Nice to see the Bulls running it

but the tendancy to kick it crept back in......there were times when Morne should have spread it wide, but went for the frustrating kick instead. Good to see Vermaak back to his form of old, same can be said of Chiliboy. Flip, Potgieter, Mellett and Kirsten were good in the forwards.

I was really impressed with Serfontein and JJ Engelbrecht......both have the qualities to make a great centre pairing. Mapoe had a better game. Visser had a disappointing start at 15, he is far better than that.

For the Cheetahs, Brussouw showed what a poor call it was that Meyer had left him out of the training squad, same can be said of Labascagne and Nkanyane. de Jager at lock had another great game as did Strauss at hooker, does he ever have an average game?

In the backs, Ebersohn and Sadie were dominated by the Bulls pair, Rhule and Willie were solid as were Francis and v/Zyl.

Another tough game with the Bulls moving up the table and the Cheetahs getting a bonus point - same with the Stormers moving up and the Sharks gaining a point.

The right results for the weekend in terms of SA log positions

Saffex

Did you listen to the comments made by the commentators during the game?   I tend to agree with them inasmuch as the backline strategy of the Bulls is concerned.

With due respect to your comments on the issue of running backline play - the comments of the commentators were that it would be to the detriment of Serfontein to keep on crashballing as much as he had fone during the game.  I think that component of his game is being hammered into him by Ludeke - who requires from his inside center to do that.   The question to my mind is - is Ludeke destroying his natural game by expecting from him to do that?  

I sincerely beieve that Serfontein is a naturally gifted player that should be allowed to play his natural game and read situations himself.   There was not much in evidence of that in the game today and I hope that the Bulls coaching set-up will not destroy him as a player by doing what the commentators mentioned during the game.

Actually listening to Joels commentating, I often think he really does speak a load of crap at times. I would agree with Joel if Serfontein was in space and just ran into the opposition, but the reality is, is that Jan crashed it to good effect in traffic.

At no point did he recieve the ball in space and just crashball it as Joel insinuated. Joel needs to wake up to the reality of modern day rugby where there is so little space for centres. Watching the Blues backs today, they managed to create space through wings running great lines and centres or flyhalves using the inside pass.

There are ways to breach defences but our sides seem devoid of ideas

Saffex

After looking at the match and forming my own perspective on the issuue I did - what you would regard as wrong - checked the ESPN stats and want to provide their perspective on what happened in the game  itself.  I also provide the same info on Jean De Villiers as another example.

The stats indicated some similarities inasmuch as Serfontein and De Villiers handed the ball an equal number of times - which I believe is correct,   De  Villiers passed the ball 9 times and Serfontein 3 times.    On the other hand De Villiers made 8 runs basically constituting 4 crashballs - since he off-loaded the ball four times in tackle situations.   Serfontein never off-loaded the ball once - meaning that effctively he crashballed 12 times.

Despite what you said about Stranski - the impression I gained was the same as what he said about Serfontein's play.  I think there is one other really problematic issue and that is what Morne Steyn did in comparison to for instance Van Aswegen and that is also confirmed by the stats oon those two players:-

What I refer to is the number of balls Morne got - 54 balls - as against 36 balls Van Aswegen got.   Morne kicked away 21 of those - that is basically circa 38% of the balls he got - and Van Aswegen about 22% of the balls he got.    It is not only the lkicking game that is disruptive - it is also the time it takes for Morne Steyn to pass balls.    What I am trying to say is that Steyn remains a disruptive element in backline play and a center playing outside of him is put at a real disadvantage compared to one who plays outside of another flyhalf. 

All in all I am stating that I believe next two another flyhalf  Serfontein would have a completely different playing scenario.   That is also why I said I have a problem with the way the Bulls play - a way which I believe is to the disadvantage of Serfontein and could impact negatively on him in the longer term..   

 The stats are a load of shit as they provide no context. I saw both games and for me Serfotein was better than Jean as he made more of an impression with ball in hand. He took contact more as circumstances dictated that he had to. 

At no point did Serfontein take contact in space, thereby wasting an opportunity. Joel is wrong 

Saffex

With due respect the answer to your statement can be summarized in one word - BULLSHIT

Mike given you know fuck all about centre play, I take your usual ignorance with a pinch of salt.

You should do yourself a favour and learn from those that do know what they are talking about.

