Bulls were bullied in brutal contest
2 Apr 2012
MARK KEOHANE, in his weekly Business Day column, says the Super Rugby match at Newlands on Saturday evening was a great advertisement for South African rugby.
The Stormers and Bulls produced an electric contest, which was complemented by an electric atmosphere.
The Stormers were worthy winners and it would have been an injustice — on the night’s performance — had the Bulls even left the stadium with a share of the spoils, which looked the likely outcome with the teams at 17-17 after 77 minutes.
The Bulls were courageous in everything they did, but the cleverness in tactical approach did not match the bravery in the collisions and at the breakdown.
The Stormers bullied the Bulls in contact and the manner in which the final three points were fashioned — from a scrum penalty — was befitting the home team’s set-phase superiority. Young Stormers prop Steven Kitshoff, in particular, produced the effort of a veteran and emphasised his enormous potential.
Stormers coach Allister Coetzee and forwards coach Matthew Proudfoot got the selections right from numbers one to eight and each one of the starting pack contributed to a night worth remembering if you just happened to be at Loftus on that awful afternoon some years back when the Bulls scored 75 points against the Stormers.
The Cape Town franchise have come a long way since their lowest point in Super Rugby history and the Bulls have maintained a consistency that makes them SA’s premier provincial and regional side.
The Stormers certainly are no longer the powder-puff brigade and no one can accuse them of being show ponies, although their attack certainly could do with a show pony or two. I had the Bulls to win by 10 because I backed their pack to do enough to give their impressive backs enough ammunition with which to fire.
I got it wrong and the Stormers got it very right because in this most brutal of contests the home team always held an advantage in every collision. Games of this nature are decided by who has an edge in every tackle or every attempt to break the tackle, and I was surprised at how decisively the Stormers dealt with the Bulls forwards-inspired attack.
The Bulls backs were not a factor because the forwards never built momentum and simply did not have any individual or collective ascendancy in determining gainline advantage.
Given the superiority in the contact and the quality of ball given to the backs, the Stormers still struggled to convince on attack and the backs, as a unit, were as impotent as the forwards were potent.
Ironically — and I use the word because he is seen as the glue that keeps the Stormers backs together — captain Jean de Villiers’s structured style is a restriction to the Stormers attack when once he was a revelation in all things creative.
De Villiers shoulders so much defensive responsibility that the natural attacking instincts of his game have suffered.
The Bulls — and most definitely former Stormer Johann Sadie — will learn from the experience at Newlands and they left with a valuable bonus point, while the Stormers got four quality league points.
In a sense it was a win-win for the South African challenge in the competition.
Our two best teams each got something for their efforts, but the Stormers maximised the advantage of playing at home.
Elsewhere, the Cheetahs produced the most inspired performance in their Super Rugby history to turn a 32-11 deficit after 25 minutes into a 47-38 win against the Hurricanes in Wellington, and complete their most successful Super Rugby overseas adventure.
The victory was their second in four tour matches and with a bit of good fortune the Cheetahs could well have won all four matches overseas. They lost to the Brumbies in the last minute and had the chance to beat the Crusaders. It has been a brilliant month for the boys from Bloem, more so because they left SA after taking 50 points from the Bulls in Bloemfontein.
The Cheetahs’ win was also another reminder that to be successful in Super Rugby you need a pack with grunt, as much as you need gifted game breakers. The Canes were feeble up front and the Cheetahs were colossal in the last hour of the match. It proved to be the difference in a fantastic match.
The Sharks continue to battle with the search for an imposing back five in their pack but they did well to beat a confident, if limited, Brumbies outfit in Canberra.
The Lions were again the disappointment of the weekend — and each week shows that they are not good enough. Coach John Mitchell has given them belief and structure and they are the team who best use the width of the park in attack, but they don’t possess the class of player to make all these ingredients a winning recipe.
