Unbeata-Bulls are creating a new Super dynasty
Columnist By Spiro Zavos, 31 May 2010 Spiro Zavos is a Roar Expert
- Tagged:
- Bulls, Fourie du Preez, Rugby Union, Stormers, Super 14 final, Super 15, Super Rugby, Victor Matfield
Bulls captain Victor Matfield, center, celebrate with teammates after winning the Super 14 rugby match at the Orlando stadium in Soweto, South Africa, Saturday May 29, 2010. Bulls beat Stommers 25-19. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)
The Bulls won their 20th consecutive home victory in a gripping and ferocious Super 14 final when they defeated a brave Stormers side 25 – 17 at Orlando Stadium in Soweto.
The Bulls now have three trophies in the last four years. They also join the Blues and the Crusaders as the only teams in Super Rugby to win back-to-back tournament victories.
The Bulls franchise is the new Super Rugby dynasty.
This is a dynasty built on a game plan designed for altitude (the Bulls are unbeaten in 20 consecutive home matches). It’s carried out by outstanding players all over the field, with two great players, Victor Matfield as the aerial specialist and Fourie du Preez, the best South African halfback since World War II, totally dominating their spheres of influence.
The Bulls demonstrated once again in the final their massive physical presence all over the field. They out-muscled the Stormers, a big and aggressive pack in its own right, with their blitzkrieg tactics of high balls and thunderous charges into the rucks and mauls. They forced three penalties, all converted, from a powerful scrum.
They also scored a clever try which kicked the side out to a 16 – 0 lead, which looked at the time, and proved to be, an unassailable advantage. Once again the key to the try was the impeccable timing of a pass by du Preez.
The Bulls ran a smash-and-grab forward push. The Stormers lined up with a slight gap between Adriaan Fondse guarding the ruck and Andries Bekker second man in the line. The stocky, electric-fast winger Francois Hougaard came from the blindside and scooted through the small gap to clear out for the try.
The mark of the Bulls, especially at altitude, is their ruthless finishing, either in scoring the crucial try or forcing a penalty or (and this was a rare occasion when Steyne missed his one attempt) knocking over a dropped goal.
They play a hard shouldered game in which they put continual pressure on the opposition with high balls which are chased relentlessly. It was significant, for example, that even Bryan Habana was pressured into dropping a high ball.
It is this chase, the best in Super Rugby for the last three years, that forces oppositions into making mistakes. Also it allows the Bulls to really punish opponents by smashing them to the ground. After the first 15 minutes, the Stormers had lost several players with injuries.
It is salutary for struggling franchises to remember that only six years ago the Bulls were a joke in Super Rugby. They were hardly able to win any games, even at home.
Slowly a team and a playing style has been put together that reflects the lung-bursting conditions of playing at altitude. Even the loss to the Stormers of Bryan Habana and Jacque Fourie to the Lions (two of the Bulls’ stars last season) has not weakened the Bulls to any great extent.
So the last Super 14 tournament has ended with the best team in the competition enjoying a convincing well-played and well-coached victory.
The season started with most pundits, myself included, dismayed about the boring kickathons of the 2008 season. The interpretation of the laws were tweaked or enforced to allow sides going into the tackle to have all the rights in placing the ball.
The final was a gripping game that revealed all the best about the unpredictability of rugby, even when it is played by a well-structured disciplined team like the Bulls.
The opening sequence in the final, for instance, with both teams running the ball wide, lasted 1 minute and 39 seconds, a lung-busting period of time at altitude. But to the credit of both sides they were still going hammer and tongs at each other at the end with the Stormers making a long series of plays to at least finish off the game (or attempt to finish it off) in style.
The player of the memorable match and of the tournament in my opinion was Fourie du Preez, the best player in the world right now and one of the great halfbacks in the history of the game.
A final point: 2010 is the last Super 14 tournament. Next year we have a Super 15 which involves more matches in each of the SANZAR countries. The Bulls have set the benchmark now and it will be fascinating to see how the other Super Rugby franchises try to stop their current dominance.
My guess is that this dynasty has a couple of years to run, or at least until Matfield and du Preez leave the team.
