Ken Borland

One could forgive the Blue Bulls if their focus in the last week has been on the 15 players who ran out on to the park – in shocking pink – for yesterday’s crunch SuperRugby game against the Stormers.

But the Blue Bulls Rugby Union (BBRU) is not only concerned about the land’s finest rugby players currently battling it out for top spot in the South African Conference, but also the enormous talent that lies in the northern third of the country.

That is why they also launched their impressive and vital new schools rugby project, in conjunction with SuperSport’s Let’s Play initiative and local and national government, at Loftus Versfeld last week.

Johan Schoeman, the BBRU Game Development Manager, revealed that their dedicated development programme would introduce boys and girls to rugby skills, with particular attention given to those schools in the disadvantaged communities.

Although the programme will also be implemented in the vast area of Limpopo, the Tshwane area has been divided into six clusters – North-West, North-East, South-West, Inner City, South-East and Pioneer, which includes areas such as Mamelodi, Soshunguve, Garunkuwa and Atteridgeville.

Forty-four primary schools have been identified for the programme and Schoeman said the aim was to “develop a sustainable rugby culture”.

“If we go into schools, then we have to work with the Education Department and sponsors are also big role-players – SuperSport have already given about R360 000.

“But we can’t just go in and leave them with kit. It’s a long process that ultimately reaches playing contact rugby in leagues. It’s about talent identification and creating a passion for the game, especially amongst the headmasters,” Schoeman said.

The programme has received the backing of both the Department of Education and Sports and Recreation SA.

“We congratulate and thank the Blue Bulls for their approach. They have made a big commitment to build and inspire young people,” Vuyani Mpofu, the Deputy DG of the Gauteng Department of Education said.

Deputy Sports Minister Gert Oosthuizen said: “The Blue Bulls have a wonderful mission statement about promoting rugby development in their surrounding communities and they have set a good example. We would like to assist them and make every Rand work, deploy the money optimally.”

Schoeman said the BBRU would cover the training of coaches and referees, while teams would start training at schools and fixtures would be held from July.

All this comes at a price, of course, and the Let’s Play initiative are major backers.

“In the pilot project last year, we introduced 1500 boys and girls between the ages of seven and 10 to basic rugby skills. Like the government’s School Sport Policy, we want to play our part in promoting healthy lifestyles through sport participation,” Let’s Play manager Vaughn Bishop said.

Both Schoeman and Oosthuizen identified the lack of facilities as the programme’s biggest frustration.

“The key challenge is facilities – there’s a total skew in terms of quality and access, a lot have been vandalised or are lying unused,” Oosthuizen said.

“Fifteen percent of the municipal grants have now been ring-fenced for facilities. We want to ensure access for all people, because it is access for the masses that will make us a winning nation.

“There is a very good case for sport – crime reduction. Those are the facts and this very good investment by the Blue Bulls will have a positive impact on the community that supports them,” the deputy minister said.

The Blue Bulls were clinical in attack and rock-solid in defence as they hammered the MTN Golden Lions 49-10 (half-time 18-3) in their Vodacom Cup match at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria on Saturday.

The Bulls ran in six tries and they conceded just one as they thoroughly outplayed a Lions side that enjoyed enough possession, but could not make headway against a flat, imposing wall of defence. The Lions also tended to waste their ball with silly handling errors or poor option taking and a lack of flair.

The Lions actually opened the scoring with a seventh-minute penalty by fullback Marais Schmidt, but they had to wait another 52 minutes for their next shot at goal, when Schmidt kicked the conversion of their only try, by wing Anthony Volmink. That came about after the Lions finally got their scrum going and worked the blindside.

By then, however, the Bulls had already scored their bonus point try and the consolation effort allowed the Lions to close the gap to 35-10.

The Bulls enjoyed a healthy 18-3 lead at halftime, thanks to two penalties by flyhalf Tony Jantjies, whose boot kept the home side going forward. The younger brother of Lions star Elton succeeded with five conversions and three penalties in all, as well as scoring an impressive individual try for a haul of 24 points.

Lions loosehead prop Fhumulani Kamanga struggled to get himself settled at the scrum and the result was a series of penalties to the Bulls. One of these, in the 19th minute, was kicked to touch and, from the lineout, Jantjies put in a good straight run to get over the advantage line, allowing scrumhalf Ruan Snyman to pick the ball up at the ruck and swivel through a couple of tackles and score.

The Bulls’ second try came in the 21st minute from another scrum penalty deep inside the Lions’ 22. From the tap penalty, Jantjies charged straight through the flimsy defence of opposite number Garth April to score.

The Lions tried hard to breach the Bulls defence up to the end of the first half, enjoying 68% possession in the first 40 minutes, but their efforts invariably came to nought, ending in a dropped pass or a turnover.

