Bulls (11) 23 / 26 (16) Brumbies (Final Score)
The Vodacom Bulls and Brumbies did battle in a Super Rugby semi-final at Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria at 17:05 SA Time (15:05 GMT).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1, SHD & M-Net on TV in SA.
*******************
Scorers:
Bulls:
- Penalties – Morné Steyn (6)
- Drop Goals – 0
- Tries – JJ Engelbrecht (1)
- Conversions – 0
Brumbies:
- Penalties – Christian Lealiifano (4)
- Drop Goals – 0
- Tries – Jesse Mogg (1), Tevita Kuridrani (1)
- Conversions – Christian Lealiifano (2)
Teams:
Bulls: 15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Akona Ndungane, 13 JJ Engelbrecht, 12 Jan Serfontein, 11 Bjorn Basson, 10 Morné Steyn, 9 Francois Hougaard, 8 Dewald Potgieter (captain), 7 Jacques Potgieter, 6 Deon Stegmann, 5 Grant Hattingh, 4 Flip van der Merwe, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 1 Dean Greyling.
Replacements: 16 Callie Visagie, 17 Frik Kirsten, 18 Morné Mellett, 19 Paul Willemse, 20 Jono Ross, 21 Jano Vermaak, 22 Jürgen Visser.
Brumbies: 15 Jesse Mogg, 14 Henry Speight, 13 Tevita Kuridrani, 12 Christian Lealiifano, 11 Clyde Rathbone, 10 Matt Toomua, 9 Nic White, 8 Ben Mowen (captain), 7 George Smith, 6 Peter Kimlin, 5 Sam Carter, 4 Scott Fardy, 3 Ben Alexander, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 Scott Sio.
Replacements: 16 Siliva Siliva, 17 Ruan Smith, 18 Fotu Auelua, 19 Colby Faingaa, 20 Ian Prior, 21 Andrew Smith, 22 Joseph Tomane.
Date: Saturday 27 July 2013
Venue: Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
Kick-off: 17:05 SA Time (15:05 GMT, 01:05 AEST Sunday 28 July)
Expected weather: Sunny and mild with a 16km/h westerly wind. High of 22 C and low of 7 C
Referee: Craig Joubert (South Africa)
Assistant Referees: Jonathan Kaplan (South Africa), Marius Jonker (South Africa)
TMO: Shaun Veldsman (South Africa)
Oi vey!
What happened?
Let me sum up a few things that was said and was pointed out by the Studio guests , especially Nick Mallet. Naas was mostly going on about the lack of decisive leadership at the end. David Campese the Australian was also quite critical about the lack of leadership and clever questioning of the Referee.
Well one fact is only in South Africa will the Referees be so against the Home team. It sometimes look like they are settling their own grudges or trying to please Lyndon Bray and the NZ/AUS referee panels. We are still so stuck in this guilt feeling for apartheid. We feel we owe them a apology that we are still alive.
What NICK said
He went on a lot about the binding / non binding by the Brumbies. He pointed out that 6 points were gifted at the scrums (got support from Campese)
Forward pass/ not forward pass. Nick (and I) questioned the first try. It was forward.
The forward call against Morne in the last 10 minutes (he said if you compare the winning try with that one….. absolutely absurd)
Nick would have rated the ref at about 2/10
What NAAS said
He questioned the Bulls experienced players match composure, why didnt the most experienced Bulls player take control. (Naas in you heydays you would simply take the ball under your arm and point to the posts) I say We needed a Captain like Thys Lourens yesterday.
Another thing is the use of the bench. I agree with Naas there was absolutely no need to bring off Chillie and JP. We lost all our impetus right there. Lineout skew throw….
What CAMPESE said (in fact he was quite animated when he said that, demonstrating the gestures)
He said that the Bulls should have given Craig Joubert a hint about the illegal binding by Ben Alexander. Damn that guy was laughed at in the beginning of his career , i remember so well how we all laughed off the Australian scrums a few years back. Well after 110 Tests his experience showed. According to David Campese he (Ben) owned Craig Joubert and was talking to him the whole time.
Two things I saw that could have been blown or checked was The late tackles, the one against Morne was blatant. The try that was not given by Shaun Veldsman.
If only one of these Referee mistakes went to the home team poor old Dewalds brain standstill would not have been the main laughing matter.
The officiating of this game was not good.
It was totally against the norm of HOME Ground advantage.
Having just watched the last 15 minutes again, yes right now. Dewald was not that doff , the so called forward pass by Morne and the Referee also played a major role.
Earlier this week i said we better watch out for this and i felt that we were not done any favor by the appointment of a ALL South African official team.
