Bulls side to play Stormers

Typical conservative shit from Ludeke - where is Jan Serfontein?

Bulls: 15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Lionel Mapoe, 13 JJ Engelbrecht, 12 Wynand Olivier, 11 Bjorn Basson, 10 Mornè Steyn, 9 Francois Hougaard, 8 Pierre Spies (c), 7 Dewald Potgieter, 6 Deon Stegmann, 5 Juandrè Kruger, 4 Flip van der Merwe, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 1 Mornè Mellett.

Replacements: 16 Willie Wepener, 17 Frik Kirsten, 18 Grant Hattingh, 19 Arno Botha, 20 Jano Vermaak, 21 Louis Fouchè, 22 Francois Venter.

Serfontein should have been at 12, Kirsten at 3 , Botha at 7 and Willemse on the bench. Morne at 10 is another no, no

Saffex

I did not expect any other selections than those made by  Ludeke.  Indeed disappointing since there are no place for players like -

*    Serfontein who is a far better player than Olivier;

*    Visser - who is 10 times the full back Kirchner will ever be; and

*   Stegmann - a real donkey style player.

It makes me wonder why Serfontein and Visser is not on the bench.   Delighted to see that Arno Botha is.

Maybe Ludeke put Vermaak on the bench because he is not certain whether  the rugby brain implosion of Hougaard in 2012 has been cured.   The same with Fouche in case Morne is still not able to kick at goal.

I do not think the Bull can realistically hope to beat the Stormers - but then the Stormers have Jantjies that could really lose the game for them  

If nothing else, this match should be an interesting contrast in styles.

On the one hand we have the thick and brutish Bulls, devoid of any skill or flair and entirely dependent on brainless grunt and kicking anything that even looks like it might be a ball.

In the other corner we have the fragile and foppish Stompies, utterly lacking in guts, character or determination but willing to fling the ball around in the hope that one of their nancy-boy backs might slip under a tackle and make what passes for a line break in the Western Cape.

Dull-witted Donkeys vs Mincing Posers . . . it's anyone's guess!

Go Sharks!!!

Jalap

You really don't like the Stormers - now do you?   LOL

Am waiting for the Sharks team - hope Du Toit is in - since I have to have him in my Testrugby squad.

 Nei man Saffex Sir.  A coach pics a side based on the opposition, on maybe because of what he thinks the opposition will be like nê.  Serfontein will still get a break when that takhaar breaks down.  Arno wil play in time to come that Stegman boy will break his arm again and run off with a grimace.

As the RedHot green pepper guy says it will be an interesting game with the difference in approach nê.  Stil the Sharks will be the team to watch.  Shame those Cheetahs will suffer..

Ja ou Maaik, I also gambled on Pieter-Steph in both the Fox and Testrugby games so I'm also keeping my fingers crossed that he starts.

Freddie stop speaking kak, Ludeke is a fool, he has proved that year after year. The Stormers are one of the best sides in the comp and therefore the Bulls side should be the best possible side he could muster.

Playing Kirchner, Basson, Olivier, Morne, W.Kruger and Stegman sells the Bulls short.

Jal and Mike, sadly I think Plum is going to cock it up and play the experienced Franco v/d Merwe ahead of Steph du Toit

Freddie I am sorry tha you did not comne on Boardin time to join the fantasy team competition.   In that competitions  you pick your own sqauds for the games to be played in each round.  There are some problems though.  You get a certain amount to spend - in the case of Foxrugby you get $6 000 000 and in the case of Testrugby $12 000 000.    

However, the top players are exhorbutantly expensive to "buy" and you ae forced to spend money on low-priced payers so as to be within budget.  The secret is to identify the cheaper players that could produce points for you - and that is not always easy.  Every activity a player can potentially be involved in is tested and points allocated - obviously negative if they give away penalties, knock on balls or miss tackles..  

I suffered badly in Round one - since I had very expensive players like Cooper, Pocock, Speight, Shipperley and Alexander in my squads and they produced very little points.  Some of the cheaper players really produced the goods.     Nevertheless I had most points in the League that has members from this site on it ending with 439 points - about 42 more than the member who came second 

You really have to know your rugby and players to get through this one with success.   Stay on and join for the Championship tests - that would also be interesting and very challenging.   I say interesting - because you watch the players you targetted in the games with a hawks eye and you can mark down what happens much more carefully.  For instance the first time Pocock joined a ruck - he gave away a penalty and you mark his name with an X and say he is a bloody liability.

I know more about the cheap players in SA - that is why I am keen on players like De Allende  and Du Toit.