It meant the Lions finished the first half 15 points behind and the second half just saw a repeat of their first-half mistakes.

Another scrum penalty six minutes after the break allowed the Bulls to set up a midfield ruck, fullback Ulrich Beyers popped up in the backline and wing Jurgen Visser was looming on the wing and able to canter over the tryline.

Jantjies kicked the conversion and a penalty in the 54th minute as the Bulls extended their lead to 28-3 and sealed the result.

From the kickoff, Snyman hoisted an up-and-under and Visser appeared out of nowhere to snatch the ball from Schmidt, and Beyers was up in support to take an inside pass and score under the poles (35-3).

The Lions did bounce back with Volmink’s lone try, but the Bulls were quickly back on to the attack.

At a venue where tight play is so admired, it was fitting that the Bulls’ last two tries were scored by loosehead prop Vincent Koch and replacement tighthead Basil Short.

It was at forward where the Bulls had laid the platform for their triumph and the whole pack were brilliant, working as the most well-knit of units.

The Bulls backline was solid in defence and efficient on attack: Jantjies has clearly inherited the genes of his brother, while the midfield pairing of Francois Venter and Jan Serfontein is one of the most promising in the country.

SCORERS:

Vodacom Blue Bulls – Tries: Ruan Snyman, Tony Jantjies, Jurgen Visser, Ulrich Beyers, Vincent Koch, Basil Short. Conversions: Jantjies (5). Penalties: Jantjies (3).

MTN Golden Lions – Try: Anthony Volmink. Conversion: Marais Schmidt. Penalty: Schmidt.

http://www.supersport.com/rugby/vodacom-cup/news/120324/Clinical_Bulls_hammer_Lions

Flyhalf JC Roos made the crucial kick in a match riddled with penalties as the Ford Pumas snatched a 19-19 (half-time 6-13) draw against the Blue Bulls in their Vodacom Cup match at the Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit on Saturday.

Both Roos and Bulls flyhalf Wesley Dunlop kicked four penalties in a match strictly policed by referee Marius van der Westhuizen, who took great delight in thwarting every one of the players’ tricks at ruck-time.

Roos succeeded with a 71st-minute penalty, after a ruck infringement by the Bulls, to draw the Pumas level, with both teams leaving Nelspruit with two points.

Both teams were content to keep the ball with their forwards for most of the match, not leaving the fans with much to cheer about.

Dunlop and Roos each kicked two first-half penalties before the Bulls grabbed the opening try after an impressive rolling maul and slick directing of the traffic by halfbacks Ruan Snyman and Dunlop allowed centre Ulrich Beyers to cross the line.

It was the Pumas supporters who were cheering in the second half, however, as flank Renaldo Bothma, showing pace and power, crashed over for an early try and Roos converted.

Dunlop and Roos then exchanged penalties until the end of the contest.

The fullbacks on either side – Jurgen Visser for the Bulls and Coenie van Wyk for the Pumas – were authoritative figures, but it was the forwards who dominated, the two packs leaving little leeway for expansive play.

Halfbacks Dunlop, Snyman and Roos used what little ball they received well, but both teams will be unhappy with their discipline at the breakdown.

SCORERS:

Ford Pumas – Try: Renaldo Bothma. Conversion: JC Roos. Penalties: Roos (4).

Vodacom Blue Bulls – Try: Ulrich Beyers. Conversion: Wesley Dunlop. Penalties: Dunlop (4).

http://www.supersport.com/rugby/vodacom-cup/news/120317/Pumas_hold_Bulls_to_a_draw

Heyneke Meyer’s current employers, the Blue Bulls, said on Wednesday that the South African Rugby Union (Saru) would offer their current executive in charge of rugby the post of Springbok coach on Friday.

The Bulls added, however, that it would not be in their best interests to release Meyer from his four-year contract.

“It is the board’s position that it would not be in the Blue Bulls’ interest to release Meyer after many resources and commitments have been made to enable him to fulfill his mandate. Should Meyer however decide to accept the position of national coach, he needs to inform the board of his decision to abdicate his responsibilities and commitments to the Blue Bulls,” the Blue Bulls Company said in a statement released on Wednesday.

Saru confirmed in a later statement on Wednesday that discussions had been held with Meyer, but that no appointment has yet been made.

“The Executive Council (Exco) of Saru will be provided with a report back on those discussions at their meeting in Cape Town on Thursday. The Exco is constitutionally responsible for the appointment of the Springbok coach. Their recommendation has to be ratified by a special general meeting of Saru,” the national rugby body said in the statement.

The new Springbok coach, succeeding Peter de Villiers, will be announced on Friday after the special general meeting.

The 44-year-old Meyer coached the Leicester Tigers in 2008 before returning to the Bulls in a director-of-rugby type position. He had previously coached the Bulls to four Currie Cup titles and their maiden Super 14 crown between 2002 and 2007.