Ken Borland

Technology has allowed players to be tracked in detail now throughout the 80 minutes of a rugby match and every individual contribution is measured and analysed. One man who would have featured in almost all categories for the Bulls in their weekend demolition of the Sharks was rookie loose forward Elrigh Louw.

Given that they won 41-14, the Bulls were understandably dominant in terms of the game statistics – they enjoyed 52% possession and 53% territory, they ran for 367 metres compared to 223, beat 20 defenders compared to just 13 by the Sharks, and made 14 clean breaks while the opposition could only make two. The Bulls also won twice as many turnovers, and completed 86 of their 99 tackles, with 73 of those being dominant hits. The Sharks made 79 tackles, 59 of them being dominant, and missed 20.

And the 21-year-old Louw contributed plenty of carries, made valuable metres, tackled ferociously and even had time to win turnovers and make a couple of offloads. He was also a lineout option in a dominant set-piece for the Bulls.

Snapped up from the Southern Kings last month after they went bust, Louw seems in many ways an old-fashioned forward who keeps things simple and he is learning plenty from playing alongside Springbok great Duane Vermeulen.

“When I was at high school at Transvalia in Vanderbijlpark, Duane was the player I looked up to, I used to follow his every step and I wanted to be like him as a player, so to be here at the Bulls with him is a dream come true. I just try and be a sponge and take in everything, and it’s a real privilege to be playing with Springboks like Duane and Marco van Staden.

“I think we connected well as a loose trio, we were stealing balls, being a nuisance on the ground and we were physical in defence, so I think we complemented each other well. I just keep my head down and keep on grinding, I try and focus on my game and not other stuff. It has been a big move from Port Elizabeth but I’m sure it’s the right thing for my career,” Louw said on Monday.

The Pretoria-born Louw has made just the sole start in Super Rugby Unlocked but impressed to such an extent that people are already saying he could be a youngster who enjoys a long and successful career at Loftus Versfeld. He has settled in extremely well and made a good impression on both his team-mates and coach Jake White speaks highly of his talent and direct style.

“I’ve fitted in comfortably, it feels like I’ve been here for years because all of the coaches and players work so well together. In the space of two days me and all my stuff went from Port Elizabeth to Pretoria but one of the big reasons for the move was to be closer to home. I’m enjoying playing for the Bulls unbelievably much.

“I’ve accepted the challenge that no matter who we are playing against, we have to win and that means winning the small battles in the game, even though I don’t focus on my opponents,” Louw said.

Sharks coach Sean Everitt said he felt his team was still in good health at halftime as they only trailed the Bulls 9-17 in their Super Rugby Unlocked match at Loftus Versfeld at the weekend, but the unrelenting physical bombardment of the home side eventually saw them subside to a 41-14 hammering.

The Sharks had actually had the better of the exchanges in the first half and they led until the 28^th minute when the Bulls scored the first of two quickfire tries before the break. Thereafter it was one-way traffic.

“There are no excuses, we started really well, but then we leaked two soft tries. But we still felt very much in the game at halftime, but the Bulls have a very good pack, big and physical, and they just wore us down in the second half. We had a dominant scrum until Thomas du Toit went off because of his calf, and we had a lot of go-forward in the first half.

“I like to think we also matched them in the loose in certain periods, but it was just our execution that let us down. The breakdown was going well when we had forward dominance in our carries, but I think the Bulls just outmuscled us a bit in the end and Marco van Staden is a great fetcher and not a Springbok for nothing. We were also not accurate enough in our kicking game,” Everitt said after the match.

Hooker Dylan Richardson was the outstanding player for the Sharks and scored a beauty of a try, after a lovely little dart by eighthman Sikhumbuzo Notshe, to keep the Sharks in the game at 14-24 down after 53 minutes. But the rest of the second half belonged to the Bulls as they scored three more tries. The lineouts were a particular area of concern for the Sharks as the Bulls stole a few balls against Richardson’s throw.

“Dylan’s general play was outstanding, he made lots of tackles and won three turnovers for us. It was a big step for him to move from openside flank in Super Rugby, but we feel hooker is a position he can excel in and his throwing is just a teething problem, that will get better with game time,” Everitt said.