It’s game on now for the Super 15 tournament of 2011.
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- Bulls, Fourie du Preez, Rugby Union, Stormers, Super 14 final, Super 15, Super Rugby, Victor Matfield
May 31st 2010 @ 10:18am
lucyfanclub said | May 31st 2010 @ 10:18am | Report comment
Match fixing? What garbage. Why would you risk injuring your best players on a dead rubber? What the Waratahs should have done is beat the the lowly Highlanders, then the final picture could have been a lot different. Not that it would have made any difference – the best team by a country mile won fair and square and if the ‘Tahs didn’t get done by the Stormers, they surely would have been done by the Bulls. The decision to rest the players was simply another example of superior tactics on and off the field to win the competition.
May 31st 2010 @ 1:38pm
Mike said | May 31st 2010 @ 1:38pm | Report comment
Whichever way you look at it, resting ALL your players for a match against quality opposition is throwing a match. Sure there were tactics behind it, doesn’t make it any better in my opinion – Especially as it affected ladder positions for the finals.
May 31st 2010 @ 3:42pm
TembaVJ said | May 31st 2010 @ 3:42pm | Report comment
Well then Mike grab ONeil and the ARU LAW arsenal and hit the courts, sound like you have a solid case with all the facts… it’s a winner for sure. Cant believe the ARU missed that one, you should apply for a job there.
May 31st 2010 @ 10:29am
sixo_clock said | May 31st 2010 @ 10:29am | Report comment
What a game of Rugby! If there are any Wallabies or AB’s who cannot maintain that kind of physicality, ferocity, skill and presence of mind under pressure then kindly hand in your guernsey and contract and thank you for trying. Disregard the fact that Craig Joubert went AWOL because properly officiated there would have been a totally different game and possibly outcome, but he was consistent – just not thorough or accurate. At altittude and in that noise those players rose to the history of the occasion and played an absolute corker of a game of Union Power. At one point I was thinking that either of those sides could give the other national teams a run for their money. Neither of these teams played as collectively involved before this, the difference was the Bulls extra presence and willingness to support the ball carrier (in other words – Rugby). The concern for the ‘Boks is that by putting his whistle into his pocket Joubert may have sent the wrong message and they may give away too many penalties in the Tri-Nations. Other than that – Wow!
May 31st 2010 @ 10:55am
allblackfan said | May 31st 2010 @ 10:55am | Report comment
“Disregard the fact that Craig Joubert went AWOL because properly officiated there would have been a totally different game and possibly outcome …”
So you’re saying that the Bulls victory was based on a deficient referee!
How come South Africans (or South African supporters) are so willing to accept deficient referees!?!? And to think we have to put up with five more years of this Super rugby crap!
Bring on the NPC, I say!
May 31st 2010 @ 11:46am
Lee said | May 31st 2010 @ 11:46am | Report comment
If a Kiwi team had won the S14 I am sure you would be singing a far different tune….
May 31st 2010 @ 12:04pm
katzilla said | May 31st 2010 @ 12:04pm | Report comment
Not if it had been those South Island Darkie haters
May 31st 2010 @ 4:35pm
allblackfan said | May 31st 2010 @ 4:35pm | Report comment
You’d think so! But no!!
The Blues-Bulls game is an example. I was left largely underwhelmed by the experience.
Even those (non-derby) games which NZ teams have won have left something of a sour taste in my mouth.
I’ve scaled back my Super rugby viewing and that’s saying something considering I love my rugby who has to contend with NRL games/fans.
There are some severe problems with the competition which is why I’m not looking forward all that much to the S15 (although I’m prepared to wait and see how the conference system work).
June 1st 2010 @ 5:56am
sixo_clock said | June 1st 2010 @ 5:56am | Report comment
Huh? how do can you possibly infer that from what I said?
I would not be surprised if Joubert had determined before the game that he was going to stay out of it. I do not think he did a good job (as I said) and I suspect he has an intestinal fortittude problem. I really enjoyed the speed and intensity but a lot of things were ignored that have been penalised all season, which in fact have been a feature of officiating this year, and most agreed made the game better. To have a referee then for some reason decide not to officiate as he has been instructed and has actually done throughout the season indicates either an RSA agenda or a personal problem.
