Excellent Anscombe buries Bulls
10 Mar 2012
RYAN VREDE reports on the match where Gareth Anscombe scored all the Blues’ points in a 29-23 victory over the Bulls at Loftus.
Where has this kid been? The Blues have kept faith with the mediocre Michael Hobbs (unavailable tonight) but the 20-year-old Anscombe has surely ousted him through this accomplished, all-round performance. His goalkicking was particularly impressive, outshining Morne Steyn, whose two from six return – the majority of those easy shots – was out of character.
The Bulls just never settled into a distinctive pattern despite bossing possession, territory and the set phases. Credit to the Blues, who, after building a 12-point lead at half-time, played intelligently and forced the Bulls into expansive attacks. The Blues held firm in defence, waiting for runners to isolate themselves then stifling the recycle or forcing infringements at the breakdown.
The Bulls started in the worst possible fashion, conceding a try three minutes into the contest when Anscombe snatched a loose ball and sprinted 50m to score and convert.
However, the Bulls rebounded well, profiting from a man advantage after Ali Williams had been binned with Pierre Spies rounding off a slick blindside move. The Bulls built immense pressure thereafter but butchered a number of scoring opportunities in the Blues’ red zone. They will lament this period when they review the match.
Steyn had missed the earlier conversion attempt then sent an easy shot wide to further compound the Bulls’ struggles. He traded penalties with Anscombe thereafter, but the latter was over the whitewash again just before the break, after a Bulls move broke down well upfield. Anscombe kicked the conversion to give the Blues a commanding 20-8 lead at the break.
Steyn banked three but Anscombe kicked a beauty from the touchline to keep the Blues’ tally ticking over. And the Blues got better as the match progressed, exhibiting none of the tactical naivety that had marked their previous defeats. They punched up through phases and Anscombe continued his kicking masterclass, adding his fourth penalty of the evening to take his side 15 points ahead.
With seven minutes to go the Bulls set up a tense finish, Bjorn Basson scoring. But Steyn pushed his effort wide and despite a late try from Basson the Bulls never threatened to steal the points.
Their limitations when asked to chase a game were brutally exposed tonight. Their impotence is concerning but there is time to remedy their shortcomings in this regard.
482 Comments
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10 Mar 2012, 20:49 pm
@wooden spoon(wooden spoon)-189: Aah, that is the Woodenspoon of old. Fook nee, you think? A few weeks ago you actually talked sense here on keo, now I see YOU were the little doos.
10 Mar 2012, 20:50 pm
Well done, Blues, first win at Loftus, I guess, for a god knows how long time. I am very pleased. A convincing win.
10 Mar 2012, 20:50 pm
Okay bye bye. Time to drink now.
10 Mar 2012, 20:50 pm
haha Basson deciding that he didnt do enough work in the first 60.
10 Mar 2012, 20:51 pm
@Agile T*t-Tyrant(Anairetes agilis)-191:
Yes, it’s still early days, we really missed Hougaard and Stegmann today
Sadie will come back soon too
10 Mar 2012, 20:51 pm
@Wezwp(Wezwp)-195: Some okes are stupid when they drink, you are stupid regardless.
10 Mar 2012, 20:52 pm
@Kleuter(Kleuter)-203:
Cheers, rather do something physical
By the way Rene Ranger really goes out to hurt players we know this, always gets away with it, and if I was there I’d have a real hard time not giving him a good old traditional boere PK
10 Mar 2012, 20:52 pm
Slow down Nils
10 Mar 2012, 20:52 pm
I hope Ranger does not somehow make Houdini act for the Bulls to sneak it.
Stupid Ranger.
10 Mar 2012, 20:53 pm
poor poor tackle from ranger.
10 Mar 2012, 20:53 pm
@Nils(Nils)-202: Enjoy Nils.
10 Mar 2012, 20:53 pm
Mmmmm…. I thought rugby was only played with 15 players me thinks me was wrong.
10 Mar 2012, 20:53 pm
Yay bonus point kick!
so not a total loss nay-sayers
10 Mar 2012, 20:54 pm
well Ludikak got some serious thinking to do Bulletjie blou bloed masjien don’t have half the magnificent depth they may have thought they had, lose Stegmann and Hougaard and the suddenly half the team they were a week ago.,
Basson No.2 too little too late., fat lady sung her last aria already
Bulls lose at home with a lucky bonus point
10 Mar 2012, 20:54 pm
@cab(cab)-210:
What tackle?
I saw a WWF-style shoulder drop.
10 Mar 2012, 20:54 pm
nothing wrong with the ranger tackle.
10 Mar 2012, 20:55 pm
Should have given the penalty at half way line
Even if time was up you cant end the game until penalty is taken
10 Mar 2012, 20:55 pm
@Dawn(Dawn)-208: Now it’s oficially over, Ranger or no Ranger.
Well done, Blues. A convincing win.
10 Mar 2012, 20:55 pm
Ai poor Scotland
10 Mar 2012, 20:55 pm
The Bulls to a knock. And so did my super bru. That early try just killed the Bulls and there was no coming back.
10 Mar 2012, 20:55 pm
bulle supporter confronting mealamu after the whistle,common is maar common.disgracefull.
10 Mar 2012, 20:56 pm
@Clanerk(Clanerk)-211: Thanks. To you as well – next time.
