Bulls hold off Crusaders for Super win
The Bulls held off a late charge from the Canterbury Crusaders in a breathless finish to record a 32-30 Super Rugby victory on Saturday.
Springboks five-eighth Morne Steyn kicked 22 points and Dean Greyling and Wynand Olivier went over for tries for a 32-16 lead for the Bulls with seven minutes to go at Loftus Versfeld.
But the seven-time champion Crusaders stormed back with converted tries by Zac Guildford and replacement Tom Marshall in the dying minutes and the Bulls had to desperately cling on in the face of a last-gasp attack from the New Zealand visitors.
Steyn kicked eight from 10 shots at goal to eventually outshine opposite number and All Blacks No.10 Daniel Carter, who was shaky with the boot but played key roles in both late tries for the Crusaders.
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April 8th 2012 @ 8:07am
Moaman said | April 8th 2012 @ 8:07am | Report comment
Very frustrating watching Dagg & Carter kick away all that possession.I was calling for Blackadder to have the balls to sub DC on 60mins.In vain.They showed what they could do with the ball in hand and a more direct approach(than the sideways crabbing of earlier)in those final frenetic minutes.A tactical balls-up.Has to be the worst performance by the great Daniel Carter I have ever seen.Dreadful.Little chip kicks that Hougart(sp?) read like a comic.And Steyn converted into points soon after.Punts right down Kirchner’s throat.Grrrrr.On the positive side….Sam Whitelock was immense,the Crusaders’ loosies all toiled effectively and I loved the endeavour if not the execution of the back 3.KPM will be pleased that Robbie Fruean had a solid game too.Carter should be treated like any other player making his way back from injury now imo.Blackadder has to be ruthless or they can kiss a Final’s spot goodbye.
April 9th 2012 @ 12:25pm
faitala.lima said | April 9th 2012 @ 12:25pm | Report comment
i wouldnt fruean played a solid game. he ddnt make as much hit ups as he shouldve. all oppositions know how threatening he could be and it wouldve taken a bit more pressure off the back three if had a few crash balls up the middle instead of always throwing it wide.
April 9th 2012 @ 4:50pm
Moaman said | April 9th 2012 @ 4:50pm | Report comment
I don’t think Fruean calls the shots in that backline;imo they spent the first 75 mins of the match going sideways in the backs.
April 10th 2012 @ 3:42pm
faitala.lima said | April 10th 2012 @ 3:42pm | Report comment
yes i agree thats true but if he had been clever enough he wouldve taken the responsibilty of straightening up … he shouldnt have to be told what to do. as a center his job is to straighten up and create space for the speedstars. just because they call a move doesnt mean he has to go all the way through with it. if anyone at all in the backline sees it isnt working they should improvise. he is very impressive with the ball in hand and everyone knows that so he should maximise his opportunities …
April 8th 2012 @ 12:47pm
Latimer-Umaga said | April 8th 2012 @ 12:47pm | Report comment
But… I thought the South African sides played a prehistoric game? KPM, can you help me out?
Wake up NZ, you’re falling behind. As a Blues fan (my teams goooone) I am just here to watch any good rugby, basically a neutral. The South African sides are running away with it. Where as all our teams are similar and play the same rugby they have variation which can only be good for the Boks. Stormers – the best defense I have ever seen. Cheetahs – Some of the most entertaining rugby you’ll see. Bulls – great set pieces, hard running and working the overlap mixed in with fantastic strike runners that cause chaos. – Lions – well coached, no big names in the side, move on. – Sharks looked great before Lambie was injured.
Dan Carter was very much outplayed by Steyn. Lots of cheating by the Crusaders caught by the little up and coming Pro Legote.
April 8th 2012 @ 1:07pm
Lippy said | April 8th 2012 @ 1:07pm | Report comment
How is losing by two points to the Bulls at home falling behind L-U?
