Landers edge Dunedin epic
19 May 2012
RYAN VREDE reports on a compelling 16-11 victory for the Highlanders over the Bulls.
For a brief period in the dying minutes you thought the Bulls would do another great escape, like they did in Sydney last week. But on the balance of play they didn’t deserve the win. There are smiles in the home changeroom and undoubtedly thousands of kilometres away in Cape Town from Stormers players, who’ve been handed a massive incentive for victory.
There was nothing pretty about this match. It was brutal and relentless in an old-school sense. There was no doubting the hunger for victory and even though it was played with very little structure for large periods, it had a magnetic appeal.
Finesse wasn’t a feature of either side’s first half effort. That the Highlanders would try and run the Bulls off their feet was predictable. They came into this contest having kicked less than any team in the tournament. It isn’t a tactic unfamiliar to the Bulls, whose bulky tight forwards have for some time been seen as a liability against opposition who play expansively.
But there was little power, purpose, patience or synergy about the Highlanders’ attack and the Bulls had clearly braced themselves for an intense gainline fight, one they won through accurate and dominant hits, while their discipline amplified that challenge. This stifled the Highlanders’ momentum and they looked largely rudderless and impotent when the ball was shovelled to their back division.
The hosts’ cause was further undermined by the Bulls’ excellent lineout contest – hooker Jason Rutledge reduced to looking like a tanked up darts player. Robbed of this attacking platform the Highlanders had only their scrum to rely on as a solid attacking launch.
Certainly they enjoyed the bulk of possession, but they did nothing to inspire and looked devoid of the ability to explore alternative avenues of attack.
It therefore appeared to be a question of how long the Bulls’ defensive resistance could sustain and how often they could force penalties on the occasions they managed to drive into the Highlanders’ territory. They had done little on attack to suggest they could score tries if needed, their cleaners useless in denying the Highlanders’ breakdown scrappers opportunities at slowing or stealing their ball. Their kicking game was also poor, Francois Hougaard’s struggles central to their mediocrity in this regard. It is the weakest part of his game and why the Bulls persist in asking him to kick with the regularity he does is perplexing.
However, the Bulls lead 6-3 at half-time thanks to two Morne Steyn penalties (he’d also missed two), but Mike Delany levelled the score shortly after the restart.
The Highlanders’ primary strike runner were gaining in prominence and punch as the match progressed, and going into the final quarter the Bulls’ task was complicated when they lost Dean Greyling to the sin bin for a breakdown offence. The Highlanders launched wave after wave of attacks and finally eroded the Bulls’ resolve through Jarrad Hoeata. Delany banked the extras then added a penalty for a 10-point lead.
With 10 minutes remaining the Bulls were required to improve their attacking play dramatically. They responded well, playing through phases and crafting a chance for Greyling, who knocked on in the attempt to score. But Willie Wepener crossed in the next passage of play, although Steyn missed the most critical of his goal kicks.
The Bulls upped the ante in search of the decisive score they required. Pierre Spies surrendered possession in a surge for the tryline. They had one more opportunity at the death, but their ambition crumbled when the Highlanders effected a breakdown turnover, their eighth of the evening.
The Highlanders get their play-off charge back on track, while the Bulls could now be overtaken at the top of the South African conference if the Stormers win this evening. With the Chiefs waiting next weekend, what promised to be a outstanding tour could end up being a decidedly mediocre one. In the context of their title challenge, the importance of winning in Hamilton cannot be overstated.
308 Comments
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19 May 2012, 15:05 pm
Clearly, the Bulls are a better team with Jonker or Joubert in charge,
Guess what; I put my wagers on them, and they lost ;(
Spies fumbled the ball near the Landers’ tryline was a travesty since the Bulls forwards got stronger when Wepener came on to replace Chiliboi
Much stronger last 20 minutes
19 May 2012, 23:41 pm
Bulls on slippery slope, their obsolete battleship approach to rugby is coming to a watery grave.Can see them being swamped by Marauding Sharks and listing into third on SA Conference table in near future.
Replace Steyn with a guy who is willing to take it to the defensive line, will open up huge possibilities for Bulls. Hougard needs to watch Genia’s last couple of games and see how a champion half back plays.
20 May 2012, 09:00 am
@Te Rangatira(Te Rangatira)-302: Not too sure abouyt that, but they seem to be a bit limited when their mall is stopped. Makes me cry to see outside backs reduced to chasing high balls
Still can’t believe we won & are not rooted yet!
20 May 2012, 09:00 am
@Te Rangatira(Te Rangatira)-302:
Agree on Genia, best 9 in the comp, possibly the world
21 May 2012, 07:33 am
That game was a lesson in why the Bulls should have killed off the Highlanders spirit by upping a gear immediately after the break, to get 20 points ahead. I felt that they were holding it all in reserve to try and up a gear just before finish to conserve energy. Kick, chase and defend – then, when required, up the pace and intensity, score and then defend again.
But what they did not realise was that by giving the Highlanders a sniff of victory, they were making life difficult for themselves. Instead of playing a subdued outfut, they were playing an outfit with their tails up. They were not conserving energy this way.
Also, if you stuff up an attack, and they score from a turnover, you need ssome time in which to rectify that fault. You dont want to leave all your running with the ball until the end.
21 May 2012, 07:35 am
I have to say that Hougaard never teste the line himself as s crumhalf. He does so more as a winger running lines. But as a scrummie, he has to keep their loosies honest and close to the pack, otherwise they run wide and create turnovers.
21 May 2012, 07:47 am
@SjamBok(SjamBok)-306:
The bulle gameplan is first to pass the ball to Morne to kick, second, to pass the ball to Morne to kick, third, to pass the ball to Morne to kick and fourth for Britney to pick it up and hand it over to the opposition in contact.
21 May 2012, 08:10 am
@SjamBok(SjamBok)-306: Maybe he should stick to wing … i know the opinion was that he would take over immediately at scrumhalf but until now we havent seen Hougaard play for an extended period at scrumhalf at the top level.
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