284 Comments
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2 Apr 2012, 10:21 am
Oh what a beautiful morning
Oh what a beautiful day
oh what a beautiful feeling
Everything’s going my way
Howzit Tac, Capebull, HG & Co
2 Apr 2012, 10:23 am
Now I’ll read the article.
2 Apr 2012, 10:28 am
How about some credit to the coaching staff for going with Elstadt at 7?
Yoh that Kolisi’s evolving into a Jerome Kaino of some sort.
How about De Jongh cutting up the overhyped Bulls’ midfield?
2 Apr 2012, 10:43 am
Whats worse…the Bulls losing to Western Province in Cape Town OR the Bulls losing to Western Province in Cape Town wearing an all pink outfit?
2 Apr 2012, 10:48 am
And yet, like so many previous Stormers teams, this one would have had to settle for a narrow loss despite all of the deserved praise, had Morne still been the kicker he was a couple of season ago.
2 Apr 2012, 10:52 am
@Tacitus(Deucalion)-5: “ifs” and “had”s :d
that’s what you’re reduced to this morn
2 Apr 2012, 10:53 am
As PissAnt has always said:
Dominate the collisions
And you will in all likelihood win the match.
2 Apr 2012, 10:53 am
Lions really need Guma funding.
it seems the fallout with Guma has long term effects.
2 Apr 2012, 10:53 am
Now if only the Stormers can buy Hougaard and Goosen…
2 Apr 2012, 10:55 am
@WP Till I Die(WP-Forever)-9:
hehehe…
if only…!!
2 Apr 2012, 10:56 am
@WP Till I Die(WP-Forever)-7:
That’s all that counts, you right.
If you have a 90% kicker, though, you can sometimes rescue tight games when you aren’t dominating the collissions as you should.
The Bulls couldn’t pull that off this weekend.
2 Apr 2012, 10:56 am
@Transformation(Transformation)-6: Trans, your efforts are futile….. I thought stormers fans were moffies………At the end of the day, history will show that 1 side scored more points than the other.
Funny how Tac fails to akcnowledge the performance of the stormers when, in fact, it was the very same playing style he proposed a few weeks back. Physical dominance and territory or nothing at all. He caused the demise of his own side.
2 Apr 2012, 10:57 am
@Tacitus(Deucalion)-5: look at the scoreboard,you wanker.
I know that you are a lost soul this morning,but for heavens sake pull yourself together and accept that your team lost the battle.
2 Apr 2012, 10:57 am
Stormers deffense is doing wonders for them. They are putting so much pressure on teams that they force out penalties.
The difference between the this year and other years is that their scrum is now putting opposing teams scrum under pressure aswel. Another area where they are getting penalties.
2 Apr 2012, 10:58 am
watching that cheetahs game i didn’t know whether one should take it as a compliment that the kiwi commentators were gushing about the cheetahs’ ball-in-hand skills “something they’ve never seen from any south african team before”, or be troubled that they can justifiably get away with saying stuff like that and us as saffas have no comeback to offer.
2 Apr 2012, 10:59 am
@Transformation(Transformation)-6:
it certainly works for you when explaining the kings saga… :whatever! smiley face:
2 Apr 2012, 11:00 am
@SHARKattack(mabu)-8: lions have Redefine cash boet.
2 Apr 2012, 11:00 am
As for the pink jokes, I actually thought their away kit worked well. Stands out on the field, and cannot be confused with anything. Compare that with the Crusaders’ red and grey, which hardly stood out from the Lions’ red and white.
2 Apr 2012, 11:01 am
@Transformation(Transformation)-15: they clearly have’nt heard of the term “swinga”.
2 Apr 2012, 11:01 am
@Transformation(Transformation)-15: Cheetahs are the best ball handling side in the comp. I think the grey bloem ethos coming to the fore. And the fact that they have a good backline coach. is it hawies fourie or michael horak?
Compare that to fleckie and you have all you need to see who a real coach is.
2 Apr 2012, 11:02 am
@Transformation(Transformation)-6: Wait until he starts telling you they have previously won the trophy.
