19 May 2007 saw the first Super 14 final contested by two South African teams, the Bulls from the North of Gauteng, and the Sharks from the East Coast of KZN, held at Absa Park, Durban, home of the log leading Sharks, who was indomitable for the whole competition. Shortly before the final whistle, the Sharks were leading, they had victory secured. Amongst themselves, it seems, they started discussing who would say what at the awards ceremony, how wasted they were going to get afterwards and probably the merits of the Sharks’ Flashing Girls. While this discussion was going on, one Bryan Habana slipped over the tryline, almost unnoticed, and beat the final buzzer, to clinch it for the Bulls.
Well, history has a not-so-humorous way of repeating itself, why only a couple of weeks ago I overheard two well fed gentleman (if you could call them that), wondering out loud where the ‘other’ semi-final in this year’s competition would be, seeing as one was already booked for the Orlando Stadium. They also wondered if they could apply for their semi-final tickets so long, because season ticket holders have to apply beforehand in the event of a semi-final, and they didn’t feel much like cueing.
Now, for some inexplicable reason images of eggs hatching prematurely, and carts in front of horses keep plaguing my mind, and for the death of me I don’t know why.
I mean, why should it? Here we have the best players in the world, from 1 to 15, playing in front of the best supporters on earth, in the best team in the history of rugby, against plodders who didn’t really deserve to be there in the first place.
Correct me if I am wrong, but this seems to be a foregone conclusion, why do the other teams bother? Why doesn’t everyone else just throw in the towel, like the Lions, and start preparing for the Super 15? Because these guys are unbeata-bull, attempting to dethrone them is a futile effort, and according to some NZ reporters, they will be that way for quite a time to come. Is that not so?
I say yes, but my yes, is almost immediately followed by a resounding NO! The Force, the Hurricanes, and in a lesser sense, the Highlanders has shown, that there are some definite chinks in this team’s armour, chinks, that when exploited by a stronger team, say, the Crusaders, can lead to an unexpected turn-around of fortunes.
First obstacle is the Bulls’ seeming inability to adapt to a changing scenario while the game is being played. They seem hell bent to follow their original game plan, up until half-time, after which they adopt a more suitable style of play to finish off the game. Decisions like that need to be taken on-field, you shouldn’t have to wait for half-time and get permission from the coach, that is what the captain is there for, and after more than 100 Super 14 games, I am sure, he has had some experience in these situations.
Ironically, the second problem I have identified, is seen by most as one of the team’s major assets. Morne Steyn, and his ability to defend and handle pressure. Someone who says that Steyn’s defense is up to scratch must either be smoking pot, or he is the guy with the nose-ring we see at Loftus during all home games.
Steyn goes in high, every tackle, and either gets brushed of immediately, or just get in the way of other would-be defenders. His inability to cope with physical pressure also raised a few eyebrows. In 2009, against France and Ireland, he couldn’t kick a goal if you paid him. His distribution was sloppy, and he seemed on the verge of losing it the whole time. Experts then claimed that it was because of fatigue. However, in 2010, the Hurricanes and the Force did what the French and the Irish did. They attacked his channel, and had a flanker chase down all Fourie du Preez’s passes, again Steyn was transformed into the stuttering version of himself. This could harm the Bulls en route the final, but how do you fix it, a backbone isn’t something that can be coached, you either have it, or you don’t.
Wynand Olivier is in danger of burning out as he has to defend two channels during every game, and then he is also tasked with running the crash ball the whole game, because Fairy Dust Pretorius gets tackled back time after time. Everyone is on about him being the best 12 in the country, but he seemed pedestrian this weekend, and if it is, as many say, because he is playing according to plan, then surely it is a very stupid plan.
Thirdly, one has to ask where the focus of the supposed senior players in the squad is presently? Bakkies Botha (albeit that he isn’t actually playing) is thinking about his upcoming time in Toulon. Bulls captain Matfield, is planning his coaching career in Australia, while vice-captain Du Preez’s head is full of Japanese geisha’s and his upcoming retirement. I am not in the least surprised that things are falling apart, because the people that need to hold the team together, are each pulling in their own direction, thinking about their futures instead of concentrating on the here and now.
Please, everyone reading this, don’t tell me that they said their focus is still with the Bulls and the Springboks, because that is absolute horse-crap. If their focus was with the Bulls, news of their upcoming ventures, in which they themselves comment, wouldn’t be front-page news.
My best advice for the Bulls would be, stop trying to be something that you are not. No one in their right minds expects the Bulls to run from their own 22, or counter-attack at every opportunity. That is what surprised most teams at the start of the season, and the Bulls scored a lot of tries, but the rumour has spread, as have the rumours of the inability of the Bulls’ scramble defense. Suddenly they scored only 4 in the last 2 games, because everyone knew what they were trying to do, and to be honest, the Bulls don’t have the type of players that can keep a defense guessing for 80 minutes, because it’s just not their game. They do not possess the skills, because for the past 4 years, they weren’t coached that way, they were coached the Bulls way. Possession, territory, pressure, pressure, pressure!
