Morné is often depicted as being purely a kicking flyhalf. That he can only play 10 man rugby. It's also been said that the Bull's teams he played for were kicking teams. This is a completely unbalanced and even one-sided perspective. Yes, the Bulls did kick well, it was part of theire territory game. This happens to be how the modern game is played. If you play further up the field in your opponents half, they will make their mistakes in striking range of their tryline if they turn the ball over. You'll also be in kicking distance for a shot at goal, a quick tap, or a kick into touch for a lineout. The power of all of your options are amplified. More than this, the power of your opponents options are diminished significantly. Turnovers by your team are less costly, missed tackles are less costly, and the opponent is out of range for scoring penalties. So, this aspect of the Bull's game is tactically sound and was well executed. Morné had a 77% retrieval rate of up and unders, which was by far the highest rate in Super rugby. I have yet to see anything like it, ever. If you can find an example of something similar or better, than please let me know. So, the Bulls could apply enormous pressure, because those fielded kicks mean they now have the defence on the backfoot, with a huge territorial gain, and have possession.
This is where the Bulls liked to play their rugby ball in hand, and where Morné shone as a leader, decision maker, communicator and passer. The Bulls sought to play in the opponents half, and where highly adept at creating linebreaks and converting opportunities. In their prime, they had approximately 60% conversation rate for linebreaks. One of the best in Super rugby, and what contributed to one of the deadliest attacking forces in Super rugby history.
Where the Bulls did have a similarity to the Sharks and Boks was the use of their big forward pack and their power game. The Bulls organized their forwards into pods, and those pods would attack around the corner of the ruck, applying considerable pressure until they drew in or condensed the defensive line. Morné, like Cooper, would assess play and communicate which direction to play and when he wanted the ball. When there were gaps or overlaps he would call for it and would typically receive a pass from Du Preez (or whoever was available like Hougaard or Adams etc). Like I mentioned in a previous post a few days ago, this kind of game requires great decision makers, and fortunately for the Bulls, Du Preez and Morné were world class. Their brilliant distribution allowed the rest of the backs to shine. It's true that Morné was not known to run at the defence and isolate defenders that way, but that doesn't mean he never engaged the defence at all. I think that's a very unfair assessment that borders too close to deceit. He was, however, a good rugby brain that brought his teammates into the game, and he did that well. He would often use deft cut passes to release his outside backs, making use of what options were available. It's a fact, as verified by Verusco, that Morné was a key component of over 50% of all Bulls linebreaks. Here are a few plays that the formed the staple diet of the Bulls attack:
Another aspect of the Bulls game I'd like to highlight is the interaction between Morné and his 12. I mentioned in another thread that the Boks weakness is mostly at centre, or at least it was in terms of personnel and/or implementation. A lot of fans say that Morné stands too deep, or that he can't "get the backline going". That's absolutely nonsense. He had proven that he can function very successfully with his inside centre. For most of that period with Morné, that man was Olivier. Another upopular figure. You decide whether his success was on his own merit or predominantly because of the quality of his half-backs and how easy they made the game for him. There was a couple of years when Olivier had the highest line break rate of any centre in Super rugby. He was deadly from first phase possession where he'd apply pressure to the defence and get it on the backfoot. The Bulls were all about applying pressure immediately and exploiting it just as quickly, if not quicker! Olivier was also used from rucks in the middle of the field. This is something similar to what Meyer was doing with the Boks, and to what the All Blacks and Crusaders do too. Carter was magnificent at managing the game in these situations and dictating play. Morné did the same, and Olivier was his partner in crime as they formed a pretty formidable combination. Here are some illustrations of those common play concepts:
Flat Unders Line Pass
An unders line is one of the basic units of attacking rugby. It's opposite is an overs line. When running an unders line, the attacker runs a straight line towards the defender and then cuts sharply inside to the space behind the defender (inside shoulders). It requires a late and flat pass typically, and Morné did not fail in providing this.
Blocker Line
A blocker play involves passing in behind another player, the blocker. You can call this a screen play. Australia used to get called for obstruction alot back in the early 00s trying to do this. In the example below, 13 (or 15) essentially ran a big unders line and crossed in front of 12. This kind of play is luring the defenders to expose their channel. You want the defender to bite on a false read and follow 13 and that leaves 12 free for an overs line beneath to attack the space exposed by the defender who moved with 13. Timing is everything, and Morné's ability to play in the face of the defence and release Olivier was highly successful. Of course, the defence doesn't always bite, and Morné had a good ability to make that read quickly and adjust accordingly.
Some Stats
In 2009 the Bulls scored 48 tries with 121 linebreaks (second highest in the competition). In 2010 they scored 47 tries in 82 linebreaks. That 2010 season was amazing. They had less linebreaks than the Sharks, but more than double the tries (by 1). They were joint top of the league for tries scored. This was a very efficient team at scoring tries, creating opportunities
