vendetta

Morning fellow bloggers.

First of all, congratulations to Bulls for their third Super title in 4 years. Also bad luck to the Stormers, they are a very good team but fell at the last hurdle.

Now some of you might have read my previous post just before the final where I made comment of the Bulls front row that were hungry for revenge (the push over try by that silly little Luke Watson), and boy oh boy did that revenge taste sweet. Brok Harris and Wickus Blaauw looked out of it (Not for the first time this season) and that is exactly where the Bulls won the game. The bulls forwards were far superior to the pack of the Stormers.

I also think that the Bulls defence in the first 5 minutes or so was the best defence I have seen this year from them. Every tackle was made and not only that, the Stormers were tackled back on almost every occasion in the opening exchanges. The Bulls have been mocked the entire year because of the porous defence, but once again, when the situation demanded it, the Bulls stood up and were counted.

Victor also showed that form is temporary but class is forever. Only lost one ball to Bekker, and led his team to their third title. Bekker at times looked desperate and his brain fart that caused him to jump on a ruck was a big set-back to the Stormers.

Fourie du Preez and Morne Steyn showed once again why they are the current best half back pairing in the world. Fourie’s work in sending Hougaard away and Morne’s ability to dictate a game (along with the strong Bulls scrum) kept the Stormers on the backfoot. Morne also showed that he can run with the ball in hand. He made a couple of line breaks and his passing to the outside men was crisp (including the pass to Habanna – I’m sure Habanna called for the ball lol). Dewaldt Duvenhage is a good scrumhalf and will serve province well, but Fourie du Preez is currently probably the best rugby player in the world. His skills are precise and his decision making is unbelievable.

I also think that Wynand Olivier was a major reason why the Bulls won on Saturday. Every time Jaque Fourie touched the ball, Wynand was there to bring him down. He actually made the “best number 13 in the world” look pretty average. Little Francois Hougaard is still going to play huge rugby for this country. The guy tackled his heart out, won turnovers and made Gio Aplon look slow (When he ran him in after Gio got around him). After Fourie leaves for Japan next year, the Bulls can sleep easily knowing that this guy with his immense talent will comfortably fill Fourie’s shoes.

Joe Peterson and Duvenhage were the stars for the Stromers for me. Joe never looked out of sorts and really tackled well and when he got the ball in hand, he always looked dangerous. Also the replacement hooker that came on, Deon Fourie, i think his name is, should be starting every game for province. He made a huge impact when he came on.

Now for the Curry Cup. Looking forward to the North-South battles this year (will be interesting to see what the teams look like when the Boks are away on Tri-Nations Duty), which is a good thing for SA rugby. I believe that the Bulls will make the semi’s again, but that the Stormers will have to fight for a semi’s place (especially if Grant, Habanna, Fourie, Aplon, Buger, Louw, Bekker and possibly Liebenburg get picked for the Tri-Nations). The WP side did not have a great Vodacom Cup where the Bulls dominated which tells me that the depth in WP rugby is not as deep as they are making it out to be.

Here’s to a succesfull international campaign for the Boks and another tough-as-nails Curry Cup season!

Nou die BLOU!

Hey fellow bloggers.

So a lot has happened since my last post. The Bulls sent a B-Team to Newlands and duely got their asses handed to them. A very professional performance by the Stormers.

Then the Bulls put the Crusaders out of their misery in Soweto. It was the third time that the Bulls have defeated the Crusaders in a semi-final situation and the previous two times it happened, the Bulls ended up with the Super 14 Trophy in their cabinet.

The Stormers put in a repeat performance against the Tah’s sending the miserable cry-baby Phil Waugh back to Australia (where he heard that he is no longer part of Deans’ plans…….. BWAGHAGAHAHAHAHA!). I did not see much of the Stormers semi-final as I was entrusted with the braai-ing duties, but I did see Juan de Jongh’s try, which was great to see.

This has set up every Bull and Stormer supporter’s dream final! In Soweto nogal. It is not only going to be a great day for SA Rugby but also for some much needed nation building.

Now to the match:

For me every position on the team sheet will be a crucial match up. One moment of brilliance or a bad mistake by a single player could swing the game in the oppositions favour.

I believe though that the team that gets the ascendancy in the forwards will win this one. So it will be up the front rows, locks and loosies to ensure that their team gets go-forward ball.

After what I have seen and read about the stormers scrum, I do not think that Blaauw is such a monster in the scrum. I am also of the opinion that the Bulls front row is much improved after the return of Gary Botha (instead of having a tiny flank in Derrick Kuun). Guthro and Werner Kruger have also improved markedly and the second last scrum against the Saders was a moment where I saw the pride of the Bulls scrum return. Beware Blaauw and Co, the Bulls are still smarting from that push-over try last year….

The lock battle between Matfield and Bekker is going to be epic. I am hoping that Victor has been saving himself for this game because he has been mediocre this season. If Big Vic does not prepare properly and brings his A-game, Bekker might just embarras him in Soweto.

Lastly, the loosies… Oh boy oh boy. Probably the two best number 8′s in the Southern Hemisphere up against each other as well as the future of SA rugby on the flanks. By that I mean that Flo, Potgieter and Stegman will all one day play for the Boks as regulars. The battle on the ground for the ball is going to be murder and add Schalk to the mix and we might just start world war 3!!! I am hoping that Craig Joubert does let the game flow, because that will give these 4 men the platform to strut their stuff.

I’m not saying the forward battle will be the deciding factor, specially with Habana around that could turn a game with an intercept try or something special, but if the Bulls dominate up front, with Fourie and Steyn dominating territory, it’s going to be a long hard day in Soweto for the Stormers.

Here’s hoping for an awesome final without any dodgy calls from the ref or linesman.

Good luck to both teams and their supporters.

NOU DIE BLOU!!!