Bulls still a work in progress
12 Mar 2012
RYAN VREDE writes that the Bulls’ performance against the Blues exposed areas tactical, technical and mental that need addressing.
The Bulls started the tournament superbly with a home win against the Sharks and the emphatic victory over the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein. They were widely expected to beat the Blues, who were uninspiring in the first fortnight of the tournament, at Loftus on Saturday, but were convincingly beaten.
The press they received for their victories ranged from grudging applause to perspective-lacking cheerleading, the latter mostly from the northern media, who took it personally that the Bulls were not being spoken of as potential champions in light of the mass departure of mostly senior players. There was very little measured analysis and still no absolute judgement can be made on the Pretoria franchise.
However, the defeat suggested this talented Bulls side still has to undergo much refinement. Gareth Anscombe’s early try and goal-kicking excellence rocked the Bulls, who were never allowed to settle into their pattern. I praised the Blues for their composure, discipline and accuracy on defence, but the Bulls lacked a telling rebuttal and the degree of their impotence should concern their coaching staff and supporters.
Undoubtedly their cause was further undermined by Morné Steyn’s poor goal-kicking, although to be overly critical of a player who has won so many games with his boot would be grossly unfair.
They progressively shifted from a territory-based approach to an ugly run-kick hybrid and finally reverted to all-out ball-in-hand attack as their desperation climaxed. There was none of the composure, tactical intelligence and unrelenting drive that had been a hallmark of Bulls sides in their prime in recent years.
They also lacked decisive leadership, the kind Fourie du Preez and Victor Matfield were renowned for. Pierre Spies is in the infancy of his tenure as captain and Saturday was an important part of his education. He will improve.
Coach Frans Ludeke said to me in an interview last week that they have divided their season into different phases. Phase one, he explained, was the three matches before their bye this weekend. I’m certain that he would have ticked most of the boxes in terms of his expectations in that phase, but he will be acutely aware of the pressing need to refine areas of their attacking play that were exposed as flawed under the pressure they experienced against the Blues.
With a tough series of games ahead – the Reds and Crusaders at home with a trip to the Stormers sandwiched in between – any vulnerabilities will be tested and exposed if not addressed and rectified.
Follow Ryan on Twitter
Follow SA Rugby magazine on Twitter
20 Comments
12 Mar 2012, 09:49 am
progressive dragons.
this was a game of uncharacteristically poor kicking, thats all.
had morne had his boots on the bulls would have consolidated and grown more confident in play…(meaning: they would have rolled the blues with more tries and more physicality).
morne does not have many bad days, expect him to work on his kicking overtime to correct this bias.
12 Mar 2012, 09:59 am
Home game lost!! Very costly!
12 Mar 2012, 10:07 am
Good article.
I think the euphoria at the Bulls early performances was rather a case of them exceeding expectations given the inexperience of their side, than an expectation that they would now be favourites to win the tournament, as you put it.
I said it a week ago. All it will take is one narrow loss for the critics to start lamenting the lack of experienced heads in the team.
As I also said at the start of the tournament, the Bulls team that finishes this tournament will be dramatically improved from the one that starts it.
It is unfortunate that in the one game where they needed their few remaining vetarans to carry them through, their most experienced player – Morne Steyn – had his worst game in 2 seasons.
These things happen. As Victor said in his book, sometimes you win games that you should have lost (the Sharks final in 2007) and at other times you lose games you should have won (the Cheetahs final in 2005).
Gotta take the good with the bad.
The Bulls will improve. This competition has a long way to go yet.
12 Mar 2012, 10:57 am
@Tacitus(Deucalion)-3: one of your most experienced had an off day. it’s not all about experience. Morne other aspects of his play should’ve lessened the burden his inaccurate goalkicking was causing.
12 Mar 2012, 12:56 pm
@pompies2(pompies2)-4:
Nobody, not Lambie, Jantjies or even Goosen (Or even the host of NZ flyhalves including Carter) could have done anything against the Blues that could have made up eleven points that was kicked away. Steyn’s backline scored three tries. He kept his team out of their own half for most of the match, he has done everything humanly possible to win this match except kicking his goals.
That error in the beginning of the match was made worse by the fact that the bloody ball bounced perfectly into the Blues’ hands. Otherwise it was just one of those missed passed that happen to the best players.
12 Mar 2012, 13:25 pm
so the bulls have the reds next. tough game. with hougaard and hopefully stegmann back the bulls should just edge it. also sadie should be back….hopefully on the bench.
12 Mar 2012, 13:28 pm
All teams are a work in progress at this stage. It is a question of how quickly they stetle.
12 Mar 2012, 13:30 pm
@stormer in a teacup(stormer in a teacup)-7: or even settle.
12 Mar 2012, 13:31 pm
Steyn is the last person to blame for the loss. He won the previous two encounters for the Bulls and really can’t always be expected to give a 100% kicking preformance. Losing Stegman, Flip and Hougaard were big blows given all have them have lots of experience and are very physical.
