, their biggest concern has to be their uncharacteristic impotence on attack. Outside of their excellent first half against the Lions they have struggled to impose themselves in the manner they’ve become renowned for. The Highlanders match was the nadir in this regard. They were bullied at the collisions and at ruck time, robbing them of the platform they needed to test the Highlanders defensively.
On Saturday the match situation demanded tactical flexibility. An attempt was made, but it was a weak and unsuccessful one.
Good tactical kicks lost their impact because of a lethargic chase, allowing the Highlanders the opportunity to counter from broken field. Their rolling maul crept rather than rumbled across the turf and attempts at a multi-phase game were thwarted by a combination of their poor ball protection and referee Stuart Dickinson’s generosity to the defending team at the breakdown.
The Bulls wouldn’t have won three Super Rugby titles in four years if they didn’t have the capacity to transition between game plans when needed. The problem is that they’ve failed to exhibit that capacity to date, but at this point they will draw solace from the fact that poor execution and not the inability to shift, is at the root of their struggles.
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66 Comments
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7 Mar 2011, 10:58 am
Bulls needed a wake up and I think they got it
7 Mar 2011, 11:02 am
It was interesting to listen to the panel of Reunion last week leading up to this game, the one guy mentioned that the Bulls, since last year, had a very suspect defense so this is probably nothing new…
7 Mar 2011, 11:12 am
A thing that irritated me with the Bulls on the weekend however, is how they shout and scream at the referee.
These guys have been around the block enough times to know how to manage a referee, least of all one they know very well. They allowed themselves to get distracted from the job at hand and quite simply, lost their cool.
7 Mar 2011, 11:15 am
PA
As ever you have knocked the nail on the head. Matfield had barely broken a sweat and he was in Dickinsons face, this is a poor judgement by such an esteemed leader.
The Bulls almost come across as thinking thins should just run their way, perhaps too much success has distracted them indeed!
7 Mar 2011, 11:17 am
@PissAnt(PissAnt)-3:
to be fair..the bulls were pish but dickenson was rank ameteur.
you could see matfield pissed off from the first lineout that dickenson called against them…..it was just a plain blatantly incorrect call. Hell, at one stage I thought he was making it up as he goes along.
calls like that will breakup any sort of attacking momentum and cause any amount of frustration …there is no excuse for the shoddy defence though.
7 Mar 2011, 11:27 am
@Brigadier Van Zyl(Brigadier Van Zyl)-5: I’m afraid that’s the Dickenson Method. It involves a very shrill blast of the whistle at the first sign of a possible ruck situation. Because in his world, someone HAD TO have done something wrong for us to be anywhere NEAR contemplating a ruck. Otherwise we’d all be running around the field selling dummies, laughing off tackles and hitting gaps like a G.ay Pride production of Swan Lake. He totally fcked the Lions Stormers game with that stupid whistle that he cherishes so dearly. I wish Paddy O’Brien would slap him about his daft ears and tell him it’s not all about him.
7 Mar 2011, 11:32 am
Definitely not the finest performance by a ref and vintage by Dickinson all in one. Both captains fluctuated between surprise and bewilderment at times. Werner Kruger was struggling and got away with a few hands down, before being blown when he managed to stay up. If anything the **** was consistent, consistantly average.
As a neutral in this game however, I really enjoyed the Highlanders performance and felt a little cheated by a Bulls side that just didn’t get going.
I have no doubt they will bounce back and this defeat could well be the best medicine for a team that looks a little lethargic this early in the season. On a plus I thought Basson looked hungry to get involved, while the decision to play Roussouw ahead of Flip vd Merwe left me a little surprised. Flip definitely had an impact and really got stuck in. The changing of the guard is unfolding and the Bulls may be ripe for some new blood.
Sadly the performances of the Bulls Vodacom Cup team has been well below par and there must be concern in Pretoria around the Champions depth this season.
7 Mar 2011, 11:33 am
This was vintage stuey.
At the top of his game.
7 Mar 2011, 11:44 am
@Brigadier Van Zyl(Brigadier Van Zyl)-5:
Not defending Dickenson at all.