The Highlanders were poor against the Stormers who have exceptional defenses albeit at times pushing the offside line. In saying.that they were fantastic and were driving the Highlanders back everytime they contested lineouts and forced turnovers the Highlanders looked like deer in headlights just didn’t have a clue. The obsession they along with the Blues to run it out of their 22 when they are getting smashed backwards is extraordinary to say the least. Against teams with a sold defensive structure like the Stormers you need to play territory and keep turning their forwards around. As yet no team including South African teams have worked this out.
The Sharks are woeful and were humiliated by the Hurricanes and id be surprised if they beat the luckless Blues. The Stormers will be in for a fight with the returning Crusaders and the Bulls are yet to leave the republic.
If you ask me there is little between the African and NZ teams.
April 8th 2012 @ 1:35pm
Latimer-Umaga said | April 8th 2012 @ 1:35pm | Report comment
Where as in the past the South African sides struggled to win away – and lets face it, their tours were 4 weeks… sometimes 5, not 2 like all the Australasian sides, they’re now doing it on a regular basis. Lets be honest, the Bulls took their foot off the pedal being 16 points up with 8 to go and the last Crusader try was lucky due to Hougaard letting the player go thinking he had offloaded the ball.
The top South African side just rolled up and crushed the top Nz side at home in front of a packed stadium.
I’ll admit that the Sharks, despite their potential, are continually disappointing. They’ll be better once Lambie returns and Bismarck gets over his calf strain and could go 2 from 4 on the road which wouldn’t be bad.
Had this silly conference system not been around, you’d only have 4 spots for the Semifinals – at the moment
1. Stormers
2. Chiefs
3. Bulls
4. Highlanders
April 8th 2012 @ 2:15pm
Lippy said | April 8th 2012 @ 2:15pm | Report comment
Lets agree to disagree
Let their foot off the pedal lol thanks for an Easter Sunday giggle.
3 of the top 6 teams are from NZ and the undefeated Stormers are only two points ahead of the Chiefs Who are easily the best team in NZ at the moment and due to the nature of the Format do not play each other and could only do so in the Finals
There is hardly the gap that you wish for us all to believe!
p.s I dislike the conference forum also however its here to stay.
The top Australian team would be seventh due to points differential behind the Crusaders therefore technically speaking four NZ teams would be in the top 6 further annulling your argument.
Using your placings it only highlights there is little to nothing between the two countries with a 50/50 split in the top 4
April 8th 2012 @ 2:40pm
Latimer-Umaga said | April 8th 2012 @ 2:40pm | Report comment
How else would you describe the two soft tries that were scored by the Crusaders? It certainly wasn’t from any special attack.
The Chiefs were defeated by the Highlanders in round 2 and struggled past the Force.
The only real threat we have for the Super rugby title this year would be the Crusaders, and lets face it they haven’t been anything special since 2006, even the 2008 side was iffy. The other nz teams are pretenders.
April 8th 2012 @ 2:51pm
Lippy said | April 8th 2012 @ 2:51pm | Report comment
The table speaks for itself your getting a little hysterical over the supposed gap in conferences.
April 8th 2012 @ 3:03pm
stillmatic1 said | April 8th 2012 @ 3:03pm | Report comment
would be nice if you didnt get into the habit of our aussie cousins of counting our chickens before they roost, latimer!! we are only just coming up to the mid point of the season and a long way to go.
teams like the saders and reds will come into the season later than expected but due to the format why would you need to go hard at the start of the season? the bulls havent left south africa yet, are looking good but could miss out if the stormers continue on their way. the saders struggle against the bulls and yet had the ability to stay with them if the strategy had of been tweaked. morne kicked 22 points for gods sake, nothing special there, but enough to win games and stifle the oppositions play. frankly though, the bulls are a great team and unstoppable when on the rampage, so at home, what can be expected.
the highlanders were stupid with the way they attacked the stormers, it was like watching a rugby league side. when they tried something and changed the angles they were effective and it showed in the missed tackle stats of the stormers.
as far as i can tell, the aus/nz/sa teams are playing to type and nothing i can see will change that scenario until later in the season.
April 10th 2012 @ 8:21am
Rugbug said | April 10th 2012 @ 8:21am | Report comment
The Stormers are looking good there is no denying that, if they can beat the Crusaders this weekend in Christchurch I will say it will be a long and hard road for the chasing pack to pull them back.