2 Apr 2012, 11:04 am
I will say it again, if Morne kicked more over, we would score more to win….that was the nature of this game! Stormers wanted it more! It showed when the final whistle was blown…they really wanted it.
I feel if the 50/50 pass went to DD it could have been a big hiding for the bulls. That try let them back in and picked up their heads a bit. The Bulls side has always played with confidence, but once you get their heads hanging they can be in for a hiding. We must learn to kill teams in this situations…..but I am sure it will come with time.
The pressure will ease and we will start scoring tries on this tour.
2 Apr 2012, 11:04 am
the lions are the glasgow rangers of south african rugby ……although they don’t want to admit it.
2 Apr 2012, 11:04 am
Where’s PissAnt this morning, didn’t he say the Stormers are a side close to going on a losing streak?
2 Apr 2012, 11:05 am
@Hoops(Hoops)-22: You need a decent halfback pairing to start with.
2 Apr 2012, 11:06 am
@houston, we have a problem…(i_love_u_bakkiesbotha)-16: hahaha really?
a game your team lost vs boardroom corruption?
better luck next time, moer them when they go to loftus neh boetie
2 Apr 2012, 11:07 am
@Transformation(Transformation)-17: Yeah true. the disruption from the fallout has had a massive impact which is manifesting itself now. Their lack of players shows that.
I mean look at that boy who plays 11, he is a flippin flyhalf now they put him on the wing. If they had proper resources this would not have happened.
By the way i rate that number 11, they boy was class.
2 Apr 2012, 11:07 am
@wpstormerbok(wpstormerbok)-24: operative word “close”
2 Apr 2012, 11:10 am
There were some muppits here who made the following comparisons:
Front row – Even
Locks – Even
Loosies – Even
Halve backs – Bulls
Midfield – Even
Backs – Even…therefore Bulls to win
Reality was
Front row – Stormers
Locks – Stormers
Loosies – Stormers
Wait for it…..Hlave backs – Stormers
Centres- even
Backs – even.
Our back are letting us down at this moment!
2 Apr 2012, 11:12 am
@wpstormerbok(wpstormerbok)-1: Enjoy the win….
I won’t make excuses….
We will await you at Loftus , then you can wear that stupid pink jerseys
2 Apr 2012, 11:12 am
I think its fair to say that Keo has realised that whoever he gives his backing to loses. He’s obviously a Stormers fan, but is doing his best to pretend he’s a die hard Bull and backing them 100%! I hope he persists with backing them for as long as possible. He does however I suspect always back’s the team to win, that should they lose will pay out the most to the bookies!
2 Apr 2012, 11:14 am
@Hoops(Hoops)-29: Chilli was far better than Tiaan.
2 Apr 2012, 11:14 am
big game for the bulls this weekend.
this has become a must win for them.
can’t help but feel that the bulls lost focus on the game plan. Remedy this and the dicipline problem will sort itself.
need to pick up 5 points against the crusaders.
capable of doing it.
2 Apr 2012, 11:15 am
@wpstormerbok(wpstormerbok)-24:
I am always here…
Didn’t I say they were an injury or two away from a losing streak? Can’t remember if it was here or elsewhere…
Stormers physicality really impressed me. But their inability to close out a very obvious advantage still concerns me. I don’t think there is one area the Bulls dominated yet it was a 3 point game settled two minutes from time.
However, they can point to 4 very valuable log points against their traditional bogey team and biggest rivals.
Stormers should go into this tour in a very good headspace and should not be satisfied with anything less than a 50% return.
I still however have the 9/10 combo as their greatest weakness and reason their brilliant forward dominance does not translate into comfortable wins.
2 Apr 2012, 11:15 am
Goeie more almal.
Well done to the Stormers – jul verdien dit.
As always we enjoy to visit Newlands but we got klapped this time. Stormers can go all the way this year but time will tell.
Bulletjies – we know what the plan is for 2012. We are doing well, byt vas! We are building – keep the heads up… lockerroom felt like a scene from the Twiglight zone saturday night… no problemo.