Good old Joel is so out of touch, he was telling us that Arno Botha would probably be starting for the Bulls if he was not leaving at the end of the season. The fool was mixing him up with CJ Stander who left last year - what a fool 

Saffex

Good - I would rather be ignorant but not bigotted.   Everyone who looks at that game will say the same as I did.  In your imagination things happen - that never happened.   Crashballing is not the alpha and omega of center play - or is it?   Do uourself a favour and go and watch the game again and then count how many times Serfontein n fact crashballed and see wheter there was any reason for that line of action.

Please accept one thing - I do rate Serfonntein highly as a center - but the Bulls is at work to coach his ball sence out of him completely and turn him into a crashballer.

Mike. Serfontain and De Villiers play in two different teams with different straregies that have different objectives for an inside center. As well as that they played different quality opposition! Who do you think is currently a better center pairing at the moment, Bosman and Jordaan or Ebersohn and Sadie? The Cheetahs pairing is obviously better and against this Serfontain made a longer lasting impression throughout the whole game than Jean did for the full 90 against Lame Bosman and Poor Jordaan. 

Serfontain's decision making in the repect of 'crashballing' when he did is 100% correct, if he has tried to dance his way around his opposition he would've been tackled backward leading him behind the advantage line thus putting pressure on everybody else!

 Spot on Shezza, good old Mike does not have a clue, we see it week after week - especially when it comes to centre play. It wont be long before he starts telling us Serfontein is kak

I like the looks of Serfontein, but he needs more than an inside step ....if that's all he has he is the same as Ettienne Botha, Wynand Olivier, Brad Barritt and all the ritual inside steppers. These guys never crack a break at top level.

As far as the outside centres are concerned I thought Sadie was more convincing.....but they both had decent games statistically.

Moz, if you want to see Serfontein beat his man on the outside, watch the last 10min of his game against the Reds, its on Youtube. Its something we dont see Jean doing, this kid has more talent than Jean of that I have no doubt.

He effectively silenced any Ebersohn challenge for higher honours yesterday.  Watch his two breaks against the Reds and tell me this kid is one that only has an inside step. You only need to watch the last 15 min of the game, thats how long he was on for - it was sublime stuff

Serfontain chose the right option per circumstance often putting his team on the front foot with his bull dozing runs, SBW often 'crash balled' and has gained the title 'premier inside center'. Why would he chose another option where he would put his team in a worse off position than what he actually chose? 

JJ outplayed Sadie, probably his best outing this season and has made him the best South African outside center.

JJ outplayed Sadie....based on what? I have no favourite among these two, but your conclusion is hard to fathom. Give us reason to believe.

Dave I watched those 15 minutes and Serfontein looked good. I will say that the "outside gap" was more of a step ...off the right foot which is his proclivity. He was running up on a frozen defender with lots of space. He stepped the 12 and tried the outside gap with Fainga who brought him down. Later you see him step off the same foot to beat the Reds number 8 and set up the JJ non try.

Other than that he missed Digby rather badly once and smartly tried for the interception when a Reds try was on.

I'm afraid this doesn't resolve my sense that Serfontein is a right foot stepper. He could still be a useful international player if that's his only weapon....but I doubt he is going to break the AB defence if he doesn't bring more to the party.

Bulls and running rugby, all in one sentence?  Only one thought comes to mind - oxymoron.  Bulls need a creative flyhalf to make this work!

Disagree Moz, he beats the defender classically on the outside by targeting his inside shoulder initially with an angled run that offsets the defender and gives him enough time to step and beat him on the outside. It was the best bit of centre play I have seen from a SA centre in years. He followed that up with a great break stepping a few players leading to the JJ try that was not a try.

That was impressive stuff by the kid, it is not something I have seen from a centre for some time. What is great to see is that this kid has this natural skill, but just as importantly, he has real strength.

My guess is that he could take Nonu apart. This kid is he one jewel we do have at centre. By far the best I have seen since Jean's early days, but Jan is even better than Jean at the same age.

As for JJ vs Sadie, the major difference is that JJ has pace, Sadie does not. JJ has a good step, I thought Sadie had, but I am yet to see it this year. They both had very little opportunities but JJ looked far more threatening with ball in hand and his defence was very good, snuffing out many potential Cheetahs attacks.