ADFSL

So during the game me and my friends was shouting at the TV. We were very angry with the fact that Stegman and Potgieter got away with murder at the breakdowns. Was this just bias anger probably yes. 

But this is where I feel the Bulls won the game they played 2 fetchers and the Stormers none. During the year they got away with it because the new law interpretations doesn’t really allow for a fetcher to play such a big role. And is the same reason why Stegman had such an up and down season. 

Did Joubert cheat –  No. He did not blow the new law interpretations to the letter and thus the 2 fetchers had a big impact on the game. So whilst it felt like the Stormers was hard done by the ref they really did not play to the ref. 

For me the Bulls was never going to lose this one. They were just a lot more composed and methodical. The Stormers once again could not change their game plan during the game. 

So here it goes. Well done to the BULLS you were the better team and deserved to win.

PS. GO BOKKE!!!

Bulls at the sea.

Bulls in the Bosveld

Bulls at home.

And finally the new Bulls girls.

Nuff said.

Just a quick thought. After all the dignitaries, box holders, season ticket holders, sponsors, celebs and friends got tickets for the final there is only 3200 tickets left for us mere mortals.

My question is this with Orlando only able to host 36500 fans should the game not be played at a bigger venue?

I know the WC is here and there is basically no bigger venue available. But what if the Bulls could have played at Loftus they can only hold +- 60 000 people. Will teams in future in big games like these go to Soccer City or Green Point so that more people will be able to attend the game?

I am sure if Soccer city was available then the BB company would have been able to sell all 100 000 of the available tickets within a week. (I say a week because computicket will stuff up the selling process again.) But will the Bulls or Stormers or Sharks in future trade their home ground for more money??

The Bulls already showed that its not the building but rather the supporters and atmosfere that creates a homeground. Oh and in the case of the Bulls the altitude aswell.

OK so the round robin game did not quite live up to expectations for all the reasons known to everybody. But this time things will be different.

This is the most anticipated game off the season and for everybody, including some neutrals, the weekend can’t come soon enough. This will give one half of SA the bragging rights for a year. 

So everyone knows the Bulls should be favourites, they are the current champions, they did finish top of the log with a week to spare and they will be playing at altitude in a “home” fixture. Their players are also better rested and their game plan is suited for pressure games. So the smart money is on the Bulls edging it in the end.

A lot has been said about the Bulls dominance at the weekend and the lack of real dominance of the Stormers. Well the Bulls did play well and their senior players did stand-up. But on the other hand Darren the Crusaders were way off the pace and looked like school girls under the high ball.

The Stormers played well but struggled in the scrum where Brok Harris was murderd by an young Aussie prop. So they better give him the same stuff Pierre Spies had during his injury break. Because it will be very difficult to win against this Bulls team if the Stormers keep on going backwards in the scrum.

Now I predict that if the Stormers can hold their own in the scrums, they don’t have to dominate, they will prevail. But if they keep on reversing in the scrums they will lose. If I were Alister Coetzee I would get some scrum Gurru’s in to help Harris scrum or cheat if he have to.

I can’t wait for Saturday and just hope that Craig Joubert have a great game.

Cheers, oh and good luck to both teams!!!

Ps No injuries please we need to beat France so as to shut that Kitchener up! 

I have been trying to buy tickets to the S14 semi at Newlands since 9 o’clock this morning. The computicket website is so overloaded that after struggling for 20 min to navigate, this stupid and slow at the best of times site, the only message you get is system busy try again later.

This is a joke and a disgrace to South Africa. Computicket knew that this was going to be the case and should have made contingency plans. Friends of mine were at a Comtuticket office and stood in line for 2 hours without one person in the cue being helped. If this is what passes for service in this country than I am ashamed.

Go Stormers and F#$k Computicket!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

In Feb 2010 Mr. Coetzee of the Stormers said he was only going to take it one game at a time and their goal is to reach the S14 semi finals. This was an ambitious task giving the Stormers recent S14 form.

He stuck to his word never got to far ahead of himself and although their was a few hick-ups he accomplished everything he wanted in Feb.

My question is this how will this affect the Stormers knowing that their season is already a success in accomplishing all their goals.

