Bulls to drop-kick Chiefs out of Super 14 final
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By Spiro Zavos, 25 May 2009 Spiro Zavos is a Roar Expert
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- Bulls, Chiefs, Crusaders, Mils Muliaina, Rugby Union, Super Rugby
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South Africa's Bulls captain Victor Matfield gestures to the fans after winning the semi-final of the Super 14 rugby match against New Zealand Crusaders at the Loftus Versfeld stadium in Pretoria, South Africa, Saturday May 23, 2009. The Bulls defeated the Crusaders 36-23. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe
The Bulls have a drop kick expert in Morne Steyn as he showed with his match-winning four field goals in the semi-final at Pretoria against a clever and brave Crusaders side. But more importantly, they are one of the few teams in international rugby to have a system to exploit Steyn’s talent.
One of the rules regarding a short-arm penalty is that a side cannot kick a penalty or field goal directly from it. There has to be a phase of play before the field goal can be kicked. It has always defied my understanding why sides don’t have a play when close to the opposition posts (or further away in the case of Steyn) to set up a field goal attempt.
The Bulls did this when they were 20 – 14 down after 35 minutes of play. Then they did it again to take the score to 20 – 20.
A man down after Thomas Waldrom was (incorrectly, in my opinion) sinbinned for lying on the wrong side in a maul – what about every ruck and maul that Bakkies Botha is involved in? – the Crusaders made a couple of breakouts and almost scored. A stupid chip kick followed and Pierre Spies took off from about 60m out and the Bulls were in front on the dot of half-time.
This score-line was against the run of play with the Crusaders bombing a handful of try-scoring opportunities.
In the second half they ran out of gas as the Bulls became increasingly rampant with hard, direct and fast running.
The crucial part of the Bulls game, though, was the way they were prepared to accept a three-point field goal when it was available rather than push on for a possible try. In tight finals contests this approach makes sense, if you have a player who can slot the kicks.
Which team do the Bulls resemble in this determination to drop-kick opponents out of games? And which player does Steyn resemble in his ability to slot field goals from any part of the field?
Answer: Sir Clive Woodward’s 2003 Rugby World Cup champions England side. And Jonny Wilkinson.
The point about field goals if the system is well-rehearsed and the kicker is an expert striker of the ball is that they are almost impossible to stop. If sides over-compensate on preventing field goals by rushing forward, as the Crusaders did from time to time, they leave gaps in their defensive lines for good running backs to exploit.
There is always an argument about the value of a field goal at 3 points. Up to the 1950s field goals used to be worth 4 points. This was a throwback to the earliest days of rugby when no points were awarded for crossing the line, which then allowed a side to ‘try’ to score from a goal. As rugby was seen as a kicking game as in ‘rugby football’ there was a tendency to reward kicking in the points system.
A tendency that remains, somewhat as a fossil of past eras, with the 3-point drop goal. It should be 2-points, of course, but no one should expect this to happen soon.
One of the consequences of the short-arm sanctions under the ELVs played in the Super 14 (but revoked for all rugby after next Saturday’s Super 14 final) is that there are fewer full-arm penalties awarded. This, in turn, means in general fewer penalty goals kicked. In this context, under the ELVs, the field goal can become a surrogate penalty goal.
The Chiefs have the kind of game, ball in hand with lots of pace out wide, that could worry the Bulls. But this is a difficult game to play at altitude, especially for sides that are not acclimatised by living on the veldt.
Unfortunately for the Chiefs, too, they may not have Brendon Leonard or apparently Sitiveni Sivivatu. Sivivatu was the difference between the Chiefs and the Hurricanes on Friday night. His broken field running, especially from high balls taken by Mils Muliaina, broke down a strong Hurricanes defensive pattern and led directly to Muliaina’s try that gave the Chiefs the lead.
Unlike the Crusaders, the Chiefs are historically not a good travelling side. They don’t win often in South Africa.
They have to travel from Hamilton to Pretoria this week. Their lineout is a bit shaky. They haven’t played impressively in their last two matches. You’d have to say that the Bulls must be favoured to win the final.
If I were Chiefs coach Ian Foster (a Morne Steyn type of kicking five-eighths in his day) I’d be getting Callum Bruce and Stephen Donald putting in plenty of practice at kicking field goals.
In the altitude of Pretoria, as the Bulls demonstrated against the Crusaders, it’s often the best tactic to kick your way to a victory rather than try to run your way to glory.
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Sam Taulelei said | May 25th 2009 @ 7:06am | Report comment
It would be tempting after their success against the Crusaders for the Bulls to overplay their hand with the dropkick. I remember after Jannie de Beer’s incredible effort against England in the 1999 quarterfinal that he tried to repeat that effort against Australia but was lacking in accuracy. Ironically it was a dropkick that decided the outcome but it came from an unlikely player and an unlikely position. The Bulls showed last week that they are more than the one dimensional team we had previously thought and I’d hate to see them play more conservatively because it’s the final.
Odds are on a Bulls victory but the Chiefs will be buoyed from their effort on their last visit to Loftus without Leonard and Sivivatu and at least this time they will have Anesi and Masaga on the wings so won’t be lacking in speed on the firm and fast surface. However, the Chiefs inconsistent lineout will make it difficult for them to apply and absorb pressure as the Bulls will look to target that facet of their game. If they keep their heads and play their natural game, I give them an even chance.
ohtani's jacket said | May 25th 2009 @ 7:32am | Report comment
I don’t know how you managed to squeeze an ELVs reference into this article, since there were at least two occasions where dropgoals were taken from full arm penalties
The Chiefs will be up against it, but they’ve overcome a series of obstacles on their way to the final — the 0-3 start, their front five falling apart, the injuries to Leonard, Sivivatu, Masaga and Kahui. They could’ve fallen off on the trip to South Africa or in the home games against the Hurricanes and Brumbies and we all know how unhappy their Super 12 semi outing was. But they didn’t.