A lot of (very insular) Kiwis think the NPC is the best Rugby on the planet, for one thing a kiwi always wins, however as your monicker implies, there is a bigger game out there and that is the acid test.
June 2nd 2010 @ 1:02pm
Tutu said | June 2nd 2010 @ 1:02pm | Report comment
What an insecure and ridiculous post
May 31st 2010 @ 10:40am
Apelu Tielu said | May 31st 2010 @ 10:40am | Report comment
Spiro,
Samoa won the World Sevens’ series last night, beating the brave, young Aussie team in the finals in Scotland, 41-14. Could they be on the verge of a dynasty in that carnival?
NZ misses out again for the second year in a row, despite the big talks from the NZ media that they were going to blow away Samoa. Do you think NZ is losing its aura in both the long and short versions of the game?
May 31st 2010 @ 1:17pm
Sam Taulelei said | May 31st 2010 @ 1:17pm | Report comment
Only if there is no longer any prestige or weight given to beating NZ in either form of the game. Losing world titles hasn’t diminished NZ’s standing in the game and Samoa are deserving winners of their first title, they were the most consistent team this year and even coach Gorgon Tietjens stated that it would have been an injustice if NZ sneaked through to snatch it away from Samoa.
May 31st 2010 @ 10:52am
stuff happens said | May 31st 2010 @ 10:52am | Report comment
Great game & the Bulls are a great team.To think they achieved all this without Fourie, Habana & Botha ( for most of the season).They also have a great bench. The hooker Maku looks the business.
May 31st 2010 @ 12:38pm
Rusty said | May 31st 2010 @ 12:38pm | Report comment
it must have been especially tough without Jaque Fourie given he has never played for them
May 31st 2010 @ 11:14am
TembaVJ said | May 31st 2010 @ 11:14am | Report comment
I hated those noisy trumpet things… they should ban them.
June 1st 2010 @ 4:20am
Steve said | June 1st 2010 @ 4:20am | Report comment
They are called vuvuzelas
May 31st 2010 @ 12:56pm
Peter K said | May 31st 2010 @ 12:56pm | Report comment
The bulls (and boks) kick chase of the high ball is great.
However it would not be anywhere as effective if refs pinged the players who are not going for the ball, jump early eyes on the ball BUT have no chance to catch it, and take out the defending jumper.
It happens time and again.
May 31st 2010 @ 1:11pm
Katipo said | May 31st 2010 @ 1:11pm | Report comment
That Super15 format is way too complicated. Gee its hard enough explaining it to my wife now. “Bulls v Stromers. Cool, two Australian teams in the final?” she said. It’s only been 14 years and people still don’t know where the stupid franchise teams come from. Another classic was “Where are the Red Bulls from again?” I am not looking forward to explaining the S15 format I can tell you.
How about 3 national conferences with home & away matches giving you Australian/NZ & SA national champions. Then, in a separate ‘super’ knock-out tournament, the 15 teams (plus a guest side from Argentina or Pacific or Europe or wherever to give you the 16 required for format ease) play a knock-out tournament culminating in a grand final.
It only took me 2 minutes to think of that. Much easier to understand and explain (and reduced travel costs too).
Let me put this another way for the rugby administrators: if you want me to continue advocating your sport for you, do me a favour!
May 31st 2010 @ 1:14pm
Kuri said | May 31st 2010 @ 1:14pm | Report comment
I’m not sold on this conference format, it’s blatantly obvious certain conferences are going to be much more competitive than others.
May 31st 2010 @ 1:20pm
Tutu said | May 31st 2010 @ 1:20pm | Report comment
It has it’s merits but I too am not fully convinced, this system has the potential for inferior teams to make the finals above more deserving teams, not to mention how it can be deemed fair when not everyone is playing the same teams in cross pool play.
A while a go when the S15 first came about the term “Pity Finals” was used and to be honest it’s hard to see it any other way
May 31st 2010 @ 1:36pm
True Tah said | May 31st 2010 @ 1:36pm | Report comment
Tutu
if Australia had a strong enough domestic comp, then we wouldnt need the Super XV. Aussie rugby needs the South Africans more than we need them.