This does however depend on how the Chiefs go in SA against the Cheetahs and Sharks.
Then again the Bulls won’t take it lying down and they could be the team that knocks the Stormers off their perch.
April 10th 2012 @ 8:51am
mania said | April 10th 2012 @ 8:51am | Report comment
LU- “How else would you describe the two soft tries that were scored by the Crusaders?” those tries were let in because israelDagg had a brain explosion.
I was saying this last season when mils got dropped. “Dagg makes more mistakes in one game than mils would in an entire season”. Dagg is almost a great player but let the saders down. he wasnt the only one mind u as there were a lot of basic errors from other players, but when u get stepped and fall for a dummy pass from a prop u have got to be asking questions of yourself
April 10th 2012 @ 2:45pm
Lippy said | April 10th 2012 @ 2:45pm | Report comment
Just been over your comments again as I thought I may have been a little hard on you.
That was until I got to your last sentence in the above comment. I don’t know too many Kiwis who refer to themselves as we when talking about South African teams.
I think I can safely say Kiwi you are not.
Im not sure why you feel the need to create a false persona which lets face it was blown pretty quickly with your extremely negative and antagonistic views towards NZ posters and the Franchises from the Shakey Isles on the various threads since you’ve been around which in itself hasn’t been too long
Be proud of supporting your teams from the Republic the Stormers are travelling well, own it be proud of it. But don’t try and be someone your clearly not.
April 8th 2012 @ 1:08pm
Hwood said | April 8th 2012 @ 1:08pm | Report comment
I didn’t think they got any favors from the ref and his assistants!
What the heck was that obstruction call and so many unusual attacking team pk!
Oh well, you can’t rely on that but I think they are showing enough to be a force later on in the comp! They won’t lose a game from here on in
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April 9th 2012 @ 12:30pm
faitala.lima said | April 9th 2012 @ 12:30pm | Report comment
very true.. if they had scored that try they wouldve had alot more time to launch a comeback … but instead they burned another minute or so to have to rescore that one ..
April 8th 2012 @ 3:02pm
Sylvester said | April 8th 2012 @ 3:02pm | Report comment
The obstruction call was definitely bizarre but the Crusaders deserved to lose.
They lacked intensity outside the first 10 and last five min, kicked poorly – both for position and goal, showed little imagination in the backs for all that talent, and gave away too many easy penalties.
They’re getting left behind and may not catch the pack with the form they’re showing.
April 8th 2012 @ 3:08pm
Latimer-Umaga said | April 8th 2012 @ 3:08pm | Report comment
@ lippy (can’t use the reply feature for some reason)
Just a passing observation that you seemed to have taken offense to. Nothing hysterical about it.
April 8th 2012 @ 3:25pm
Nicksa said | April 8th 2012 @ 3:25pm | Report comment
Maybe we can get Mr Murray Mexted to write another piece on how far ahead the nz super15 teams are
April 8th 2012 @ 3:28pm
Nicksa said | April 8th 2012 @ 3:28pm | Report comment
Guys it just seems like a world cup hangover for the nz sides, ive said it in another thread but i will repeat it! i truly believe the springboks will dominate this year, the talent they have is ridiculous and now with good coaching i see them being a very big threat for the no 1 spot. I just cant understand why aus is in such a downward spiral…
April 8th 2012 @ 3:54pm
jeznez said | April 8th 2012 @ 3:54pm | Report comment
We’ve expanded our number of Super sides so our talent is spread thinner and the lack of a third tier of the quality of the CC or NPC means that our new guys are having more of a gap to cross when they do try to step up.
The pain we endure now is going to be worth it guys like Tomane, Mogg, Jones, Douglas, Timani x 2, Longbottom, Palmer, Fardy, Carter, Hooper, etc are all the better from playing Super rugby and we should eventually close the gap back up.
