Well I did think there was something familiar-looking about the photo, but since it was so small I did not make the connection.

The photo? That’s Paul O’Connell, I’m afraid, or his eyes to be more precise. There’s no red hair on my head. I’m thinking of changing it to Earl Rose.

By the way, I could swear I saw a photo of you today with some of your postings elsewhere … bring it back, I like it!

“And I doubt very much that Matfield is a better player than Eales.”

Someone else gave me grief over this. Yes, in my haste I did express the thought with too much conviction and not enough uncertainty.

I also thought about my statement a bit more. Matfield catches and passes better than Eales, e.g. I’m pretty sure it was Matfield who was in the middle of the Bulls’ backline in the movement that laid on Habana’s first try on the weekend. Although it’s a bit bizarre to speak of a tarantula being a “fetcher”, this is something that Matfield does better than Eales. I’m also not aware of Eales having the ability to decode the opposition’s lineout calls, as Matfield regularly does (Eales just took opposition throws with his natural athleticism!). Of course I’ve no doubt that Eales did many things better than VM. And I agree it’s a very dangerous game to play to suggest that anyone could be better than Eales. Have I made myself clearer?

The SA’s do cheerleader’s alot better than us and the kiwi’s. Though the Hurricanes and blues girls aren’t without their charms.

WCR,Craig and Loftus,

As a Force fanatic I’m praying every day we get some cheerleaders as HOT as the Bulls! Lead us not into temptation! I understand what the Bulls are praying for.

Don’t you remember how Botha tried to run off to France?

Someone else has pointed out the Bulls are an incredibly wealthy side, I would probably say they would be the wealthiest team in the southern hemisphere and by some margin – they get huge crowds and their merchandise is huge in south africa, so losing players to Europe would not be an issue as it is for the Kiwi sides, who just dont have the $$$. Also they have an excellent talent identification program (like the Sharks).

I guess in comps like the AFL and NRL, it is geared against sides like the Bulls succeeding in the long term, by virtue of the salary cap. There is no salary cap in South African rugby, so there is no impediment to this. I predict that by 2011, the Bulls will have one another super rugby title.

Greg Smith – The Association of random CAPS and ….. called asking for your union fees.
Your an embarassment to all the humble Saffas i know, all 3 of them.

Greg Russell – Like someone above has said, at least let the New Super Duo of world rugby compete against the best before claiming to have taken the mantle. Its like winning a vacant boxing belt, your not really the best cause the best retired.
Next year the Poosaders will have their star back and it’ll all be a little different i’m afraid.

As for Dynasty, yes these Bulls were great in that final and are the deserved champions this year.
But Dynasty talk is premature.
The problem being that if the Bulls don’t manage to finish top of the table the chances of them winning it will go from high to slim.
Imagine if the Hurricanes had beaten the Chiefs two weeks prior?
Do any of you seriously think that the Bulls would have won the Final so easily away from home in New Zealand?
It certainly wouldn’t have been as clear cut.

Again congrats to the Bulls and the Bulls fans. Not to the Bandwagon jumpers like Mr Greg …… SMITH

Mmm… I wonder who that means? Completely innacurate. And I doubt very much that Matfield is a better player than Eales.

but… back to the religion thing… that CHRISTIAN voodoo doesn’t belong in modern rugby… nor, come to think of it, does the HAKA… ban that rubbish !

Next we’ll have Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons running around on a Saturday… hell… restrict that stuff to the shed…

Or… if you want to advertise your religion or HAKA cultural dance… pay for an ADVERTISING slot… half-time preferably.

As an Afrikaner on this list, I can say that that is the biggest bunch of bullshit ever spoken on this list.
Afrikaners being oppressed is laughable. The people who left complaining, are most people who reacted badly to losing political power.
But while white South Africans may have lost political power in the last 15 years, but they still have all the economic cards in the country. Our standard of living puts the rest of Africa (and that includes to black South Africans) to shame.
As for being targets of crime…. that is another strawman-argument. As bad a s the crime is, black South Africans are far more like to be targets of violent crime than whites. It is all a matter of perspective.

They won one game by a lot. Lets not get carried away.

Where did they finish last year? and the year before?

Lets see where they finish next year when other teams work out how to backup the ball carrier.

I don’t think he was saying that to be catty towards Henry, and I’m sure it’s his honest opinion, but we should also bear in mind he’s coaching in a tournament against both NZ and SA and coaches love to position themselves as underdogs.

if memory serves his analysis was based on the spanking handed out by SA to the Wallabies and also the run away win over England at Twickers .. a case could be made that it was more a case of trying to smooth over his very poor team selection and the very poor all-round performance by the Wallabies in that SA game and also diverting attention away from the Wallaby Twickers achievement – which when put up against the NZ and SA wins didn’t look that flash

How the French see this opportunity will be interesting as the last game against the French was the AB game of disbileif from 4million kiwis.

I for one like to see new blood coming through and having our backs against the wall is always revealing.

It would be exceedingly out of character if Deans said this just to have a go at Graham Henry, so I tend to think he meant it. It would not have been easy for him to come to such a view given how close he has been to McCaw, Carter and a lot of the other key New Zealand people.

Anyway, I know some people always think that I say these things just to have a go at NZ rugby, but it’s not the case. After all, I now have children who could become All Blacks …

I’ll be more than happy to have the now supposedly second grade Carter and McCaw in the next couple of years – but they’re not going to do it all by themselves …

Well we will have Rocky coming back next year

The “greatness” of the Matfield/du Preez combo will be determined in the Test match arena. What I like about the Bulls is that they came up through the ranks as semi-finalists and kicked on, which a lot of sides don’t do, and played some fantastic running rugby, which South African sides aren’t always noted for.

du Preez and Matfield may be the stars, but it was a team effort and they deserved the spoils. It was an odd season, however, and the format’s changing dramatically (more than people realise at this point), so I think people are jumping the gun a bit. I don’t think this Bulls side will stay together over the next five years, but if a South African side finishes number one overall in the Super 15, they’ll be tough to beat in the new format.

I think you’re over-rating Matfield’s general play by a huge margin to be rating him alongside Eales, let alone better.

Anyone who reads my comments at The Roar knows that I am a huge admirer of du Preez, e.g. after last week’s match I wrote “Is Fourie du Preez not only the best halfback in the world, but in fact the best player in any position?”

This week I watched Matfield closely. He is so reminiscent of John Eales in the way he functions both as a tight-five forward and a loose forward at the same time, in fact if anything he is better. Notice also his outstanding rugby intelligence, as evidenced by his try (noticing that Kahui, the man who should have been defending there, was injured).

Noticing the positions of Matfield (2R) and du Preez (HB), naturally I observe that when Australian rugby ruled the roost it had Eales/Farr-Jones and then Eales/Gregan dominating proceedings. I find an obvious pattern here.

Comment-makers at this website seem reluctant to admit that there are great players who make a great difference, and that some positions on the rugby field are more important than others. But these seem to be facts to me.

With this in mind I ask: does Australian rugby have a Matfield or Eales on the horizon? Does Australian rugby have a du Preez or Gregan (1999-2003 version) or Farr-Jones on the horizon? Are we uncomfortable with the answers to these questions? Bringing back Vickerman would be some sort of start, but HB is a big problem.