May 31st 2010 @ 1:49pm
Tutu said | May 31st 2010 @ 1:49pm | Report comment
It would be foolish to think SA or NZ rugby would be as good as it is without Australia also.
Lets be honest here at least the Australian teams all round have been competitive this year.
The same can not be said of the SA teams. Whilst they had the two deserving finalists, as has been mentioned elsewhere the majority of the Springboks are in these two teams so you would expect them to be formidable opponents.
The fact that once again it is the South African teams at the bottom of the table helps to put it all in perspective.
The fact that both the Stormers and Bulls had 9 home games and played all the top teams at home in South Africa can not be discarded.
They both played nine games in South Africa in the round robin with 6 of these at home (Bulls 5 and one in Soweto)
Do you think Super rugby would be as popular around the world without Australia?
I find that hard to believe.
the fact that Europe and the UK are in the same timezones is also a huge advantage.
I still find it astounding that South Africa draws so much money when the wealth of the people is but a shadow of it’s Partners. If Someone can elaborate further I would be interested to know.
From a NZ perspective where the rand is 1/5th of the NZ dollar it amazes me that they have so much moolah to throw around especially when you take into consideration nearly half the population lives on less than 5 US dollars per week.
to put it simply they SA would need 5 times as many people through the gate just to equal one New Zealander and to Australia it would be 6 to 1 ?
I love seeing the SA packs charge around the field but you would be a fool to believe they don’t need Austrlia and New Zealand both these countries also help to give this tournament credibility. There is no way the same money would be generated without either of the three countries involved nor would the broadcasters be offering the same amount of money
May 31st 2010 @ 2:03pm
TembaVJ said | May 31st 2010 @ 2:03pm | Report comment
Yeah how dare they tutu they should get back in line with the rest of the 3rd world.
May 31st 2010 @ 2:27pm
Tutu said | May 31st 2010 @ 2:27pm | Report comment
Lose the attitude temba you do your self no favours.
May 31st 2010 @ 3:01pm
True Tah said | May 31st 2010 @ 3:01pm | Report comment
tutu
as to why the south africans have so much moolah.
1 – provinces like bulls, stormers, sharks own their own stadiums, hence they dont pay rent and can also rent the stadiums out and earn income, like concerts, futbol games, etc
2 – crowds in South Africa are significantly higher than NZ and Australia, stormers average over 45k, bulls 35k, sharks 25k, cheetahs average around 15k – NZ I think the Crusaders average 20K, Blues 15k, hurricanes 15k, chiefs and highlanders less than 10k
3 – pay tv dollars – the SARU gets extra $$$ from Currie Cup, Australia doesnt have anything to compare to Currie Cup, Im not sure NZRU gets a good deal from SkySports for Air NZ Cup. Plus in terms of the Super 14, SA would get more than NZ or Australia, given that they provide a lot more viewers.
4 – corporate sponsorship – there are more corporate dollars in South Africa than NZ, and in Australia rugby has to compete with NRL/AFL.
May 31st 2010 @ 3:11pm
TembaVJ said | May 31st 2010 @ 3:11pm | Report comment
You mean SARU didnt send Bakkie Botha round to the ARU with a baseball bat to collect like a PIMP?
May 31st 2010 @ 1:20pm
Katipo said | May 31st 2010 @ 1:20pm | Report comment
Yeah Kuri. The way the S15 conference format is set up it sounds like there is no guarantee that the best teams will make the finals. So the tournament is flawed from the start and supporters will find it difficult to connect with.
May 31st 2010 @ 1:21pm
TembaVJ said | May 31st 2010 @ 1:21pm | Report comment
Kuri do I sense a bit of sour grapes there my friend?
OK so no one in Australia seems interested that mean no one in the world besides Saffa land and the roar watch the game?
Ha seems you know as much about rugby as you know about the world outside your borders.
You will be surprised how many in the UK and the rest of Europe tuned in for that match. You should give a hoot about the bulls, they will make up half the Bok team that’s going to role your boys. Beside if only SA tuned in it still beat any viewing Aussie generate even in AFL and NRL.