April 8th 2012 @ 5:10pm
Nicksa said | April 8th 2012 @ 5:10pm | Report comment
the wallabies were playing fantastic rugby before the world cup, it just seemed like something happened there as the quality dropped during the world cup and it seems to have carried on. Perhaps relying on cooper to much?
April 9th 2012 @ 12:33pm
faitala.lima said | April 9th 2012 @ 12:33pm | Report comment
they put way to much hope on that scrawny Mr fancy feet. it was a mistake all along. not to select him because he indeed was talented but hyping him up so much and putting so much spotlight on him.
April 8th 2012 @ 3:55pm
Jonny G said | April 8th 2012 @ 3:55pm | Report comment
Do you think the Springboks intend to use an all South African based squad this year? Specifically in the props, 2nd row, scrum half positions.
April 8th 2012 @ 5:07pm
Nicksa said | April 8th 2012 @ 5:07pm | Report comment
I hope so, they shouldnt use overseas players in the long run it will be damaging for sa rugby…
April 8th 2012 @ 7:53pm
Taetjo said | April 8th 2012 @ 7:53pm | Report comment
Yup. They should not use overseas based players.
April 8th 2012 @ 4:06pm
jeznez said | April 8th 2012 @ 4:06pm | Report comment
I do think the Stormers in particular are looking very impressive – their result yesterday was strong. I thought Vinny favoured the home side with his interpretation of the breakdown, the Highlanders were off their feet in almost every breakdown but it was the Stormers who gave away the card. I can’t fault the card for hands on the ground but I did think it was inconsistent. Probably the most glaring was Rutledge knocking on, diving on the looseball and then popping it backwards only for a Stormer to dive on it and then get penalised for hands on the deck.
More impressive to me was that this was the first leg of the tour off the long flight something that typically slows sides down and this team continued to tackle the house down until the 80th minute. Some typical quality box kick and chase for Habana but that wasn’t all they had. The try by the fullback was one of the best scores this year – almost in the same class as a couple by the Cheetahs.
April 8th 2012 @ 4:41pm
dc said | April 8th 2012 @ 4:41pm | Report comment
The Stormers look way ahead of any team and my bias is towards the Canes and other Kiwi teams.
The Bulls will be up there near the end thanks to the Steyn boot machine. We are only 1/3 through the season and the Chiefs and Highlanders have to refute the fade at the back end of season stereotype.
But watch out for the Crusaders – they are just warming up and know all about finals football.
I agree – the Boks will be very strong this year, and the tactical games vs the ABs will be fascinating.
April 8th 2012 @ 5:12pm
Nicksa said | April 8th 2012 @ 5:12pm | Report comment
Indeed, going to be fantastic!! if stormers top the log they will win the comp, i cant see them losing at home.
April 8th 2012 @ 5:29pm
Lippy said | April 8th 2012 @ 5:29pm | Report comment
I think we’re being to pessimistic re the Highlanders already. The Stormers still have both the Reds and Crusaders to play before heading home. It will only take one loss to bring them back to the pack, two losses which is possible against both of last years finalists will open the competition up not that its closed they are only 2pts ahead if the chiefs. The biggest issue for the Stormers is acquiring bonus points.
If either the Reds or Crusaders play a final against the Stormers inSouth Africa I’d back both teams to beat them. The Crusaders did it last year twice once in a Semi Final.
The key to beating the Stormers is playing a territory game and keep turning their fatties around and making them run backwards and forwards they will soon tire. The Stormers D is likev the great wall your not going to get through it so you need to go over it, strangely not one team has worked this out yet. The Reds and Crusaders won’t be so naive against them
April 8th 2012 @ 5:38pm
Latimer-Umaga said | April 8th 2012 @ 5:38pm | Report comment
Yeah, the issue is that last year the Stormers didn’t have Joe Pietersen, who was in France. He secures any chip kicks or kicks for the corner, simply an outstanding fullback. They’ve also bolstered their forwards with the likes of the fantastic Eben Eztebeth and Kolisi both of whom drive attackers back 5 meters at a time. Coetzee is also playing Elstadt at 7 which adds so much more grunt than anything Koster could offer. The scrum is becoming a weapon now that Blauw is gone. On top of that they have rid themselves of Ricky Januarie and the Injuries haven’t been as bad as last year – with the 4th string flyhalf playing. Add the fact that a fresh Schalk Burger will be rejoining the team in 2 or so weeks time and you have a scary proposition.
