The Vodacom Bulls finished their Vodacom Super Rugby season with a solid 40-7 win over the Melbourne Rebels at Loftus Versfeld on Friday.
Flattering as the final score may seem, the Bulls hardly played like a team that would have been considered a threat had they made it to the play-offs.
A second half brace by lock Paul Willemse, who spent 10 minutes in the bin during the first half for dangerously clearing his opposition number at a ruck, and a try by winger Francois Hougaard, who kept his best performance for the last game of the season, proved to be the difference at the end, reports SARugby.com.
Dean Greyling also dived over once the Rebels had run out of gas, but on this occasion the bonus point only ensures that the Stormers can’t overtake them in the South African conference.
In a lacklustre first half performance Frans Ludeke’s men struggled to gain any sort of momentum as the visitors dictated proceedings thanks to an enterprising approach to play.
They were good at retaining possession from first phase and looked dangerous with ball in hand.
Had Rebels flyhalf Jack Debreczeni been more accurate with the boot in the opening quarter, his side could very well have had a buffer that would have come in handy in the closing exchanges of the match.
Add to that the fact that they squandered at least three try scoring opportunities in the first 40 minutes and it becomes clearer why they have yet to win a match on South African soil.
The lesson the visitors will take from this outing is that the ball handling skills of their forwards needs drastic improvement as their props put down passes at the most crucial of times.
For the Bulls Handre Pollard again highlighted why at 20-years of age he already has a Springbok cap to his name. The pivot was the only man to contribute to his team’s first half score.
To their credit, the Rebels did exceptionally well in stopping the Bulls rolling maul and scored a brilliantly worked try of their own to take the lead for all of two minutes.
The try came during the time Willemse was in the bin and was scored by Debreczeni who clearly left his goal-kicking boots in the Australian state of Victoria.
Ironically that five-pointer was made possible by a solid off-load by prop Laurie Weeks who had linked up with loose-head Toby Smith.
Leading 7-6 the Rebels coughed up three points when VodacomBulls fullback Jurgen Visser was obstructed as he tried to take down Jason Woodward who spent most of the night fielding high balls.
Pollard kicked two more penalties before the break to give his side a 12-7 lead, which could have been more had the his side been able to capitalise on the one-man advantage they had from the 30th minute when Rebels skipper Scott Funglistaller saw yellow for his side’s repeated infringements at the breakdown.
The 9500 strong crowd had to wait for the second stanza before they really had anything to cheer about and most of their chants can be attributed to the blinder Hougaard had playing away from the ball.
Also, at a time where the Springboks are in desperate looking for a scrumhalf for the upcoming Rugby Championships, Piet van Zyl put in a performance that would have been noticed by the selectors.
A splendid pass by Van Zyl put Willemse over the line.
In the greater scope of things the Bulls will reflect on this season as one where they came-up well short of the line and part of the reason for this lies in the fact that after specialist open-sider Deon Stegmann succumbed to injury, they were found wanting in the most important area of the game.
SCORERS:
Bulls - Tries: Paul Willemse(2), Francois Hougaard, Dean Greyling. Conversions: Handre Pollard (3), Jacques-Louis Potgieter. Penalties: Handre Pollard (4) .
Rebels - Try: Jack Debreczeni. Conversion: Jack Debreczeni.
Goeie tweede helfde. Dankbaar vir die span, bestuur en die onderste7uners dat ons kon eindig op hogere noot. Nou vir die Curriebeker.
Dit was seker ‘n pyniging toe die Bulle gewen het… Dis jammer maar party ondersteuners snap nie die verskil tussen ‘n entiteit soos die Bulle en afsonderlik daarvan die spelers en ook die afrigtingskorp nie. Ja wees de moer in vir die spelers of die afrigters maar die Bulle is tydloos.
GEE DIT HORINGS BULLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ek glo ook soos Loftus dat Mallet en nuwe denke in die afrigtingspan die pad vorentoe is. As ons nie dringend vernuwe nie gaan ons met al ons hope talent en al die slaansak word.
So min soos wat ek van AC hou moet ek erken dat hy en Gert Smal saam 'n baie goeie Stormer WP span in die veld gaan stoot volgende jaar. Dit pynig my om dit te se maar feite is feite.
FL is 'n gawe kerel maar maak hom dan direkteur van rugby of hoofman oor 'n honderd of wat ookal maar waar die tokse die gras trap moet daar vars denke wees.
