I have not yet seen the match but it was three tries to 1 so apart from any ref issues that may have happened it appears the chiefs possibly had the better of the match?
Go Stormer win against the sharks and you will be sitting pretty.
I saw clippings of it.
Bulls didnt look like they had their usual "gees".
Lack of "gees" + 10 man rugby + not the most influential coach = below par rugby.
I hope they can turn it around.
Bulle have three games at home - Stormers, Cheetahs and Lions and one away sharks. Crucial match fo them will be the Stormers game. If they wn 3 of the 4 they should be okay?
Fortunately for bulle we will still be without some notable loose orwards. Other sides could also lose so they are still very much in it.
Bulls were the better side without doubt but they failed to convert pressure into points and the difference was the first try scored by the Chiefs against the run of play when Ndungane completely cocked up first with not taking a high ball cleanly then messing up the pass once he had recovered the spilt ball.
The last try scored by the Chiefs, caught the Bulls napping - quick line-out taken and a good SBW break and offload sealed it.
Bulls dominated possession and territory, They should have used the rolling maul more for when they did they gained plenty of ground only to cock it up at the end.
Bulls pack was good, with Greyling, Flip and all three loosies standing out. Dewald Potgieter once again showed why he has played a test match or two, the guy is good.
Hougaard got caught a couple of times in the act of passing, he needs to work on this and be aware that players will target him.
Morne kicked well for poles, the centres were solid enough and Basson scored a great try. Kirchner was good at the back.
The Bulls used the rolling maul well at times and had the Chiefs retreating at a rate on knots, not sure why they did not use it more as they controlled it well until the last hurdle when they should have turned the advantage into points
Bugger! I called a Chiefs win in this game, I think we all did, but while watching the score on my phone I really got excited about the Bulls possibly winning, but in the end Chiefs snatched it. Still, a bonus point victory from your fourth game on tour against the top side...not the end of the world I guess. Also, sounds like the Bulls could have won it. So there are some positives to take from the match. Also, a couple of home games for the Bulls, all be it against tough opposition, means they should be able to finish strong. No team in this tournament has really dominated the others....still anyones competition to win.
Go Bulls!!
The Bulls should have won it they were the better side. The Ndungane slip cost them 7 points
Sapster you comments appar to be in line with the journalist ex Superspot whos earticle I posted. I have tapped the game and look forward to seeing it. It seems one mistake from Ndungane cost the bulle dear.
Impressive for this bulle pack to dominate the chiefs. Howeve as noted the chiefs are bully boy types and once up against in your face forwards will tend to back off. Hahahahahahahahaha
Now brace yourself for some deep insights forrom Sitting Bull and ou brycy!
The mistake by Ndungane was offset by the mistake from Massanga. The difference was the other two Chiefs tries versus the brilliance of the Steyn boot. The second Chiefs try came from a great run by the off wing on the inside shoulder. Hougaard tried to stop the try but was too late. Questions have to be asked as to why his marker didn't follow him across....it was a barn door gap.
The final and decisive try saw Sonny Bill swot Spies before offloading....Spies said after the game he was frustrated....I wonder if he was also embarrassed.
Oh what rubbish, Basson beat Massanga fair and square. Spies could only get a stretched arm out to SBW, trust your anti Spies to interpret it as you have - complete bullshit. For the record Spies had a good game as did Flip and Potgieter.
Wow Morne kicked well, surprise, surprise
Spies went high and got fended.....he needed to go low with commitment. But of course he can't do that. Yes Basson beat Massanga, but it was Massanga 's mistake.....do you comprehend?
Saffex - The Bulls were the better side - but they lost?????? Hell and damnation - I thought I know something about rugby - now I found out i did not. i saw the rolling malls myself - but it did have one common denominator - all of them flopped because of errors by the Bulls. Knock-ons, penalties and handover of the balls were the result. And three tries against one - you must really be kidding me with that statement.
Come now - admit it - the Bulls were not up to standard and the refereeing was excellent - except perhaps that the Bulls should on at least two occassions be penalized because of scrumming errors.
See also what I wrote about player performance - bad news if we have a large number of Bulls in the Springbok team.
Rubbish, Spies was not close enough to get to a tackle in, Massanga was - get it dumbo?
Yes Mike the Bulls were the better side, they dominated possession and territory and should have converted that to points. Their first try was a soft one thanks to the Ndungane blunder - get it?
Spies was as close to Sonny Bill as Schalk was to Lambie. You banged on about Schalk missing that tackle....how many times ....20? But your favourite Spies gets a pass. Yes it was a hard tackle, but it was crucial.....he went high and missed....and the Bulls lost as a result. Brussouw makes that tackle every time, because he knows how to tackle low..
What complete rubbish, Lambie handed Schalk off one one one. Spies was stretched there was no way he could effect a tackle, the best he could do was out stretched arms. If SBW had rub through Spies then fair enough - but no.
By the way pathetic individual, what the hell you doing answering me - you cant even stick to that childish threat, why not join arms with that pathetic Denise and ignore me wheep, wheep - stick to your word you pathetic hypocrite
Sometimes the best team does not win...world cup semi RSA vs AUS, so that argument isn't exactly air tight.
Spot on blue
Spies went high and got fended. He could have gone low and made the tackle....it was a Lambie redux. Lambie was partially past Schalk, just as SBW was partially past Spies.....and boy did you make a fuss of that Lambie thing.