And no, I wouldn’t back the charity finalists of last year to beat the Stormers at home in a final when neither could even beat the baby Bulls, the Reds getting thrashed.
The only real loss for the Stormers is Jaque Fourie.
April 8th 2012 @ 6:24pm
Lippy said | April 8th 2012 @ 6:24pm | Report comment
I’m sorry but I simply do not agree. The Stormers are travelling well at the moment but I dont for a second believe they’re so far ahead of the pack as you make out. As for your claim re Joe Pietersen I’m not sure you can make such a claim when no one side has implemented this tactic as a major part of their game plan this season so it is unsubstantiated you have nothing to base your claim on in that regard.
The Stormers look good don’t get me wrong I just don’t think they are unreachable like your posts infer, it will take a big effort for sure as yet no one has done it, that doesn’t however say it can’t be done.
One loss and they will be back amongst the pack as it currently stands.
i would say your being overly pessimistic about the Chasing bunch whilst building up the Stormers to be much better than they possibly are. If they can leave Australasia without dropping a match then sure I’ll concede you were right. As it stands its far too early in the season to make such claims especially as they are only one week into their tour.
April 8th 2012 @ 8:51pm
Nicksa said | April 8th 2012 @ 8:51pm | Report comment
Lippy
The stormers could very well drop a game overseas, there is no doubt in my mind! but the difference is they are a much better team than last year, they have matured into a very good unit and i believe a champion unit. If they top the log i can promise u there is no way in hell the reds or the crusaders will beat them at home after travelling!
Ive always said burger is overrated as a flank and would prefer him as a 8th man, the best bok trio would be brussow, juan smith and spies. Spies has been studied by the opposition and they no longer allow him space but just to close him down takes 2-3 men. During the crusaders game as he got the ball 3 crusaders players clumped together to stop him, if spies has to start offloading he could be a very powerful weapon.
personally i think the stormers will take 3/4 or 4/4 overseas games and i think they will lose their last game to the bulls at loftus…
April 8th 2012 @ 10:29pm
Lippy said | April 8th 2012 @ 10:29pm | Report comment
Im happy to be proven wrong Nicksa but i think the Stormers will drop at least two matches downunder
April 8th 2012 @ 10:38pm
Latimer-Umaga said | April 8th 2012 @ 10:38pm | Report comment
Did you see Spies’ tackle attempt on Read? Pathetic. Burger should be the Boks 8th man with Brussow and Smith.
April 9th 2012 @ 7:18am
Justin said | April 9th 2012 @ 7:18am | Report comment
Remember that the Stormers are in NZ already, The Saders traveling back from SA. Stormers have to be faves for that match without question. If they drop it they will or should be shattered.
The Chiefs have a tough match at the Cheetahs.
April 9th 2012 @ 12:39pm
faitala.lima said | April 9th 2012 @ 12:39pm | Report comment
the reds have no fire power what so ever… im surprised you mentioned them. they are burdened by so many injuries so i highly doubt itd be a classic match stormers and reds. id like to think that the Hurricanes tho might stand a chance. its a long shot but they do exceptionally well even with possession and territory against them so that might give em a bit of an edge there.
April 8th 2012 @ 6:31pm
Justin said | April 8th 2012 @ 6:31pm | Report comment
Its a long season and last year the Stormers were flying early until the Reds knocked them off at home. They look sensational right now but there are a lotof twists and turns to come.
The Highlanders were smashed in that game though and their game plan was brilliantly defeated by the stormers who didnt commit to the ruck and left a line of defence that is tough to get through. They have now lost 2 of the last 3, all against foreign opposition.
I think the evenness of each conference will ensure bonus points are crucial at the end of the home and away period. Dont be surprised if some lower ranked teams knock of their hosts i the finals either.
All in all we are headed for a fascinating season.