Beaten by the best in the world
Was the Bulls plan to keep the ball in the forwards, thus naming just two back reserves on the bench?
Did the Crusaders fans believe their team would walk the match - and thus 10 000 tickets remained unsold?
They were questions that were evident before the match even began. In the most anticpated start to a match involving a South African side in some time, we were about to find out.
It was an ominous omen when the Bulls scrummie Fourie du Preez botched a take after letting the ball bounce. Besides one fantastic box kick that landed just outside the Crusaders 22, it was a sign of things to come for the Bulls half.
It was a further ominous sign when McCaw won three unbelievable turnovers within the first 5 minutes. On the eighth minute from a ruck 25 meters out from the Crusaders tryline, Jacques Cronje's poor ball carrying technique was again exposed as he was wrapped up and conceded the turnover.
By the 15 minute mark the Crusaders had won 5 turnovers to 1 by the Bulls. The Bulls had stayed in the game until that point through strong scrumming and their imperious lineouts.
After some frenetic kicking and chasing, the Crusaders were clearly having the better of the positional game. This seemed to rattle the Bulls and they promptly lost two of their own lineouts. The Crusaders looked stronger and stronger and the Bulls looked more hesitant on defence, standing back and allowing the Crusaders line to run at them. This led to good third phase ball allowing Laulala to put through a blind side grubber for Gear to score.
With turnovers coming at will for the Crusaders the Bulls were looking increasingly out of it. A great hit on Laulala by Bakkies seemed to give an up-until-then frail looking Morne Steyn (his line kicking had been very ordinary) some life and he broke through the Crusaders line to gain ground and finally gain a penalty just in front.
The Crusaders came back immediately after pouncing on untidy Bulls ruck ball and swinging it wide to Gear who scored.
13-3 after 30 minutes and things not looking good for the Bulls. Despite things going against them they continued with their gameplan of kicking the ball onto the backs of the Crusaders. It hadn't worked until then and it continued not to.
Forwards don't like going backwards, and perhaps this was why the Bulls scrum were annihilated on their own scrum on the 35 minute mark. This allowed the red jerseys a good scrum position and allowed Carter the position for a drop goal.
Finally Matfield seemed to gather some urgency and opted to put a penalty into the corner. From the maul resulting from the lineout, Du Preez fired a low quick pass to put Habana into the corner. It was unconverted and the Crusaders led 16 - 8 going into the second half.
After I'd criticised the Bulls gameplan and lack of tactical appreciation last week, many Bulls supporters had been upset with me. I am sure they were groaning with me at the Bulls one dimensional performance in the first half. It is a South African disease that our players have an inability to change tactics when things are not going your way. It was the same criticism I had of the Stormers when they played like headless chickens against the Bulls. Surely Matfield could see that kicking deep infield was not yielding results for the Bulls? Surely a player of Jaco van der Westhuyzen's experience could have seen the need to vary the tactic? Joel Stransky had pointed out after the first Bulls-Crusader's match that it is very difficult for a full-back when his backs pursue the rush defence as he is isolated at the back and unable to launch a counter without support. That could not have been the excuse today as the Bulls did not rush.
Don't get me wrong. I'm all for a big powerful pack of forwards to win primary phase ball and dominate the opposition upfront. I am all for crashing the ball up to suck players in before swinging the ball wide. Power up front is crucial to provide good possession. But it's what you do with it. It's the patterns you play. The Bulls (as is the case with most South African sides) lack tactical appreciation.
Meanwhile the Crusaders pick the plays to suit the field position and ball quality. And they do the basics well. Immediately after half time they put the ball through 17 phases of zero-error pick-and-go rugby before firing it out to Chris Jack to dive over.
The Bulls tried to change tactics and started recycling ball through rucks and then passing to one-off runners. After 14 phases, the Bulls had lost ground and finally lost possession. They had lost 22m and it was a contrast to the Crusaders having made 50m through their 17 phases moments earlier.
It started going downhill for the Bulls from there. They had lost Bakkies Botha and Habana and started making basic errors. The match was effectively over by the time Corey Flynn went over in the 64th minute.
Poor defence by Frikkie Welsh had led to Flynn's try, shocking defence by JP Nel led to Mauger's a short while later.
Pierre Spies got one back, but 35 - 15 was a fair reflection of the Crusader's dominance.
Bulls supporters accuse other SA supporters of "Bull hate." Heyneke Meyer remarked after the Stormers game that it felt as though the whole country was against them. Guys we cheered today. I got an early Friday night in anticipation of getting up early for a great game today. In South Africa's interest, we wanted a Bulls win today. So we all need to keep level heads and question what we can learn for South African rugby today.
What can we learn?
Sorry Bulls. It was a great effort to get to the semi-finals and it's a great pity a South African side could not convert.
Well done Crusaders. You are the best provincial side in world rugby. There is not much you do badly and the Hurricanes will have to play out of their skins to beat you next week.
Did the Crusaders fans believe their team would walk the match - and thus 10 000 tickets remained unsold?
They were questions that were evident before the match even began. In the most anticpated start to a match involving a South African side in some time, we were about to find out.
It was an ominous omen when the Bulls scrummie Fourie du Preez botched a take after letting the ball bounce. Besides one fantastic box kick that landed just outside the Crusaders 22, it was a sign of things to come for the Bulls half.