Now is not the time for panic, but for focus, and it needs to be a 22-man effort, coaches don’t win trophies, players does. Yes, some might say it is silly to go off at a tangent on a tirade against a team that won 6 out of 6 matches, and scored 28 from 30. But the fact is, they stand in real danger of losing one, and maybe more in the not too distant future, let’s hope one of those is not a semi.
Wanneer maak jy die site IPhone friendly, mens kannie blog op die foon op die site nie
paaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaasop mensies , die sharks kom julle vang daar bokaant ons 😆
sharky_forever
en solank julle al wat oorsese opposisie is, opdonner om daar te kom
skree ek saam met jou!!
hiyas JLI mate , welcome to our humble home of rugga’s 😆
lol ashley dag boet ^5
yes sharky
howzit?
#26 Saint
I knew mentioning JJ would get your mountain goat, hehe!!
Look, I don’t expect anybody to be unbiased or objective here or anywhere for that matter. JJ and his ilk are actualy quite amusing. What is genuinely funny to me though is where someone believes that their highly biased opinion is the dead honest and unbiased truth. That cracks me up everytime!
I’ve never met JJ but if I ever did and discovered that he did believe he was objective……
On that issue of a defensive fly-half: why is a fly-half who gets you out of your 22 and onto the attack with one long punt not viewed as an attacking fly-half?
Anyway, last year Supa (what happened to the man?) and the other Bulls supporters here were trying to convince me that Morne was the “best defensive fly-half” because he could really tackle and kick and stuff like that….you know how they can just go on and on sometimes.
I just thought I’d get your opinion on that.
Sharky
Been here before, but when I blog of phone then I can only do it on other sites, you know which ones a refer to
JL1 @ 68
yep, its quite difficult to navigate this site from your phone … tried it once, never done it again
thats why i always try to blog here during the day when i’m at work
really hope that we’ll be able to blog from our phones sometime soon!!
So Morne Steyn has statistically done the following:
Tackles Made Missed Game
10 Nil Force
7 1 Canes
11 3 Highlanders
11 2 Waras
10 Nil Brumbies
10 2 Cheetahs
#67 – Fender
OK, now that I know Supa was involved, everything is clear to me…
I probably can’t argue that I am 100% unbiased, 100% of the time, but the fact that Morne Steyn can’t tackle, is something you don’t need to be biased about, anyone can see it.
Because an attacking flyhalve has to have hands, he has to best know how to get the ball to the right places, at the right time, in the right hands, basically the difference between Stephen Jones and James Hook.
A defensive flyhalve wins you tight tests, playing it safe, overcompensating on carefulness, but getting the job done (Morne Steyn, Johnnie Wilkinson, Stephen Jones, Neil Jenkins). An attacking flyhalve usually loses a few tests as well in the process, because he is pushing the boundaries, unfortunately they usually have short careers, and are quickly forgotten.(Quade Cooper, Danny Cipriani, James Hook, Brent Russel)
Shot JL1!
Have you got Adi’s stats there with you?
Fender
Look at Peter Grant, he is terrible statistically when it comes to making tackles
#70
Jip, 10 tackles missed already, not counting the times that Wynand Olivier made his tackles for him, or what the end-result of such missed tackles was.
Strangely enough I remember quite distinctly that Steyn missed at least 1 tackle against the Force. And against the canes there was a multitude, I don’t know how the stats are compiled, last week guys also differed with the ones I had.
Fender
Adi is actually OK, but the stats do not state if he tackles a player back or if another player had to assist him with the tackle which means gaps around him opens up
Peter Grant actuall misses quite a bit of tackles as well, according to the stats. As is I stand corrected. Seems our flyhalve is shit as well.
the saint @ 76
i think the stormers’ defence are better organised than that of the bulls. i’m not sure about grant’s stats but i think the stormers defence at the moment scramble better than most!!
i just cant understand that the bulls at the moment seem to be moving away from their strengths!!
yes, if it comes off they’ll be an extremely difficult team to deal with. i do fear though, that if the experiment doesnt work, they may find themselves having to go into a rebuild phase because they have moved so far away from their strength!!
ag, i dont know, maybe i just got used to seeing the bulls play a certain way
and maybe i’m the one who’s not comfortable with it because i’m forced out of my comfort zone!!
Peter Grant is pathetic if you look at his stats and he is lazy some games only 6 tackles and then he misses 2
the stormers and then the sharks have the best defensive record this year
fact is the bulls have the best win ratio though 😆
Sharky, Is the team home yet?
Any news on Goode’s permit?
sharky_forever @ 80
soooooooo true
anyway guys
i’m out of here
cheers!!
82 – Cheers Ash.
JL1 Did you get my e-mail about Saracens?
I’m soooo loooonesome in my saddle since my horse died….where is everyone, is it my cologne or something (or lack of it)?
Thats why Butch was a great flyhalf, when he tackled them (and still) they stay tackled.
4man have you left your job is that a side moonshining project that you run?
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