But apart from the senior boys losing their cool and focus which to be honest, they should know better, they need to realise that their attitude is picked up by the younger more inexperienced boys and ends up affecting the whole team.
The Bulls looked like they did not want to be there, that life is unfair and that they are being unfairly treated. All this might be true, but to react like spoilt little children is not the way these guys should react, not with their experience.
Managing refs is part and parcel of rugby and specifically leaders and senior players within a team, I can easily take Dickenson to task here with glaring mistakes but the fact remains, I expected much better from the Bulls to be honest.
7 Mar 2011, 11:48 am
One specific incident, where Stegmann threw the ball away after a ruck was blown up and a scrum awarded to the Highlanders just shows how he and other players take the lead from the senior players.
In that specific incident, I was surprised he was not penalised in fact but thats a different matter.
Taking that sort of lead from the senior guys will leave the more junior players frustrated and often ill-disciplined but mainly, not focussed, and given the defensive lapses in that Bulls team on the night, one thing is pretty damn clear, they completely lost focus.
7 Mar 2011, 11:51 am
The Bulls where just pathetic, they have no excuse. The game plan is horrid and why they percist to kick and chace in beyond me…
It looks like they can’t be asked to change the game plan and Ludeke thinks the experienced players in the squad will pull them through the year with this idiocy.
7 Mar 2011, 11:53 am
*chace = chase
7 Mar 2011, 11:54 am
@PissAnt(PissAnt)-10:
I’m not sure I agree with you there, Stuey, in my opinion is the worst ref for “pre-meditating” how he is going to blow,
last season stormers vs crusaders…..look how he blew the crusaders off the park and how frustrated Richie was getting.
I think senior players around the S15 have cottoned on to this fact and they can tell after just a few minutes that Stuey has decided to blow them off the park.
A ridiculous theory…but it happens too often for there not to be truth in it.
you just can’t deny that a poor lopsided ref performance is not relative to that specific teams’ performance.
7 Mar 2011, 11:56 am
@Brigadier Van Zyl(Brigadier Van Zyl)-13:
I had Stu as my best Super rugby ref last year…
7 Mar 2011, 11:57 am
@Brigadier Van Zyl(Brigadier Van Zyl)-13:
If you are looking for a truly horrid performance in managing a game, look at the Stormers Cheetahs one…
I would be livid if I was a Cheetahs supporter, mind you, would be livid as a Stormers one too which sort of gives you a clear picture on the performance…
7 Mar 2011, 11:57 am
@PissAnt(PissAnt)-14:
and Keo had Kaplan and I had Joubert.
so there you go
7 Mar 2011, 12:00 pm
@PissAnt(PissAnt)-10:
I know Stuey is a tool, however how often have we seen Matfield lose his cool with refs? It’s not new, he’s done with the Boks too.
I don’t know if its a sense of entitlement that he has developed, or if he is just poor at managing refs. Either way, that is the reason i wont have him as Bok captain and also the reason the younger players are starting to do it as well.
7 Mar 2011, 12:01 pm
@Dazzler(Dazzler)-17:
I tell you what, I was more irritated with Fourie than Matfield most of the time!!
7 Mar 2011, 12:03 pm
@Brigadier Van Zyl(Brigadier Van Zyl)-16:
look, I’m not looking to blame the ref but possibly provide support as to why experienced players get so frustrated when playing with dickenson.
Amplifying the matter is the fact that the bulls attacking game is soley dependent on their go-forward quick phased build up ……something that just isn’t going to happen so long as a ref isn’t blowing the tackler for not releasing, being offside or lying all over the place.
7 Mar 2011, 12:05 pm
@Brigadier Van Zyl(Brigadier Van Zyl)-19:
What was it that Dewald Potgieter said before the competition kicked off?
“The team that adapts the quickest on the day, will be the one to win the competition”
Article was dealing specifically with referees as-well…
7 Mar 2011, 12:05 pm
@Dazzler(Dazzler)-17:
and yet he’s managed Ref’s to 3 superrugby trophy’s?
please, don’t talk pish and make it up as you go along like dickenson now
7 Mar 2011, 12:06 pm
@PissAnt(PissAnt)-18:
Fourie is another one, he basically reffed the S14 final last year. Joubert looked like like he was in love and blew (no pun intended) everything Fourie asked for.