The Bulls mission this season was to retain the S14 cup for the their first time and thus if they lose will feel their season was not a success. They have unfinished business.

My fear is that the Stormers might relax and not be in the rigth frame of mind.

On another not Old JJ Harmse is really an embarrassment for News24 he suggested on Saturday that as many as 10 or 11 of the Bulls B-team would be regular starters for the Stormers if they applied their trade in the Cape what Bullshit. And this morning is com parring Bakkies incident against the B&I Lions to the one at Newlands on Saturday. I know he only see the world in Babby Blue but this kind of brain dead comments belongs here with us in Blog world not in the countries news papers where he gets paid for it!

Here is to hoping the Bulls beat the Saders and the Stormers break the Tahs.

Good luck and good fight!

In the last couple of seasons there was a few times when the Stormers looked like they might actually make the play-offs but the tripped at the last hurdle. This years S14 things looked different although (before this weekend) they have lost 3 times the games was close and a ref call here and there could have changed the outcome. The games they did win they did in style.

Well after this weekend I am changing my stance. Every time the Stormers were put under severe pressure they cracked esp. in the Force game and the Sharks game. They struggle to get back when placed under pressure and cannot come back from a big defisit. Maybe it is Schalk who, in his first season of captaining, have not yet learned how to motivate and more importantly calm the team down when under pressure. I think what he is trying to do at the moment is to just up his work rate and play harder but he should rather try and get the other players focused like Sirelli and Aplon ect.

This is where the Bulls is much better than the Stormers. They have learned the ability to come back when under pressure, not to panic and to truly believe they can turn the game around. I know that altitude does help them a lot in this regard but you still have to make this advantage tell.

So to this coming weekend and a lot has been said about the Bulls bringing their second stringers to Newlands. Which may or may not happen. Anyways the Bulls second stringers is a decent side and wont be a walk over. I wont be surprised if they still send the best team to keep momentum.

So can the Stormers stand-up and be counted, can they do us a favour and look like they are interested in winning or die trying? Only time can tell.

Ps to all the BULLS supporters well done on a great season and some great rugby. Just remember finishing first doesn’t mean you have already won a bad ref call can swing a result. Just ask the Saders (Ha-ha)

Good luck to all SA sides!

There is a real chance that for the first time since 2000 (I think) there might be no Kiwi sides in the semis!

And although I am glad (because this means more SA sides in Semis) it worries me a bit. For one this allows for Aus teams to come in contention and any Aus or Eng sporting success will not be tolerated.

So where did it all go wrong for Nz? Me thinks it starts with their admin and although a lot of people believe Nz have the best protocol because their players are centrally contracted and thus better distributed they have their shortcomings.

For one their unfailable rule about not contracting overseas based players combined with a salary cap will always be problematic. I know these rules where brought in to protect the game in Nz but I think it has done just the opposite. Players like any other person in the world want the best deal they can get and for most Nz rugby players this means going to Europe and thus giving up on the All Black dream. Most people would like to stay in their country of birth but for Nz rugby players this is becomming very difficult.

What is even more worrying is that next year WC in Nz must be big motivation for players to stay and return. This is probably the only reason guys like Nano, Carter, Richie and a lot of other senior players is still in Nz and what will happen post 2011?

Combine this with the fact that a lot of South Sea Island players now obs to go straight to Europe rather than to take the Nz detour. This will and is depleting Nz of real depth.

This is why I think the Nz rugby union has tried to keep the amateur model in a proffesional era. And while I don’t think that soccer model is the correct model to follow (Because this brings its own set of problems)  you can not have a salary cap and then have a policy of not selecting overseas based players. 

If the same rules applied for SA then Matfield , Habana, Fourie (both) , Botha , Spies , Smit ect. would have been long gone and where would our rugby have been.

PdV policy of first choosing SA based players but if we don’t have enough depth then start looking overseas is a far better policy. This way you reward the palyers that helps grow the game in your country but in times of need you can still make that crucial call to bring in the reinforcements. Players like BJ , Frans and JdV is stil the best in their possisions.

GO STORMERS and bulls!