It took the Bulls pack a while to get a lock on the game, but once they did, the home team seemed almost invincible as they surged to a 41-14 win over the Sharks at Loftus Versfeld at the weekend. But it was the fact that they overcame in such emphatic fashion a first quarter in which the visitors troubled them that pleased Bulls coach Jake White the most.

The Bulls conceded early scrum penalties and had their struggles at the breakdown, but they adapted and fixed both key areas. They were helped in the scrums by Sharks tighthead Thomas du Toit limping off after half-an-hour with a calf strain.

“We couldn’t get our maul right, the first couple of scrums we were penalised and we didn’t always get things the way we wanted. But the way we came back, the guys adapted, and that was a highlight for me,” White said after the convincing bonus point win. “I thought the way Duane Vermeulen captained the team after that first quarter, the way he pulled the guys in, was excellent and I was very pleased with the calmness of the team at halftime.

“It’s a relatively new team, they really haven’t played together much, so I was really excited to see how they fought through a tough start and a lot of learning has clearly taken place. I’m sure Thomas du Toit coming off was a turning point because he’s an incredible, very important player for them and important for the whole psyche of their pack,” White said.

It was certainly a top-class all-round display by the Bulls, who scored six tries but also defended extremely well to only allow a single try against them. Their forwards brought a ferocious and brutal physicality to the collisions, while the backs had a clinical, ruthless edge.

“I was very pleased to see the tries we scored and when the backs are scoring them it gives you great hope that you’re playing a balanced game. We were able to get that dominance up front, able to get a lot of front-foot ball, and then it’s easier for the backs to play. If our forwards are physical and strong enough, then we have a backline that can exploit it,” White added.

The loose trio of Vermeulen, Marco van Staden and Elrigh Louw was particularly impressive, with the experienced Arno Botha coming off the bench and also making an impact, and White has clearly done some in-depth planning when it comes to getting the loose forward combination right.

“We’re trying to find the right combination and how nice it is to be able to have Arno come off the bench and fit in and have an impact at both openside and blindside flank. It is still a work in progress, but when Duane is on song, he brings an aura. He has now played two consecutive games for the full 80 minutes and clearly the more he plays, the better for us. But we might need to give Arno a chance at eighthman some time too,” White said.

The Bulls claimed a bonus point 41-14 win over the Sharks in their Super Rugby Unlocked match at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday night and it’s exactly the sort of clinical, hard-hitting performance coach Jake White has been waiting for.

The commanding display by the Bulls was made even more impressive by the fact that they initially struggled, being pushed back in the scrums and losing momentum through the penalties they conceded in that set-piece, and they also had problems again at the breakdowns, where the Sharks came hard at them.

But by the end of the match, both those problem areas had been emphatically fixed.

The Sharks had the misfortune to lose tighthead prop Thomas du Toit to injury after half-an-hour, and with Springbok Trevor Nyakane replacing Marcel van der Merwe in the Bulls front row around the same time, the visitors lost their edge in the scrums. By the end of the match, the Bulls were camped in the opposition 22, winning a succession of scrum penalties.

Led by Marco van Staden, but with fellow loose forwards Duane Vermeulen and Elrigh Louw also contributing strongly, the Bulls also turned the tide at the breakdowns.

Otherwise, it was a typically physical display by the Bulls and they put their bodies on the line in ferocious fashion, in a hard-fought match full of brutal, often bloody, collisions.

Flyhalf Morne Steyn gave a top-class display of tactical kicking, even if it was a mediocre night by his high standards when it came to kicking for poles – the veteran succeeding with five out of seven shots.

The Bulls were leading 17-9 at the break and, after Louw won the breakdown penalty, it was Steyn’s superb kick right into the corner that allowed the Bulls to get a maul rolling and Van Staden grabbed his second try.

The Sharks pulled back to 14-24 down when hooker Dylan Richardson, a standout player for the visitors, powered over, but Steyn settled the contest with a brilliant grubber into space that was gathered by wing Kurt-Lee Arendse, who took the tackle and then offloaded for Stedman Gans to score his second try.

It was also a strong defensive performance by the Bulls, who showed patience and faith in their system.

Scorers

Bulls: Tries – Stedman Gans (2), Marco van Staden (2), Marco Jansen van Vuren, Embrose Papier. Conversions – Morne Steyn (4). Penalty –Steyn.

Sharks: Try – Dylan Richardson. Penalties – Curwin Bosch (3).