They’ve got the best defence of any of the finalists and the best second half defence of any side in the competition. They may be underdogs, but they’ll give it a crack. The Bulls didn’t exactly start well on Saturday and their tactics will be interesting. Will they try to bully the Chiefs’ forward pack and attack the set pieces or will they look to spread it wide again?
Brett McKay said | May 25th 2009 @ 8:43am | Report comment
OJ, Spiro’s actually cleared up a question I’ve long held about why teams don’t just kick a DG immediately from the short arm, so for that I’m thankful for the ELV reference. Correct me please if I’m off the mark, but even the two DGs from the full arm penalties came from one phase play after the tap, didn’t they? If this is the case, Spiro’s reference is valid.
In any case, after Todd Louden described the South African approach to drop goals (they’ll take them if they feel they’re losing ground), and also the three-kick strategy to we Roarers a month or two ago, I watched the Bulls performance from a different perspective, and with an appreciation for their execution, rather than leading the chorus of booing constant field goals like I once would. They played the perfect semi-final strategy, and I think the Chiefs will need evey trick in their book to win the final.
Harry said | May 25th 2009 @ 9:01am | Report comment
Chiefs have a strong and under-rated tight 5 and a very good backrow with Luaki and Messam both having X-factor attacking skills – power and pace respectively. They also played well in Pretoria in the regular season and have a really strong backline, even missing Sivi. They have had 3 good wins in a row at home against quality opposition so are certainly match-hardened.
All that said, hard to go past the Bulls at home, whose attacking skills and flair is not given due recognition. Suspect they will try to dominate possession and field position in the 1st half (grind em down), not give the ball away as much as they did against the Saders. But as they showed on the weekend, they can switch to an open attacking game when they have to.
2 high quality teams – Mills, Habana, Du Preez, Spies and Matfield would all be in my current world XV, as would the injured Sivi, and not many weaknesses on either side.
Hammer said | May 25th 2009 @ 9:34am | Report comment
I give the Chiefs a decent chance at this … they’ve certainly got far more firepower than a labouring Crusaders backline … and they defend better … Sivivatu’s a big loss – but they’ve got talented back ups
one thing which does surprise me is that given it was at the minimum a 60/40 call the Bulls would win .. why didn’t the Chiefs make the call and travel to Perth on Sat … if the Crusaders won then they could have easily turned back … and as it turn out with a Bulls win they would have a head start on the travel component ….
yeebarr said | May 25th 2009 @ 11:02am | Report comment
“A tendency that remains, somewhat as a fossil of past eras, with the 3-point drop goal. It should be 2-points, of course, but no one should expect this to happen soon.”
Sorry if this is sidetracking Spiro but, as a (sort-of) newbie to this fine game, what is stopping them reducing the field goal to 2 points? Politics? A lengthy review of the potential disruption to a balance of scoring? People are too busy arguing about the ELVs to care?
van der Merwe said | May 25th 2009 @ 11:49am | Report comment
Lack of sour grapes for one thing, yeebarr.
Sam Taulelei said | May 25th 2009 @ 12:22pm | Report comment
I may be biased but I differ from Spiro’s opinion that the Chiefs weren’t impressive in their last two outings against the Brumbies and Hurricanes. It’s difficult to compare finalists performances against each other, and tighter affairs often lead to assumptions that the winner isn’t as strong as another team who won by a wider margin. History is only useful in telling us what did happen and not what is going tol happen. Prior to 2007 the Bulls had never won a semifinal and the Crusaders had never lost one so one finalist will be creating history this weekend.
The Bulls defence hasn’t been as strong in their last two games in conceding tries compared to the Chiefs and that tells me that the Chiefs defensive patterns and attitude is strong. The two no.10′s are similar in style although Donald is more threatening when he decides to run the ball himself and they’re the best in the competition in driving their teams around the park. What has impressed me is how they’ve both overcome adverse situations on the field so their captains are leading very well.
Altitude and homeground advantage will only come into play if the Bulls play well and are leading, the crowd was noticeably subdued and quieter when the Crusaders skipped out to a 20 – 7 lead. The Chiefs will want to take the crowd and referee out of the equation by playing well – I believe they can do it.
Ed said | May 25th 2009 @ 12:27pm | Report comment
The Chiefs have one of the worst set pieces in the super14.
The Bulls game was made for dismantling teams like the Chiefs.
Hemjay said | May 25th 2009 @ 12:29pm | Report comment
I don’t know if this is a case of sour grapes,
It is just more backing that the DG is overvalued. DG kickers are routinely booed no matter where they are. The Bulls however played a smart game and used the laws and available methods of pt scoring to their advantage and look it has paid off. Take the DGs out of the win and the Bulls would have won anyway but be it by only one pt but a wins a win right.
The Saffies have mastered the art of drop goals and we should take our hat off to them for it they are the biggest users of the method and it all stems back to the 95 WC final. I’m not sure if this is a telling sign that the Bokls just don’t seem to know how to score alot of tries and regularly or that they were trying to save themselves for this weekends match against a much higher rated opposition.
while legal I say use them but i point may hand up to say I think they should be devalued. Funny how the ELVs were to encourage more running rugby and try scoring. Well Steyn certainly tipped this theory on its head.
The Chiefs would be risking final glory if they don’t take heed of what the Bulls did. The Crusaders point 20+ points on them so what makes you think the Chiefs a far better team on attack can’t and won’t whilst also preventing Steyn from kicking.
It all remains to be seen and I sure as hell look forward to it. The Chiefs first final and the Bulls first home final should be a cracker