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Where to from here for Bulls?

Gary Boshoff

The comprehensive beating the Bulls received at the hands of the Stormers on Saturday evening came as a surprise to many, this columnist included.

VIDEO: Bakkies Botha cited

One wouldn’t ordinarily classify a score line of 23-13 as a “beating”, but what was impressive on Saturday was the manner in which the Stormers dominated the Bulls in their traditional areas of strength. 

They (the Stormers) were so much better prepared, better motivated and adapted far better to the wet, slippery conditions which resulted from heavy downpours on Saturday afternoon. They were desperate to win, period.

However, what must be extremely disconcerting for the Bulls’ brains trust was how the Bulls came off second best in the collisions! 

The Bulls have traditionally dominated the physical side of the game in South African competitions, more so during the modern professional era of the game. It took the other franchises some time to catch up with the Bulls, with the Sharks the first to do so. 

On Saturday the Stormers managed to do the same and dominated most of the physical encounters on the field.

Bakkies Botha, Dewald Potgieter, Pierre Spies and Gurthro Steenkamp tried in vain to breach the advantage line with some pretty robust direct running during the early exchanges, without much success. 

In fact, they were stopped in their tracks time and time again. When they did manage to get some momentum going, it was more sideways than forward. Here the two Louws (Pieter and Francois), Duane Vermeulen, Rynhardt Elstadt and Brok Harris were colossal.

This inability to cross the gain line and being knocked back in the collisions was the biggest frustration for the Bulls and in my estimation the one factor that eventually led to their downfall on the night.

From this frustration followed numerous turnovers through poor ball retention and inadequate handling, while even the much revered Victor Matfield lineout was upstaged by Andries Bekker and his troops. 

The pressure on Matfield in this Rugby World Cup-year is huge and Andries Bekker’s sterling performance, both as the manager of the Stormers lineout and his general play, particularly in the collisions and as ball carrier, will add to that pressure in the weeks to come. 

On Saturday Bekker stepped out of Matfield’s shadow and will now compete for a spot in the Springbok starting line-up on equal footing. This can only be good for the Springboks’ World Cup defence.

Two losses in a row at fortress Loftus! 

Where to from here one may ask for the Bulls? 

Is it perhaps time to ask the inevitable question whether or not the likes of Steenkamp, Matfield, Bakkies and Gary Botha and Danie Rossouw have reached their sell by dates? 

This is a very difficult question to answer, especially for someone like Heyneke Meyer who by his nature has always been loyal to his players and who has always found it difficult to let go of the players he brought through the ranks.

Another even more important question is whether the players that are supposed to replace them are good enough to do so. Their winless record in the Vodacom Cup is thus cause for even greater concern for the Blue Bulls hierarchy.

Are the poor results of the Blue Bulls Vodacom side as well as that of the Bulls an indication that the Blue Bulls are bound to slip down the rankings of South African rugby or is it just a temporary setback for the franchise that has dominated domestic rugby for the greater part of the past decade?

Have the Bulls finally lost their "mojo" or are they just going through a bad patch? Will this finally be the year of the Stormers?

The answers to these questions will emerge during the next few weeks.

To follow Gary’s Super Rugby predictions on Twitter go to: www.twitter.com/gillike

Gary Boshoff is a former SARU player and current Afrikaans rugby commentator on SuperSport.

Disclaimer: Sport24 encourages freedom of speech and the expression of diverse views. The views of columnists published on Sport24 are therefore their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Sport24.
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