In any case if Spies is so fast why not try and catch Sonny rather than make the tackle at a stretch. Nobody seems to rate SBW's speed in RSA but he easily gassed Spies, the wonder boy, who tried to go high and fell on his face while the Chiefs won the game. It reminded me of Spies' attempted tackle on Israel Dagg when he ran right round him with ease.
I'll say it again, Spies was NOT close enough to make the tackle. Lambie handed Schalk off one on one - huge difference
Spies had both hands on SBW, I stopped the tape.....it's clear.The next Bools player from exactly the same position made the tackle on SBW, because he kept moving towards SBW rather than making the cardinal error of committing to where SBW was. Spies has no tackling technique, it cost his side the match.
Nonsense, the footage showed enough with replays, Spies was out of reach and if you are going to blame a single player, blame Ndungane - but blaming a single player is poor taste - but hey your anti Spies stretches that far
...SBW silencing a few critics, haha...not so much hate mail anymore...sitting bull hopes he stays with Mighty Chiefs and plays for Counties as we all know south auckland is the centre of the rugby universe...
Like many on here I also felt the Bulle were looking very strong especially going in at halftime. I actually think we lost this game in the first 5 minutes of the second half when we were hot on the attack and we failed to put them away with at minimum a penalty kick.
If we could have maintained some composure and taken another 3 points I think we would have broken the Chiefs belief....instead they came back and kept in touch.......................I had this argument in a earlier post where the experience and leadership but most importantly the composure comes from having good heads around...i.e. Matfield, Du Preez etc......
These guys would have shut down the game and played the style that has made them two time champions......It was plain to see that this component of our game went missing against what I thought was a "bits ad pieces" effort from the Chiefs team......
It also worries me that a "bits and pieces effort" team can still beat us and at the end of the day they scored 3 tries against us. Whether we like it or not most of the Kiwi teams have something we dont and thats the ability to win with less possession and less territory.
I am being sincere in my comment here but they seem to always outthink us even though we dominate them...this is what fustrates me and probably what fustrated Spies...whom I think will feel further pain next week against the Stormers....who will beat the Cheetahs this weekend!!!
Damn this game can take you from the highs to the lows from one week to another.....hhhmmmmmmm????
the turning point in this game was the round about 50 min mark substituions that were made. the new guys just didnt continue the bulls momentum which the chiefs fed on and kept feeding on until their was a full momentum shift in favour of the chiefs.
this match was very important for the chiefs, as they want to finish the combined confernce on top of the ladder, cos if they make it all the way to the final, they will want to play the bulls or chiefs at home, cos i dont think they can beat them in loftus or newlands.
only team i can see beating the chiefs in waikato is the crusaders and that call is near 50/50. maybe 51/49, lol.
Good to see Cheifs prb ly now top NZ conference - IMO wont win comp though not enough experience or mental toughness.
I think Bulls played all over the Cheifs but creidt to them for hanging in and getting win.
Chiefs cannot win away from home - and FYI Brumbies only lost by one point to them in Waikato too -
Greyling? (No1) is a unit - not sure why he needed to come off @ 50min mark - but this changed the bulls fwd pack and from then on Chiefs got back into it.
Great game nonetheless - good win Chiefs..... and credit to Lawrence for decent reffing.............
Yeah fair enough redsman and I agree to your points fully still does worry me that the Chiefs looked dominated for probably a good 70% of the game and they still beat us.........So if we question mental toughness then we need to look back at ourselves just as much...................
Not sure what you mean when you say that the Chiefs cant win away when they are sitting top of the table???????
This was a game that the Bulls took away the home advantage with their first half tactics but for reasons unknown they just absolutely choked.......................And agree I thought Lawerence officiated really well.
Sheeesh! Come on Red!
"Chiefs cannot win away from home"
LOL! The Chiefs have only lost one game away from home (on their SA'n/Australian tour) all season. That makes them one of the most successful touring teams in the whole competition. I think youre confusing the Chiefs for the Reds who inevitablty disintegrate when theyre not at Suncorp and/or dont have an Ozzie cheat blowing the whistle (remember dickinhisson 2011?) in their favour.
"FYI Brumbies only lost by one point to them in Waikato too"
Hehehe. Looks like the Chiefs arent the only team to have won a 1 point victory over the Brumbies. Will you apply the same "no mental strength" logic to your Reds pretenders now? Besides, if the Reds can win the comp, ANYONE can!!
Chiefs will be found out I still think but if they do win - good on them - they'd deserve it.
See that kiwinuke - thats called graciousness... you and your countrymen's supporters could learn what that is.
Anyway Bulls still frontrunners to take out comp IMO -
kiwi teams too self absorbed and reliant on errant reffing -
aussie teams are gone...... (or are they...)
Hi Red,
I think that the Kiwis will be fairly boosted and a bit balshy afterall they are the Rugby World Cup Champions and have been the World NO1 team for most of the professional era. Bit hard not to be!
SA were pretty balshy also when we won in 95 and 07, who can forget Louie Luyts comments after we won in 95....very ungracious.
I have also seen some very ignorant and at times arrogant comments come from our very own from other rugby forums. Nonetheless, I put hat down to the passion and fervour for our respective nations and our true love for the game....Nothing like a bit of banter, as long as it stays just that.
Anyway back to rugby, the Bulls still stand a very good chance but it will take a massive effort and probably some help from other games going our way to get them across the line. As I said earlier the mental toughness maybe our downfall as much as you state it about the Chiefs..............
Obviously the best result would be an all SA final and TBH if you look at the draw ther is a very good chance that this is in our favour moreso than the kiwi teams...