Cheers almal. SA rugby is loooooooooking good! imo.
O-ja Pink/pers outfit. I like it.
2 Apr 2012, 11:15 am
I am not a Bulls fan,but some erratic goal kicking by Steyn saved the Stormers
bacon.
2 Apr 2012, 11:15 am
@SHARKattack(mabu)-32:
Are you talking about Man of the match Tiaan???????
2 Apr 2012, 11:16 am
@SHARKattack(mabu)-32:
If they had to pick a home team player for MOTM it should have been Etsebeth. Chili was better.
2 Apr 2012, 11:17 am
@Hoops(Hoops)-37: yeap!!!!!!!
2 Apr 2012, 11:19 am
@Hoops(Hoops)-29:
I would say front rows even , Kittshof had 2 penalties against him , so did Bulls, maybe Stormers cause Dean played really dum
Chilley better than Tiaan
Locks
Eben and Juandre were best followed by Flip and Bekker ( Bulls line out 10/10 Stormers 9/10 )
6 and 7 to Stormers
8 to bulls , Vermeulen tackles thats all , I really don’t rate him
9 and 10 even , although Morne was terrible I thought Hougie was better than Duvenhage
Centres , Meisiekind vs JDV even, but JdJ better than Sadie
Basson better than Geo with Habana better than Akona
15 same nothing special on Both sides
2 Apr 2012, 11:19 am
@CAPECRUSADER(CAPECRUSADER)-23: And you are the Julis Malema of keo, although you probably won’t want to admit it.
2 Apr 2012, 11:20 am
@Brigadier Van Zyl(Brigadier Van Zyl)-33: you will cry in your pink panties again.
2 Apr 2012, 11:20 am
Chilliboy was superb.
2 Apr 2012, 11:22 am
@Staal(Staal)-35:
Thanks Staal….that is great from you as bulls supporter.
I banter some on this site today but the truth is this Bulls side is great. They have not once taken the “we have lost big players” excuse and are actually trying to get somewhere. I can just hear the excuses from the Stormers/WP coaches and admin telling us we are building if we were in the same position as your team!
I suspect your team will be there in the semis.!!!
Oh…and I cant wait for Heyneke to pick his team and wipe the floor with the WC pretenders!
2 Apr 2012, 11:23 am
@Hoops(Hoops)-37: Tiaan always involved in something off the ball ( Line-outs Stormers 9/10 Bulls 10/10 ) Chilley made 3-4 turnovers.
Skinstad and his fellow comentators had a few to many beers to make Tiaan MOM. If not Chilley then Eben.
2 Apr 2012, 11:23 am
@CAPECRUSADER(CAPECRUSADER)-13: @CAPECRUSADER(CAPECRUSADER)-42:
Oh, shut up.
True Province and Stormers supporters detest you.
2 Apr 2012, 11:23 am
@PissAnt(PissAnt)-34:
Fair enough regarding our weak 9/10.
But this team is more resolute then people are willing to give them credit for.
@Transformation(Transformation)-28:
Rather that than be like the Lions, always close to a winning streak
@capebull(capebull)-30:
Bulls will probably down us at Loftus.
2 Apr 2012, 11:23 am
@capebull(capebull)-40: considering meisiekind’s cowardly attempt to tackle kolisi for the stormers try i would give the honours to jdv.meisiekind was later seen to hug the touchline to escape the stormers brutes.
2 Apr 2012, 11:24 am
Can I just say:
Springbok rugby looks alive and very well.
I spoke to a mate of mine in New Zealand yesterday, he told me that they are very concerned by the relative quality of players on display thus far in the Super 15.
He told me that it looks like the Springboks will be superb this year, with the Aussies likely to be wooden spooners in the Tri Nations.
2 Apr 2012, 11:25 am
since there is no Sharks articale
i honestly think Michilak when at flyhalf, confuses himself. but he is better at scrummie than the off form Charl Mc at the moment.
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