10 Mar 2012, 20:56 pm
@IAAS(I am a stormer)-220:
“took a knock.”
And congrats to the Blues.
10 Mar 2012, 20:56 pm
@Nils(Nils)-218: Nils, as you said yourself, your English isn’t that great, time to look up “convincing”.
10 Mar 2012, 20:56 pm
Steyn cost us the game today. If I was Ludeke I would give him the GROOTSTE UITKAK ever.
10 Mar 2012, 20:57 pm
@Agile T*t-Tyrant(Anairetes agilis)-215:
he’s going to get cited for that and rightfully so, good player, but biejie vuil.
@CoachPete(CoachPete)-217:
yeah you right, i dont understand that, in fairness tho Blues looked better tonight.
10 Mar 2012, 20:57 pm
Shame. Poor Bulls.
Maybe next time.
10 Mar 2012, 20:58 pm
@Nils(Nils)-222: Nils, come to the Green side my son.
10 Mar 2012, 20:59 pm
@ashampoopaloo(joel1yahoo)-214:
Yeah but the Bulls have lost some considerable depth recently, once all the players are fit again we can still be proud of our depth.
By the way if Morne was accurate today we would’ve won.
(And if Kirchner stayed on his post).
Ag it’s ok, the Bulls lead the log before tonight, and with a bye we’ll have 4 points, and iin two weeks we can top the log easily.
10 Mar 2012, 21:00 pm
bulls fans disgraceful…
10 Mar 2012, 21:00 pm
bullls do not travel well
10 Mar 2012, 21:01 pm
@Clanerk(Clanerk)-224: Cmon, in the second half (which was the only I watched), Blues held off Bulls with ease. It is convincing.
10 Mar 2012, 21:01 pm
I have a massive probvlem with the “releasing and rolling away” that Kiwis sides do. When they make the tackle, they do not roll off to the side and stand up, they stand up in the middle of the gate, *** forward, and generally get in the way as much as possible to prevent our cleaners from cleaning properly. This allows them to counter better. Surely this is illegal, and the capatin should bring this to the attention of the ref,because teh tackler must release and get out of the way to allow quick ball for the attacking team? And if it is not, why are we not doing it?
I appreciate it that ere is a grey area between when it is a tackle and when it is a ruck, and that the tackler can stand up and compete for the ball when it is just the tackler and the person being tackled, but as soon as anothre person joins the ruck, that tackler must move out of the way.
10 Mar 2012, 21:01 pm
@Clanerk(Clanerk)-228: ?
10 Mar 2012, 21:02 pm
Ek laaik nie die Bulle nie.
Wou interessant wees hoe lank Tekky bly weg van hierdie site.
10 Mar 2012, 21:02 pm
*** = a.s.s.
10 Mar 2012, 21:02 pm
@cab(cab)-226:
yes Bulls were poor and dont really deserve the bonus point
And Blues weren’t that great either
But well done Blues
10 Mar 2012, 21:02 pm
@Transformation(Transformation)-230:
Bulls *FAN
get it right, that was one man…
10 Mar 2012, 21:02 pm
@ashampoopaloo(joel1yahoo)-214:
Morning Joel,
They’re still youngsters, green, nat-agter-die-ore, I’d rather play and lose with them trying, than with last years grootgatte that were more worried about not getting injured for the WC
We missed Hougies breaks and explosiveness around the scrums and rucks, and he’s like a third flanker on defence
Stegmann proved his workrate in his absence
We need Sadie back and maybe an injury to Basson would give JJ a much needed opportunity
Steyn can lose his head like that, he did it in the 2005 CC final
10 Mar 2012, 21:06 pm
@victoriabok(victoriabok)-239:
Well said.
I’m not that disappointed in this group, I just wish it happened away from Loftus.
10 Mar 2012, 21:07 pm
Huge win for Blues to come and beat bulsl in pretoria huge win
10 Mar 2012, 21:08 pm
Bulls
10 Mar 2012, 21:09 pm
@Clanerk(Clanerk)-228: Oh, I probably got it.
No, father, I’ll stay on the Black side.
10 Mar 2012, 21:10 pm
And so the Sharks were the only South African team to taste a win this weekend.
Next weekend I will be supporting the Bulls over the Stormers.
Ek laaik nie die Stormers ook.
10 Mar 2012, 21:11 pm
One of those days where the Bulls looked like they only rocked up because they were paid to.
Poor performance. They did not deserve to win.
10 Mar 2012, 21:12 pm
I missed the game. What happened? How did they lose?
10 Mar 2012, 21:12 pm
keo.co.za
Can you quys please put the “Submit Comment” tab ABOVE the comment box, this will make it easier to hit so that you don’t have to scroll down to press it if you entered the box out of the screen- especially annoying if you’re using a laptop touchpad.
Thanks.
10 Mar 2012, 21:13 pm
@garth(garth)-246:
The Blues scored more points than the Bulls.
10 Mar 2012, 21:15 pm
@Agile T*t-Tyrant(Anairetes agilis)-240:
We all new it was going to take time to build a new Blou Masjien
‘n Verloor op sy tyd is partykeer baie goed, dit sal die jong outjies se voete weer terug op die grond sit, hulle het dalk bietjie groot koppe gekry na laas week se maklike wen
10 Mar 2012, 21:15 pm
@Agile T*t-Tyrant(Anairetes agilis)-248: I thought that was not possible.
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