Clearly that tactic doesnt work with Dickinson, and when it doesnt, Matfield, Fourie, etc throw their toys out the cot
7 Mar 2011, 12:06 pm
@PissAnt(PissAnt)-20:
and how do you adapt to a ref blowing so inconsistantly?
7 Mar 2011, 12:07 pm
Matfield and Fourie’s problems had nothing to do with Stu. he just became the target because he compounded the doubts in their own heads that they are nowhere near their dominant play of the past. There appears to be no confidence in the execution of the game plan and whether this is down to a lack of match fitness and sharpness or just poor technique I’m not sure.
One thing is certain players who in the past have been able to make those tackles and break the advantage line on a regular don’t all of a sudden become incapable. In my mind there is a confidence crisis stemming from players coming back from injury and still a yard short in the decision making process, combined with others lacking confidence. Bjorn Basson for example who was oozing with confidence in the Griquas outfit last year against the big boys is a shadow of himself in what is a better outfit.
7 Mar 2011, 12:08 pm
@Brigadier Van Zyl(Brigadier Van Zyl)-21:
Everyone tries to “manage” the ref, the problem with the Bulls is that they expect the ref to be in awe of them. When he is not, they dont know how to adapt.
7 Mar 2011, 12:09 pm
The difference between a great openside (McCaw the prime example) is the ability to play to the ref. Adam Thompson is a great example of someone that plays on that fine line. Suss the ref early and establish the boundries, push the limits where you can and put yourself on the line. An openside needs to be the ultimate “cheat” and his ability to play the ref dictates the success of the game. (This is broadly true across the park). The contest of two good opensides supported by good packs and their interplay with the ref is one of the more enthralling contests in rugby and hats off to the winner, in this case both Thompson and Soakai were superb. Rather than give Stegman the support needed the Bulls chose to complain and failed to adapt.
7 Mar 2011, 12:11 pm
@Brigadier Van Zyl(Brigadier Van Zyl)-23:
Not by screaming at him or throwing your toys out of the cot, thats for sure.
7 Mar 2011, 12:12 pm
No ref misses tackles for you, and that comes down to attitude and focus, the Bulls had none.
7 Mar 2011, 12:15 pm
@PissAnt(PissAnt)-28:
and I have already agreed that the bulls defense game wasn’t good enough.
….and the bulls will still finish higher up any log the highlanders.
7 Mar 2011, 12:18 pm
The following has nothing to do with the ref;
22 missed tackles
19 handling errors
17 unforced errors
Then if you can only gain 750 meters with ball in hand compared to the opposition’s 1200, you get an idea of why they lost.
7 Mar 2011, 12:19 pm
@Brigadier Van Zyl(Brigadier Van Zyl)-29:
They had better pull themselves together if they wish to make an impression on the log, or we will see another 2008 season.
7 Mar 2011, 12:25 pm
I don’t know where Du Preez thought of this silly rants of his, if he just focuses on the task at hand he might kick the ball less and clean the rucks qiucker.
What gets to me is the fact that they don’t learn from their mistakes. When my boet and I sat and watched the match our predictions of where the Landers where going to end up after Steyn or Du Preez kicked posetion away became quite accurate ( about 90% I whould say ). If they kicked it you can bet your house they will run into the Bulls 15 every single time and half of that they where on the Bulls try line.
7 Mar 2011, 12:45 pm
This is the bulls first super rugby defeat at loftus since april 2008 and already the knifes are out against them.This bulls team has done a lot for SA rugby winning 3 super rugby titles in 4 years and what have the other SA franchises contributed in the last 4 years apart from the 2nd raters getting to last years final against the bulls and getting klapped again,absolutely sweet **** all that i can see.It is just pure jealousy and jealousy can make people nasty, because the bulls are on a pedestal and you just cannot wait for them to fall off it,and saturdays performance must have had you narrow minded little people out there laughing but remember wise old proverb he who laughs last laughs longest the bulls are not finished yet.GAAN BULLE MEI BLOED IS BLOU.
7 Mar 2011, 12:50 pm
@blueboy(blueboy)-33:
Not to be funny, but that was exactly the same attitude I got from the Bulls on Saturday.