It was a further ominous sign when McCaw won three unbelievable turnovers within the first 5 minutes. On the eighth minute from a ruck 25 meters out from the Crusaders tryline, Jacques Cronje's poor ball carrying technique was again exposed as he was wrapped up and conceded the turnover.
By the 15 minute mark the Crusaders had won 5 turnovers to 1 by the Bulls. The Bulls had stayed in the game until that point through strong scrumming and their imperious lineouts.
After some frenetic kicking and chasing, the Crusaders were clearly having the better of the positional game. This seemed to rattle the Bulls and they promptly lost two of their own lineouts. The Crusaders looked stronger and stronger and the Bulls looked more hesitant on defence, standing back and allowing the Crusaders line to run at them. This led to good third phase ball allowing Laulala to put through a blind side grubber for Gear to score.
 |
| Danie Thiart watches Rico Gear get away Picture: Getty Images |
With turnovers coming at will for the Crusaders the Bulls were looking increasingly out of it. A great hit on Laulala by Bakkies seemed to give an up-until-then frail looking Morne Steyn (his line kicking had been very ordinary) some life and he broke through the Crusaders line to gain ground and finally gain a penalty just in front.
The Crusaders came back immediately after pouncing on untidy Bulls ruck ball and swinging it wide to Gear who scored.
13-3 after 30 minutes and things not looking good for the Bulls. Despite things going against them they continued with their gameplan of kicking the ball onto the backs of the Crusaders. It hadn't worked until then and it continued not to.
Forwards don't like going backwards, and perhaps this was why the Bulls scrum were annihilated on their own scrum on the 35 minute mark. This allowed the red jerseys a good scrum position and allowed Carter the position for a drop goal.
Finally Matfield seemed to gather some urgency and opted to put a penalty into the corner. From the maul resulting from the lineout, Du Preez fired a low quick pass to put Habana into the corner. It was unconverted and the Crusaders led 16 - 8 going into the second half.
After I'd criticised the Bulls gameplan and lack of tactical appreciation last week, many Bulls supporters had been upset with me. I am sure they were groaning with me at the Bulls one dimensional performance in the first half. It is a South African disease that our players have an inability to change tactics when things are not going your way. It was the same criticism I had of the Stormers when they played like headless chickens against the Bulls. Surely Matfield could see that kicking deep infield was not yielding results for the Bulls? Surely a player of Jaco van der Westhuyzen's experience could have seen the need to vary the tactic? Joel Stransky had pointed out after the first Bulls-Crusader's match that it is very difficult for a full-back when his backs pursue the rush defence as he is isolated at the back and unable to launch a counter without support. That could not have been the excuse today as the Bulls did not rush.
Don't get me wrong. I'm all for a big powerful pack of forwards to win primary phase ball and dominate the opposition upfront. I am all for crashing the ball up to suck players in before swinging the ball wide. Power up front is crucial to provide good possession. But it's what you do with it. It's the patterns you play. The Bulls (as is the case with most South African sides) lack tactical appreciation.
Meanwhile the Crusaders pick the plays to suit the field position and ball quality. And they do the basics well. Immediately after half time they put the ball through 17 phases of zero-error pick-and-go rugby before firing it out to Chris Jack to dive over.
The Bulls tried to change tactics and started recycling ball through rucks and then passing to one-off runners. After 14 phases, the Bulls had lost ground and finally lost possession. They had lost 22m and it was a contrast to the Crusaders having made 50m through their 17 phases moments earlier.
It started going downhill for the Bulls from there. They had lost Bakkies Botha and Habana and started making basic errors. The match was effectively over by the time Corey Flynn went over in the 64th minute.
Poor defence by Frikkie Welsh had led to Flynn's try, shocking defence by JP Nel led to Mauger's a short while later.
Pierre Spies got one back, but 35 - 15 was a fair reflection of the Crusader's dominance.
Bulls supporters accuse other SA supporters of "Bull hate." Heyneke Meyer remarked after the Stormers game that it felt as though the whole country was against them. Guys we cheered today. I got an early Friday night in anticipation of getting up early for a great game today. In South Africa's interest, we wanted a Bulls win today. So we all need to keep level heads and question what we can learn for South African rugby today.
What can we learn?
- Coach option taking - not static gameplans
- Improve ball protection and recycling - we concede too many turnovers
- Run to support not away from it
- Secure possession by committing sufficient numbers to the rucks
- Don't believe your own press - our players need to improve skills, e.g. Olivier is a prospect but runs cross field and has a two-movement catch and pass
- A kick gives away possession - make sure it gains enough ground to compensate.
Sorry Bulls. It was a great effort to get to the semi-finals and it's a great pity a South African side could not convert.
Well done Crusaders. You are the best provincial side in world rugby. There is not much you do badly and the Hurricanes will have to play out of their skins to beat you next week.
posted at 11:36 AM
2 Comments:
I couldn't agree with you more. After all that kicking in the first 20 minutes with no result, you would have thought that they would have changed their gameplan!
It was a sad and embarrassing day for any SA supporter especially if you were watching with some Kiwi friends!
And although I beleive that the Saders are the best in the competition, I will be supporting the underdogs next week. Go Canes!
PS: I'm still convinced that the Sharks would have put up a better fight! :)
I agree Delboy.
I think the SHarks would have done better.
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