GBS i am sure you have the whole game on PVR including the halftime and end of the match discussions in studio. Please put it up for our friends here that did not have the privilege to hear it.
News 24
“From his position as a regular pundit in the SuperSport studio on Saturday, Bulls and Springbok flyhalf legend Naas Botha lamented highly controversial decision-making by the home camp in the final quarter of their failed Super Rugby semi-final against the Brumbies at Loftus”
N24
The Bulls, belatedly but commendably having discovered a real head of steam, had grabbed the lead in the nail-biter for the first time on the hour mark, as Morne Steyn – just as much of a cult figure in Pretoria for metronomic success off the tee – banged one over to put the Bulls 20-19 in front.
Surging straight back onto the attack and with renewed vigour and urgency evident right through their ranks, the hosts were offered a trio of mostly easy-range penalties in the 67th, 70th and 72nd minutes, only to defy the wishes of the vast majority of the partisan crowd and go for the intended attacking lineout each time.
On every occasion, the Bulls only won sloppy ball or were even more damagingly turned over wholly as the Brumbies wriggled out of the tight spots to contemplate late show-sealing moves of their own.
Former Bok coach Nick Mallett described the spurning of the kicks as “strangely un-Bulls-like”, and ace accumulator Botha was just as critical.
“Morne should have taken (the initiative) himself and gone up and said ‘look, I’m kicking the points, and then let’s start again’.
“I also wouldn’t have taken off Chiliboy (Ralepelle) and Jacques Potgieter (during the final quarter).”
Blindside flank Potgieter, meanwhile, had been an inspiring source of go-forward momentum for the Bulls during their second-half revival, clattering into clean-outs with venom and making strong yards with ball in hand to gee up all his fellow-forwards, who had been well under the collective cosh in the first period.
But the bearded marauder, who is about to embark on a series of rugby adventures outside this country, was substituted with almost quarter of an hour to go, and seemingly not yet out of puff.
OK i must lay this to rest now. The last 15 minutes of this game leaves me totally confused, gutted and angry. So many mistakes.
Have a close look at all the role players.
Ludeke was he shouting and lost his cool?
Morne was certainly impatient and not totally happy with the decisions. He lost it with that attempted drop kick, so out of line with his captains thinking.
Jurgen Visser?
Craig Joubert.
Ludeke with his substitutions.
All of these went from bad to worst and the Brumbies kept their cool.
George Smith just kept stealing balls and Bulls were like rats running for cover in the last 2 minutes.
SAD indeed.
But now its over
Rest this case in peace
To
congrats, glad you did not get the Wallaby coaching job.
So, AGAIN a South african Rugby team in a pressure situation find themselves unable to THINK CLEARLY when the need arises, and pay the ultimate penalty.
Blame the officials all you like. Poor decision making cost the Bulls the Super Rugby title this season.
As for Jake White, what better way is there to thumb your nose at SARU?
That you are one of the best coaches around goes without saying. Take it to the Chiefs next week.
For those mentioning the Brumbies scrum, please refer back to the Cheetahs / Brumbies match thread and my comments on that thread. Surely the Bulls forward / scrum coach would have seen this and asked the coach to take it up with the ref.
Morning all
My take:
I think the result of the Chiefs’ match sort of took the wind out of many supporters sails already.
The vibe and atmosphere at Loftus felt surreal and very subdued.
2 weeks ago against the Sharks it was awesome and for the full 80 people were behind the team.
I have read many comments since last night ( not on this thread ) and to those ” supporters ” who still have smoldering effigies of their players burning in the back yard, the following: This team of yours is not even close to the vintage you had some years back, yet they made the play offs and hosted a home semi. That is something to be proud of.
Those who cursed and swore at their players yesterday, take heart, this was their last match for many of them.
So next year, don’t forget what you said about them yesterday and wish them back when the youngsters make errors.
What makes me sad after reading some of the comments is that some of these players have given blood, sweat and tears to the Bulls for many years, yet now their legacy is to be called idiots, fools and cowards.
If they really want to vent, have a go at Kruger who jumped ship like a drowning rat midway through the season, leaving the line outs in the lurch.
The other players who have signed in France and other places were still there yesterday trying to get to the final, yet they must now bear the brunt of their supporter’s anger.
I think Ludeke erred again by replacing Chilli.
We saw against the Sharks how the Bulls line out fell apart when he went off.
If he was still feeding the ball, I believe those line out options could have yielded success.
I still can’t understand why it is compulsory for the coach to make preconceived subs.
Hougaard is a huge disappointment, and if I had the choice I would have kept Vermaak and gotten rid of Hougie.