Their heads seemed to be more focussed on what they had achieved in the past (as a team and for some individuals) than what was supposed to be achieved on the day.
I have been pretty vocal in my backing of this team in Super rugby for the last 3 years, but on evidence on what I saw in the last couple of months I also mentioned I have an uneasy feeling about the Bulls this year, they simply did not seem to instill the confidence of a champion team the way they did in the past.
The Bulls’ problem is one of the easiest, and most difficult things to fix – attitude.
And this victim complex is not helping them at all.
7 Mar 2011, 13:00 pm
@PissAnt(PissAnt)-34:
what ******’ victim complex?
the whole world is against us.
7 Mar 2011, 13:02 pm
@The X-factor is staying at home.(gunther)-35:
Hehehe
7 Mar 2011, 13:03 pm
@blueboy(blueboy)-33: My bloed is ook pot blou, but 2007, 2009 and 2010 is in the past and I’m not taking that away from them, they where awesome.
What most people like me and PA is saying or stating is our concern ( sorry if I’m wrong PA, but thats what I’m getting from your posts ) for the Bulls.
They are not playing like they should and certainly not like the champions they are. They have all the talent and experience in that squad but they are not adapting and using it to their advantage.
7 Mar 2011, 13:04 pm
@JA-JA(JA-JA)-37:
Pretty much spot on.
7 Mar 2011, 13:11 pm
The way some of the Bulls players are behaving is becoming a real concern for me, and it’s undoubtedly having an impact on their performances. It’s the reason I’ve never rated Matfield as a captain – he builds zero repertoire with the refs. And Fdp is another who’s fast becoming a top notch Prima Donna, waving his hands in the air and whinging and wining like a little bit%$ every 2 minutes.
7 Mar 2011, 13:24 pm
@blueboy(blueboy)-33: “GAAN BULLE MEI BLOED IS BLOU.”
Dis BLOET met ‘n T, toskop.
7 Mar 2011, 13:26 pm
#34pissant i understand what you are writing and i tend to agree with you maybe the bulls are a victim of there own success but that is in the past now this a new rugby year and a new super rugby competition and they should be motivated to become the first name on a new trophy as the first winners of that trophy.To become the best team in the country is hard but staying there is even harder it is now up to the players to prove all their detracters wrong and show them they are still the best team in sa rugby and get a home semi-final place.I understand nothing lasts forever and one day this team will break up but until that happens they are still No1 in sa rugby and their super rugby titles prove it.Winning the CC is now secondary to winning a super rugby title and while it is nice to win the CC i would rather the bulls wni a super rugby title than the CC any day but that is just my opinion as for the rest of the sa franchises maybe winning the CC is all they can hope for.
7 Mar 2011, 13:28 pm
@Yetirat(Yetirat)-39:
zero repetoire?
are you saying big vic needs to learn new jokes.
7 Mar 2011, 14:02 pm
These factors must be taken into consideration outside of the referee..1) …hardly any ABs or superstars in The Highlanders…2) jetlag from travel…3) playing in the highveld where the hometeam are supposed to have the advantage…4) ..the supposedly worst team of the kiwi franchises…gotta say that’s quite a good effort…that would be similar to the cheetahs beating the Crusaders at A.M.I stadium…
7 Mar 2011, 14:06 pm
@blueboy(blueboy)-33: I’m sure all SA rugby supporters agree that the Bulls have been excellent. I’m a Sharks supporter but acknowledge like many of my buddies that the Bulls are a very good team. All I’m saying is that this loss might be what they need to get back to what they can be.
7 Mar 2011, 14:10 pm
@Diontnz(Diontnz)-43: no c’mon 1) the ref made numerous decisions in favour of landers, the most blatant being firstly yelow carding Deon Stegman and secondly blowing for a knock on when the ball was cynically smacked out of FdP’s hands at the back of the mall preventing a try. 2) jetlag shouldn’t be a factor flying west 3) isn’t the supposed worst team top of the kiwi log?? get a grip man
7 Mar 2011, 14:13 pm
Die ‘steroids’ is besig om uit te werk. Na Basson & Ralapele se debakel (wat weer vir hulle toegesmeer is) kon hulle nie so vinnig weer almal boost nie.
