Ex Keo
RYAN VREDE writes the Bulls’ weaknesses were exposed by the Stormers and Blues and the Crusaders have the capacity to do the same.
When I spoke to Frans Ludeke on Sunday he seemed in good spirits, seemingly not too concerned about the defeat to the Stormers. This is understandable. There are 11 rounds of the tournament to run and the prospect of redemption when the Stormers travel to Loftus. But privately he will have noted a worrying trend that emerged from that loss and the one to the Blues.
The Blues were uncharacteristically conservative in their 29-23 victory. Pragmatism took precedence over panache as they played for territory skilfully and forced the Bulls into infringements in their half through physical and accurate defence. Flyhalf Gareth Anscombe scored 15 points from penalties to go with two tries birthed from Bulls’ errors. The Bulls became increasingly desperate as the match progressed and in so doing made themselves vulnerable to turnovers when runners were isolated.
The Blues achieved parity at the gainline where the Stormers simply bullied their great rivals here. This meant the Bulls were seldom able to control the tempo and flow of the contest, and, with the effectiveness of their kick-chase method compromised by their pack’s inability to assert themselves, they were again forced to explore an expansive attacking avenue.
Against a comparatively weak Cheetahs side and a severely deplete Reds (AGAIN I ASK HOW DOES THI SGET REFLECTED IN THE STATS PROVIDED BY CARD - NEVER MIND THE ADDIONAL GAME AS WELL!!!!!) one they were able to run in a string of tries in this manner. I wrote at the time that perspective was needed when assessing those performances. Against an organised, accurate and brutal Stormers defensive unit they looked decidedly impotent. Both their tries came from broken field, the first stemming from a Stormers error inside the Bulls’ 22m while the second featured poor decision making by Andries Bekker on defence. They looked equally toothless against the Blues on attack, the first of two tries coming against 14 men and the second in the final minute of the game.
It also goes without saying that discipline cost them on both occasions, an issue I highlighted on this website on Monday. Failure to remedy this problem quickly will continue to undermine their cause. Of particular concern will be the heavy penalisation of props Werner Kruger and Dean Greyling at scrum time. The Springboks duo have had no telling rebuttal against competent counterparts and they’ll be tested against the Saders’ prop pairing of Owen Franks and Wyatt Crockett.
Morné Steyn has won enough matches with his boot to earn the benefit of the doubt when it comes to his poor goal-kicking performances against the Blues and Stormers – two from six in the former and three from five in the latter, many of those misses from positions he was expected to bank three points from by his standards. His touchline conversion of the Bulls’ second try at Newlands was a reminder of his class in this regard but the Bulls will need him to be up at 75% and above for the remainder of the tournament.
The Saders have struggled to find synergy on attack but with the return of Dan Carter they can expect to improve. Defensively they are among the best in the tournament and tactically (in general and set play) they are equipped to strangle the Bulls in a similar fashion to the Blues and Stormers.
The Christchurch side won’t be favourites but they will fancy their chance at the points if the Bulls fail to address their key areas of vulnerability.
Well some interesting thoughts here but I back my good friends da bulle to win this one. The crusaders do not have the class to beat the BLUE Bulls at altitude and after a long journey here - the double whammy effect. The bulle should be up for this one unless the Mighty Stormers have knocked all the fight out o them.
Crusaders are going down! Now bulle seeing I am backing you please go out there and do the job!!!!