He is not repaying the faith they put in him and IMO he is not earning his keep, but that is just my opinion.
Sorry for the long post, but I was just as disappointed in the results yesterday, I was really hoping for a Bull/Crusaders final at Loftus.
Congratulations to the Bulls for having a very good season and hard luck for failing at the second last hurdle.
Believe me, as a Stormer supporter, I know exactly what that feels like, we have been living through that nightmare for a couple of years now 😀
Only watched this game now. Had visitors over last night and they brought over some of their overseas visitors that are not into rugby. So waited to watch this game now.
Well done to Jake’s Brumbies. I never even gave them a chance at all to win yesterday. They only played last Sunday and with the short turnaround, travel and the altitude just thought they had no chance to win at Loftus. We all get it wrong though.
Hard luck Bulls you should have and could have won this game if you had taken your goals.
It was a strange game by Bulls that is for sure. The first half they looked like they had gone walkabout. Just looked as if they were not that interested, something seemed to be a miss. In the 2nd half they seemed to play a lot better and had so much possession as well. Yet they just could not get through to score. Then the strange decision by Potgieter not to take the goals with a deadly kicker like Morne was very strange. Was he worried that they might not secure the kick off or what? Was he worried that Brumbies would come back with a try or what? What the heck was going through his mind. What made him go for corners all the time? The lineouts were not that great either. Saw Morne speak to him at one stage so Morne definitely wanted to take the goal kicks. Morne should have been more insistent and just take the kicks no matter what Potgieter said especially after they messed up the first one. So why did Potgieter still insist kicking for touch for the lineout? Three wasted opportunities went begging there. Or did the Chiefs win in the morning affect their mind set, knowing if they win they had to travel to Hamilton? Just don’t know what to make of it. In a semi and final you always take your goal kicks, always take the 3 points especially with a DEADLY kicker like Morne. All those 3 goal kicks were easy ones too. Morne would have slotted them over blindfolded.
Anyhow it is all gone and dusted now. So congrats to Bulls for topping our log and 2nd overall. They still had a great SR.
I doubt Brumbies will have much left in the tank to take on the Chiefs next week. Well who knows they just may, I gave them no chance at all at Loftus!
@ Puma:
His reasoning was to keep them pinned in their own 25m area.
I read this morning that he said he is sorry he didn’t back his strategy with the 4th penalty as well, but buckled under Ludeke’s insistence to go for the points.
Here is a photo of the general mood in Pretoria this morning
😀
338 @ Scrumdown:
Agree with your post mate.
How on earth did we lose Jake? One of the best coaches in the world and we just say “No thanks” to him? Saru are daft with just about everything they do. They messed up with your Lions as well as the Kings.
342 @ nortierd:
Well they hardly made inroads with trying to get over for a try in 3 attempts. He made a huge mistake by not taking all of them. Morne would have slotted the lot. Bulls were on the front foot for most of the 2nd half. So I simply don’t buy his story that he wanted to keep them pinned in their own 25m area. If Bulls have taken the penalty they would have got them back into that area again, I am sure of it as Bulls were really on top of them at that stage. The first penalty he refused to go for goals was at 68min. There was plenty time left and should have taken that one for sure at goal.
342 @ nortierd:
The first penalty at 68min if Morne had slotted it, that alone would have put more pressure on the Brumbies. With pressure comes mistakes as well. Just have no clue really what really went on in Potgieter’s mind to keep on going for touch instead of taking the lead right out away from the Brumbies. Bulls really never looked at that stage like they were going to score a try, except for the forward pass, that was questionable, there they looked like they might go through. Other than that never struggled to get through the Brumbies defence. Should have takent he kicks. Also those 3 penalties were easy kicks. Morne would got them all.
342 @ nortierd:
Where did you get that Picture of me?
Flok!!
345 @ Puma:
Meant – Other than that they struggled to get through the Brumbies defence.
342 @ nortierd:
I can’t open it. What was on that?
342 @ nortierd:
That was exactly the sentiment expressed in the Press Conference by Dewald Potgieter after the match.
One must consider that had the Bulls gone for Posts with the 1st opportunity at around 68 minute mark, The Brumbies would then already have gotten the opportunity to kick off into the Bulls half, and probably stayed there seeing as the Bulls kick-off receipt kicks to touch never made it beyond their 10m line.
So, the Brumbies would have had 11 minutes on attack deep IN Bulls area.