Also this played a huge part in losing the battle at the breakdowns. I felt Walsh had a very good game, but the Blues got away with murder at the breakdowns slowing down the ball. Stegman would have been instrumental here, seeing how he gave Brussouw a real contest last weekend.
I wouldn’t start wrinting off the Bulls just yet.
12 Mar 2012, 13:34 pm
Man that Blues flyhalf is awesome. Big furture for him.
I think on another day the Bulls would have one this game. They need to learn for next time, no need to panic
12 Mar 2012, 13:36 pm
I think that the bulls failed to turn good possession and territory into points. I thought Ryan hit the nail on the head with this article. I for one hate seeing South African Sides lose to Aus/NZ teams. I also believe with the players at their disposal should have taken this game. What I saw of the game was that the bulls lost out in the contact areas and were weak on defence. Where as they dominated the cheatahs in this area last week, the were naive thinking that they can dominate an All Black laden team. The Blues really struggle if you ran at them out wide. My opinion is that they should have used less kicks and channel 1 balls and hit up a bit in the channel one and then release wingers.
12 Mar 2012, 13:50 pm
@Bloues(Grootdrink)-5: You are correct, Lambie has no decision making ability at 10, this being the prime ability of any good 10. Likewise Jantjies. Goosen is too young to show the kind of aptitude necessary, but is more alike to Morne. The Bulls were not helped by some very poor calls at the breakdown in the second half that haulted their momentum. I recall Olivier going into contact, driving a metre or so forward and going to ground; he passed the ball through his legs for a quick recycle. A trailing Blues player came over the ruck from an offside position and went to compete for the ball. There was only two other Bulls there who were all legal. The Blues came away with the penalty. This happened repeatedly! I make no excuses for the Bulls mistakes, particularly the goal kicking. But when a team is desperate and cannot build phases because of mystery penalties, then it becomes an impossible task to claw your way back.
12 Mar 2012, 13:56 pm
@Vegas(Vegas)-9: I think Stegmann was the biggest loss. I predicted a Bulls win confidently, but on receiving the news that Stegmann was out, I felt much less certain. It is doubtful that he would have made an impact in that very onesided second half ref display, but his presence would surely have been appreciated. Hougaard is much more testing of the opposition around the fringes. He brings a lot of intensity and pace at halfback. Morne is more the calm and measured general, whilst Hougaard is the Doberman of the two. They compliment each other nicely. Vermaak just looked okay. Not that he was poor by any means, just not Hougaard. Flip was again a big loss. It was very encouraging to see how the Bulls reduced the Blues lineout to rubble. They’ve destroyed every lineout they’ve encountered thus far, robbing close to 5 lineouts in each game, if not exactly that!
12 Mar 2012, 15:28 pm
Alucard if Lambie has decision making then what does Morne have? All he does hoof the ball!! And the Blues showed how easy it was to counter! Morne has been exposed!
12 Mar 2012, 15:29 pm
Meant if Lambie has no decision making
12 Mar 2012, 17:29 pm
It has been said many times that one man does not make a team but after saturdays performance of maa`a nonu who i thought was man of the match he made such a difference to the blues that they played a lot better than the previous two weeks.I wish the bulls had a center like him as our centres are a powder puff compared to him,as he really is a physical player i wish we could have signed him.I have no excuses for the bulls defeat and i am putting it down to “a bad day at the office.
12 Mar 2012, 17:36 pm
@blueboy(blueboy)-16: Why would we want to buy Nonu if we have Olivier, Venter, Sadie, William Small Smith, Ulrich Beyers and some young Grey centres? Will it in any way help SA rugby?
12 Mar 2012, 17:54 pm
#17 horings i agree with you that the bulls have some good centres coming through but they are not as physical as nonu and he really showed his strength on saturday,it was just that i thought against the blues our centres lacked the physicallity of nonu,and it showed.I hope our centres like sadie and venter bulk up a bit as i think they have great potential.I always remember that great all black centre frank bunce (i think 115kgs)making a comment that he loved to play against little (i think 90kgs) centres like percy montgomery and it showed.
12 Mar 2012, 18:17 pm
“They were widely expected to beat the Blues”
Not according to the bookies in NZ who backed the Blues. Two weeks ago there was talk of them winning the competition so I’m not sure why everyone suddenly expected the Bulls to turn them over (ok, injuries aside)
12 Mar 2012, 18:57 pm
@blueboy(blueboy)-18: Nope, Cant be Frank Bunce, he was smaller than 6ft and weighed less than 90kg, that said. I thought SA really made a mistake letting Bradley Barritt go and play for the poms. He may not be the biggest center around, but boy can this guy tackle. He is a classic 12 that make things happen around him. Very solid player, probably the reason why Waylon Murrey got his bok cap. It is not always about size but it does play in your favour and Nonu has pace, strength and agility in his favour where players such as Jamie Roberts are just big tanks that know route one only.
Have your say
You must be logged in to post a comment.