Its sounds rather childish that you only take interest in the sport when your team is involved.
I don’t think you should be speaking for NZ either… it seems funny that some Aussies use NZ “view point” when it serve their purpose.
Na I think its plain and simple a case of sour grapes… not to worry, I have a spare Bulls top, come join the winners circle.
May 31st 2010 @ 1:30pm
Tutu said | May 31st 2010 @ 1:30pm | Report comment
No one likes a boaster Temba get over yourself and stop being so provocative.
Other people are allowed a view point and it’s not always going to mirror yours.
May 31st 2010 @ 1:38pm
TembaVJ said | May 31st 2010 @ 1:38pm | Report comment
Kuri, if it’s truly unlawful, cheating match fixing then something would have been done about it.
The fact is and it is a fact, you have not a leg to stand on. Your pointing finger dripping with sour grapes mean not a thing.
Tutu its not only an opinion its and excuse, its accusation and its taking away from a team that really was the better team.
Not boasting, I don’t like the low blows aimed at cheapening their victory though.
So if your done policing the roar can you please provide me with an example of boasting.
May 31st 2010 @ 2:51pm
Hoy said | May 31st 2010 @ 2:51pm | Report comment
We have been over this before, but whenever someone says something remotely against what South African’s want to hear, we are all accused of Saffa bashing etc.
I am sorry, but you keep bringing up the same points, and are skipping my argument Temba.
I am not accusing anyone of match fixing, nor am I saying that the Bulls didn’t deserve to win, or weren’t the best team, or that anyone could have possibly beaten the mighty Bulls etc.
My point about the game against the Stormers in the last round is that if the Bulls hadn’t rested their players, it is very possible that the Stormers would have missed the finals altogether. Can you take off your anti Saffa-bashing glasses for just a minute and see that the implications of giving the Stormers a leg up into the finals smells a bit off? Whether it happened or not, it smells a little of SARU saying ‘come on, lets get two teams at home, and do the best for South Africa that we can’.
Now, aside from the poor argument that will undoubtably come back from the anti Saffa-bashing brigade that this is just Saffa-bashing, and wouldn’t your team/country/god do it too, that sort of finals manipulation is just too close to match fixing for my liking. I am NOT saying the final was rigged Temba, or again, please understand, I am not taking away from the Bulls winning the comp, but should the Stormers have been there? We will never know now. It is definitely finals manipulation, which suited SARU right down to the ground, even if as you say, the benefit was more fuzzy feeling than payday (which I am sure was still pretty good, or enough of an incentive to think about putting two teams into the finals).
May 31st 2010 @ 9:54pm
nicksa said | May 31st 2010 @ 9:54pm | Report comment
Hoy
I can see where u are coming from. Indeed it did benefit saru to have 2 south african teams in the finals BUT u must also realise it was best for the bulls to rest their players. Yes there could have been match fixing but at the same time and probably the most likely scenerio is that the bulls wanted to rest their players…
May 31st 2010 @ 11:43pm
BennO said | May 31st 2010 @ 11:43pm | Report comment
“…but whenever someone says something remotely against what South African’s want to hear, we are all accused of Saffa bashing etc.”
I agree Hoy, and I also get really bored of it. It’s not just this Bulls resting players situation either, the justice 4 bakkies thing was another example. I don’t know what the persecution complex is all about, but it does get tiresome.
June 1st 2010 @ 6:37am
Tutu said | June 1st 2010 @ 6:37am | Report comment
The Bulls deserved to win the final no doubt about it.
However I’m sick and tired of the victim mentality that comes out of South Africa, who gives a rats we all have issues to deal with.
Sadly as can be clearly seen from posts in this column alone Australians and Kiwis are not allowed to question or dare insinuate anything towards South Africans but they can whinge, moan and accuse the ANZACs of anything and everything all they like.
Some SA posters have even resorted to childish personal attacks.
May 31st 2010 @ 1:34pm
Mike G said | May 31st 2010 @ 1:34pm | Report comment
Yeah I too heard the S14 final was very popular in the UK etc, but let’s be honest, the kickoff time was perfect for them…1am in Sydny!!