Die ou fosiele in die span kan nie die nuwe tempo van rugby handhaaf nie.
As die ref hulle nie teen die Cheetahs gered het nie, sou hulle nou twee loesings in ‘n ry gekry het.
7 Mar 2011, 14:20 pm
how long I been telling you FdP is biggest suurpussi prima donna of all time and you never took note, now you seeing what I been saying all along. Bulls rocked up at Loftus thinking it was a mere formality they would walk away with at least 4 points, its absolutely the best medicine they could ever have hoped to receive, and I reckon would do them and especially Matfield, FdP, Olivier and Spies the world of good to get another few klaps like these for the dire lesson in humility they been asking for to seriously and thoroughly set in.
7 Mar 2011, 14:45 pm
@PissAnt(PissAnt)-20: Imagine being the Bulls as champs and having every other team snapping at your heels continuously. You need to re-invent your game continuously, and at that they have been fairly successful if results alone are the yardstick, but they too will get some things wrong. The law of averages says so.
So, it seems, they have got it wrong this time and will have to re-think some approaches. One problem for them that I see is having lost Gary Botha. When you look at revamping a gameplan you do so holistically and you make some assumptions, like that you won’t lose your keyman hooker halfway through the first half of the first game.
It is clear from all three games that the Bulls are investigating the feasibility of a gameplan where they do not cherish possession above all else, ie. if it is bad ball or wrong field position they rather turn it over to the opposition via kicks, relying on being able to regain the ball under more favourable conditions, or try to re-set the phase and move the point of attack, trying to create quicker ball.. But then you have to kick well and contest and protect ball well at ensuing breakdowns, and it is in the latter area that I believe (like Bismark is for the Sharks) that Gary is indispensible for the Bulls in the tight loose. Chilli doesn’t bring that- he has other strengths.
The tight five have also made some uncharacteristic handling errrors which has put great pressure on the team. They do not respect the possession that they obtain, so their frequency of their attacks are diminished, and as a result the variation in their attack is hampered and limited, and in turn this brings a predictability to their play which dumps huge pressure on a player like Wynand Olivier, because he is a go to man for them when under pressure. It also places great pressure on a guy like Spies when the opposition dominate possesion, because then he has to knuckle down and play a strength-based
7 Mar 2011, 14:52 pm
@Ogre(Ogre)-48:
I don’t see any problems with the Bulls approach, in fact, a change in the application of the breakdown law where the attacking team, or team in possession got 80% of the calls last year now deliberately trying to be shifted to a more 50/50 situation suggests that a great kicking game and territorially based game might be hugely effective.
My issue with the Bulls, and the reason for my uneasy feeling about them is nothing more than about attitude.
Last year for instance the Bulls were one of the very few SA teams that went to ‘fetch’ tackles beyond the advantage line, nowadays, they wait for teams to run into them.
If you do what they did last year, you will dominate the collissions more effectively also, something they got schooled in over the weekend.
All of this comes down to one thing, attitude. Defense is about attitude and a sure-fire way to measure any team’s on the day.
That is just one aspect.
But the point is attitude would directly affect the application of your game plan, i.e. chasing kicks harder, driving opposition players back in tackles, dominating contact and through that, lift all those around you.
This is quite clearly absent from the Bulls this year.
And it was not only last weekend, let’s be honest, the Bulls were way below standard in their other two fixtures too.
7 Mar 2011, 15:59 pm
Comment made on another site wrt Spies…..well said Sir! lol
How Spies continues to make the Bok selection grade is a mystery on par with the disappearance of the crew of Mary Celeste, the size of the Denver airport, the identity of the Zodiac killer, and the inner workings of my wife’s mind. A player of his physical stature – lightning fast. 300kg of muscle mass (admittedly, 100kg of that is in his cheeks) – should absolutely dominate the tackle point, instead of displaying a feeble here-let-me-brush-the-dandruff-off-your-collar-and-hopefully-slow-you-down-enough-for-someone-else-to-make-the-hit tackle technique. I’m sure that waif Phillip Burger tackles harder than Spies. It boggles the mind…
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