Verlede jaar het ons gemoan omdat hy nie die CC span afrig nie en hierdie jaar wonder ek of dit 'n goeie idee sal wees aangesien dit net "more of the same" gaan wees en om dan 'n ander resultaat te verwag is waansin.
Hy was nou sy 132 wedstryde in beheer. Gee die man 'n blaaskans en kry vars denke in. Net nie weer 'n beginner nie maar 'n ware student en kenner van die spel.
Daar is maar min van hulle oor wat nie verbonde is nie maar Stonehouse, Mallet ens ens. Venter praktiseer op somerset wes so hy sal nooit vir ons beskore wees nie
Selfs die frieken stormers speel soos 'n span wat wil wen.
Dis net 'n stupid fout wat hulle halftyd 9 voor los.
Aggeneewat. Ek mismoedig as ek sien hoe die ander spanne nog flatout gaan en die eens trotse bulle kan nie eers twee aangeë gee sonder om te knock nie.
Ek kry skaam vir my span se part.
Bluedog slat die spyker op sy kop
Jul 12, 2014 at 04:37 PM
ek is beslis nie blinde Blou Bul kndeesteuner nie. maar net soos wat mens kritiek moet lewer op wat verkeerd kan wees, so moet mens ook waardering kan he vir wat verbetering kan weea.ons het almal die Bulle se sqakpunye druk bespeeek hierdie week waaronder veral die afbreekpunte en te kort aan fetcher. maar gisyeraans het die span met 33 punye gewen en moea hard werk daarvoor. eer hulle daarvoor. hule tuiswedsyryde was onoorwonne afgesluit. dit was veral belangrik vir die nodige aeldbertroue vir sie komemse CC. die agterlyn lyk beslis gevaarliker met Hougaard op vleuel. ek aal hraag wil sien wat Jeaae Kriel gaan bybring. Hy kan buitesenter en vleuel ook speel.
Het jy stut vir die spesiale skool gespeel?
He he. Dis omtrent speloorlog daai! Sak my kop in skaamte. Die selfoon waarvan af ek gestuur het se skerm kon net die helfde vd tikwerk wys. Maar my tiener kon dit darem lees.
http://www.sport24.co.za/Rugby/Super15/Ludeke-happy-with-Bulls-ending-20140712
Ludeke happy with Bulls ending
The Bulls drew the curtain on an ordinary season with a spotless home record after routing the Rebels 40-7 in Pretoria on Friday evening.
Although it was not the season the team had envisaged, Bulls' coach Frans Ludeke said it was important for his charges to finish with a flourish to lay the building blocks for next season.
"We said that it was important to finish well to almost start something new and tonight was an important victory towards the next step which is the Currie Cup, but you shouldn't get ahead of yourself," Ludeke said.
"We just made sure that we regroup and get a good pre-season with three weeks to go until the Currie Cup and do well in that competition."
The Bulls won seven and drew one of their eight matches at home in Pretoria but lost all of their eight matches on the road.
It was that poor record away from home that cost them the season and relegated them to ninth place on the overall log.
Ludeke said while they were disappointed for not reaching the play-offs, there were some positives they could take out of the season.
"There were a number of players that came through, which was the case in our 2008 season," Ludeke said.
"The young players that came through in Super Rugby are encouraging and will make a big difference in the Currie Cup competition.
"In the last two years we've lost a lot of players, and we only had youngsters and not enough old heads in the Currie Cup.
"This year it will be different and hopefully we can take some positive momentum into next year's Super Rugby."
The Bulls' mentor admitted that the team let themselves down playing away from home but he also believed the lack of experience contributed to their unsuccessful campaign.
"There were nine players that played Super Rugby for the first time in the starting line-up for approximately 80 percent of our matches," he said.
"Guys had to find their feet and injuries broke our rhythm at critical times in the season.
"The way the guys responded makes one look forward to the future and no-one looked for excuses."
The Bulls' season highlighted how relentless the Super Rugby competition can be, given the fact that if the Pretoria franchise had won two more matches they could have made the play-offs.
Victor Matfield said the key to success in Super Rugby was to have at least five national players within a team's ranks.
"That is how tough this competition is and we are definitely on our way there, if you look at the talented youngsters we have here that could become world-class," he said.
"Many of our leaders got injured this year. If you take players like Pierre Spies, Arno Botha, Deon Stegmann and Dewald Potgieter, they are all players that could captain the side."
Meanwhile, the Bulls' defeat of the Rebels ensured that the last place on the overall Super Rugby log would not be occupied by a South African team.