Bulls hold off Crusaders for Super win

I've just seen this post & it is outrageous to call any player a coward. - which of course you wouldn't have the courage to say to his face.Pathetic. Whatever problems the SA team has this year it will not have anything to do with Pierre Spies if he's selected or Morne Steyn. It's the fact that that the quality of coaching particularly of 'Boks backlines has been dreadfull. Then there was the decision to persist with Smit over Du Plessis! And they had Victor Matfield who would have been a great captain. Hopefully the appointment of Meyer will finally allow the 'Boks players the opportunity to display their enormous range of talents.

puh lease Matt- your hoping the golden age of the AB's is going to end? AB's didnt get there by cahnce or external help. they've done it by trying to win every game they play. AB's do their winning on the field. the BOD incident? he got cleaned out, simple. judiciary looked at it and cleared them. BOD should have protected himself when he got lifted instead of struggling. basic rugby nous no way can you say that mealamu and burger and botha are in the same catergory, esp botha. level playing field? i get sick of this perception that the AB's get everything handed to them. many times have the AB's bveen screwed over by officials. do they whine or get on to the next game? do u not know the AB's winning ratio over 150 years of rugby? 80%.

I find it quite funny when Springbok fans continually hype up their side only to, well, generally finish bottom of the Tri-Nations each year and then fail in the 2011 World Cup. The fans then go quiet for a while only to pipe up six months later. There's been the same rubbish each year since 2007 and only once have they delivered, in 2009, and even that was when the law interpretations changed, which suited the way South Africa play. With the players gone from the so-called 'golden generation' and inexperienced players coming in, with the new coach stating his intent to play the same kick-chase way, I don't see what's going to change for South Africa in the expanded Rugby Championship.

Have to agree with you 100% Loftus , it's interesting that Umaga got away with doing what he did to Mr O'Driscoll during the Lions Tour without so much as a slap on the wrist , Mr Mealamu got a very light sentence for what Mr Burgher and Mr Botha would have got hammered for -BUT the 'Golden Age' of IRB 'special treatment ' of the AB's is gladly now passing and soon the NZ public will find what it is to be back on a kinda level playing field :-)

Smith is out for the rest of the year.

UUUhhh,sorry for following all the correct proceedings when 2 of our players' eyes were gouged.Aah,I forgot,the Crusaders / All Blacks are the saints of rugby union.Don't mess with them,they are sooooo dangerous and untouchable.

No its the Lions for a change

Agree Mathew. Goosen and Hougaard together could set the world alight like Genia and Cooper did. Sadly I am realistic, Heyneke has blue blood, he will never drop his favourites, Morne and Spies. All the talk of the Stormers being title contenders is way too early. All it takes is two losses as someone pointed out, and they are back in the pack. They have have three tough games ahead, I can't personally see them winning against the Saders or Hurricanes? But I hope they prove me wrong. There is no gap between NZ and SA either. Pretty dead even, and although the Aussies have their talent spread at the moment, you only need 15 good players, and few good subs, so I wouldn't write them off just yet. Watch out for the Chiefs, Wayne Smith is coaching them, and I reckon they will top the NZ Conference.

You may want to recheck that Kovana last time I checked they were 14th and a certain Feline team were in fact 15th or last overall !

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 ...

I can't wait for the Bulls to come down to the Shakey Isles they will be in for a very frosty reception after the eye gouging fiasco of recent days. They will have on current form two very tough duels with the Chiefs and Highlanders

and 32,980 got up and watched the game on tv at 3AM in the morning in NZ. The Saders management team must be happy with that result

Yet the blues are Last overall....

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.

Funny the Crusaders are second last in the NZ conference yet still rank ahead of the top ranked Aussie side but wait its a myth that the Aussie conference is so weak!

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

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.

Good crowd of 34,135 showed up at Loftus.

Agree^ the following factors are narrowing the gap between the AB's and Boks: Hanson, not the best coach for NZ/ SA getting a decent coach. Kainos injury (hugh physical presence has left the AB's and now Read becomes a critical player) Emergence of brilliant young players for both teams but the Boks havea couple with experience now, Lambie, Hougaard and a real jewel coming through in a long dormant critical position (Goosen). Then Etsebeth instantly coming in as a sublime lock prospect. The only thing that will hold the Bok's back and let the AB's off the hook will be if Meyer selects the one-dimensional Steyn at 10 and the completely useless Spies at 8.

Stormers, Bulls, Crusaders, add on maybe the Chiefs = Nobody else can hold a candle to those sides at the moment. The Stormers defense, and ruck play is outstanding. The Bulls with Hougaard are a whole new prospect and the Crusaders are still the same all round team. Chiefs with SBW are a new prospect but blowhot and cold. Reds are nowhere this year and a win against the Brumbies is hardly reason to start engraving the silverware. Add Heyneke Meyer and id be pooping myself as a kiwi or Aussie come 3N - The talent available to the Bok coach right now is unmatched in World rugby. ABs will be their usual good side, but the Boks seem to have something special coming through right now.