Then again, if they did go for posts then (at 68 min) and the Brumbies had come back to score, there would have been time for the Bulls to also score again…
Frans Ludeke made it clear in the Press Conference that he had wanted the Bulls to kick for posts, whilst Dewald Potgieter and Morné Steyn discussed it each time and were ad idem to keep the Brumbies pinned deep in their half and possibly landing the killer blow try.
6 Of one, half a dozen of the other…
Hind sight is perfect sight, and I was angry last night with the Bulls who rather lost it than did Jake the Snake’s Brumbies win it.
Oh and by the way, Jake the Snake is still an arrogant etter… better he stay in Aussie!
I asked 2 frank questions from Frans Ludeke at the Press Conference…
I asked why Frans Ludeke continued to pick Dean Greyling and Werner Kruger as starting props, despite the fact that we have seen for a number of matches in a row that the scrums battle with them there and the fact that they will give penalty points away (9 last night) and despite the fact that the Bulls scrum is clearly much stronger with Morné Mellett & Frik Kirsten.
I did not get a satisfactory answer, as Ludeke went on about how well Dean scrummed and how the penalties could have gone either way for or against him and blabbered on about Mellett and Kirsten being ideal impact players when other team’s props are tired….
I also asked about the way forward for the Bulls, with them once again losing a huge number of players, what the succession plan was and where Ludeke thinks they are thin on players for positions.
Once again got the run-around as he said they would have to have the autopsy of this match first before the make plans and tell us all what they will be doing going forward.
grootblousmile wrote:
Wha ha
😀
Ek voel saam met julle so
@ Puma:
It’s GBH this morning
🙂
Pity you can’t open it, check on my FB page, it’s on there as well
Don’t think I can post the picture here
Ek skud maar net my seer kop…..na die wedstryd in n sloot ingery, gegly oppie nat pad, kop teen die ruit gestamp, voorruit flenters, klomp skade aan die kar ook, kragstuurpomp moer toe en wat nog.
Nie n lekker dag gewees nie.
Flokkit.
@ grootblousmile:
Sounds like you might as well be interviewing AC
I just don’t get some decisions.
The ones that bother me the most is taking Chilli off and then causing your line outs to go pear shaped ( especially yesterday when they went for the line out options ) and his insistence with Hougaard over Jano.
It’s similar to Naka preferring Van Zyl over Sarel
351 @ nortierd:
I’ve put the actual picture with your comment.
Puma, just go back a few comments… the picture is now there for all to see.
Pietman wrote:
Ag nee
Dis nou sout op die wonde
Kurt, is dit jy?
😀
352 @ Pietman:
Aggenee!
Het Bachus saam met jou bestuur?
@ nortierd:
Amper soiets.
Waar is die foto wat julle van praat, by watter post#?
@ grootblousmile:
@356 Ja man, by Kleinbaai rugby gaan kyk, alleen. Op daai draai by JagseJurie vannie pad af gegly.
Vrou nie beindruk met my nie, het haar maar vir n seekossie gevat in die hawerestaurant, sy begin darem weer so stadigaan smile.
More is dit assuransie, Hermanus toe vir paneelkloppers en kek en herre.
353 @ nortierd:
Flok, ek was te blerrie kwaad om te vra oor Chiliboy wat afgehaal is… dammit, ek het vergeet.
Weet jy wat is so flokken snaaks, die bliksemse joernaliste is die valsste klomp moere in die wêreld, mens sou sweer hulle suig Ludeke en elke afrigter se tottie elke slag as hulle die kans kry… regte gatkruipers, dweepers en overly diplomatiese klomp wetters.
Ek aan die anderkant, vra die reguit vrae… ek wil weet wat ons klopmp as ondersteuners wil weet, hoe ons klomp voel… die terugvoer wat ons graag wil kry… ek het nie soos hulle ‘n ou salaristrekker joppie om te beskerm nie.
Wat my aanbetref kan hulle maar aanhou tollie suig!
Jinne, ek haat vals mense!
I don’t know if it was just me, but everything yesterday felt a bit flat.
This Arno Jordaan who they got for the pre match entertainment is not bad, but against the Sharks when they had Bok van Blerk it was brilliant.
The whole vibe was just so much different.
I was hoping for a Steve or maybe Bok again, given the occasion.
It’s almost as if too many people planned for next week to be the huge occasion, and then after the morning’s result it had already fallen flat.
I know lots of people didn’t go yesterday because they were planning on going next week.
Even before the last Brumbie try, the crowd wasn’t as much in at as usual.
The biggest noise was the derision of Potgieter’s decisions, but during the match they were not so vocal as usual.
There was also a lot more booing at CL when he was kicking, where it’s usually quiet.
Maybe it’s just me, but it just didn’t feel the same
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