Jalap

For Round 1 - I had three cheap Sharks players on Board - namely Jordaan, Reinach and Burden.   Problem is that I had to get Lambie and Coetzee on the Foxsport squad.   Due to the 6 change limitation I could not get rid of all the players I wanted out and only moved Jordaan to the starting line-up, brought in Coetzee and Lambie and leave Reinach and Burden on the bench.  So to my disgust I could not bring in Du Toit as well.   If he performs well on Saturday - I will have to look at the present players of the Sharks and then decide who I should remove to get Louw on the bench - likely to be Burden though.

I can put Du Toit in the Testrugby squad and am eagerly awaiting the team announcement though.

Mike ...I see your down to 11 trades.

Slow down a little will ya!! You still have 4 rounds to go before the next allotment. 

Not sure what happened ... below.

disregard

Mike ...

Mike ...

Capone

I feel terrible - what did I do to get four messages - containing only the word Mike followed by three dots.?   

Take it easy with the trades there, Mike.

Waiting for the team announcments drives me insane too ... but you mustn't be so enthusiastic.

It could come back and bite you.

Oh and thanks for the tips ... 

 A little too much of the same old same old for my liking. Still, maybe KalaedF is onto something, regarding specific players for specific opposition...although, I know I am just trying to fool myself into a false sense of security by thinking like that. I would have though some more of the young talent would at least have made it to the bench. 

 Saffex Sir, it may be so, but that is your opinion and mine is different so live with it.  As for Ludeke he may not be as bright as some of the other but he tries.  And he would not be in that posision if he was really that bad.  Maybe you should apply for that job South Africa is a very cool place.

Mike, I wouldn't be able to join that Fantasy thing, I'm just a county boy and not so clever with those things.  But looking at the guys here and the way they rate themselves I can already se who will be a winner, even if just by his own accord nê.

Freddie, Ludeke sells the Bulls short with his conservative selections and gameplan, he needs to be given the boot along with players like Olivier, Morne and Werner Kruger

May I remind the boneheaded rooitwit that it was a young second string WP side that went to Durban and bullied the toothless guppies in their home town and won the Currie Cup.

Enough said.

So rooitwit are we a boring dull side or one that flings the ball around. Which is it?

Will Morne recover his golden boot and make dump a hea pof  egg on snapster? We shall see.

Ludeke knows he cant have too many youngster running onto the park againt the Mighty Stormers - they are not  just any side as even Sitting Bull knows an dis concerened about. Ludeke will ease the young guns in.

Kalead of course Ludeke and his brains trust have a far sounder grasp of matters than you know who. Sorry I missed it but who do you support.

Go Stormers and Cheetahs!

I reckon the fact that everyone has written off the Bulls plays perfectly into her hands.

Go Bulls

I agree with the Dole Bum ... 

Ludeke needs to be bold. He has young talent available to him.  Why not expose them to super rugby??

If they're good enough, play them. Serfontein would have walked my starting 15. 

Olivier is useless, has always been useless, Morne has lost his confidence and tends to kick everything away in any case and if Werner Kruger is the best tighthead they have then they're in spot of bother.

I would include chumps like Hougat to the list. Vermaak is a scrumhalf. You should play a scrumhalf in the 9 jersey and leave whatever Hougat is back in the changeroom or if your desperate enough chalk him up elsewhere. .

JJ in at 13 again?? It's gonna be a long season for the Bulls.

I would much prefer to use Hougat at 13 instead of JJ. He's a little more ellusive and he won't need his useless boot.

Push JJ to the wing where he belongs ... not that he'll see much ball there with Wtynand "f-ck you I won't pass the ball" Olivier at 12.

Maybe Spies grew a spine in the off season and becomes a little more physical ... for a change. 

All in all ... I don't think I have anything on on Friday night so chances are good that I'll enjoy a cold one and watch the match.

Capone I don't agree...well not with everything. Olivier, has always done well in Super Rugby. Would I have played one of the younger guys, probably, but Olivier is yet to fail at this level. Morne will never again be my first choice Springbok no. 10, but lost form can be found, and if he has done that, he is more than capable of carrying this Bulls side...after all, The Bulls have won 3 Super Rugby titles with him at 10. I don't care what you say, Hougard is a special talent, had a dip in form last year, but he still has more x factor than Vermaak could even dream of.

Francois Hougaard shouldn't be picked.He's part of the Oscar Pistorius/Reeva Steenkamp scandal,Herschelle Gibbs and Hansie Cronje never played back in 2000 when the match-fixing allegations came out.

Stormer 77 I have not heard anything about Hougaard's involvment. What was it?

 There are rumours of a Hougaard/Reeva relationship

 Hougaard may have been corrupted whilst at the Blue Bulls?

Highly possible Storming. I also think he would have done better rugbywise to have remained in the Cape. The big problem is that they tried to make him into another Fourie Du Preez.

 Never thought of that Beeno. A deep insight.

Anyhow its time to get some action my beaurtiful one has just arrived  and we are set to flyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy.