Ken Borland

Lwazi Mvovo was a consistent threat to the Bulls defence

Blue Bulls coach Frans Ludeke admitted after his team’s 26-15 defeat at the hands of the Sharks at Loftus Versfeld that the disintegration of their lineout had been the death of their chances in their Absa Currie Cup match on Saturday night.

“Our lineout collapsed tonight and you need those sort of basics in order to win, that meant we weren’t able to put pressure on the Sharks through that. The way the Sharks contested the lineout put us under huge pressure, they would move just before the call and we didn’t adapt well enough and it meant we lost a key weapon. We need to be smarter at the lineout because it has a huge mental impact in our game, if you lose your lineouts then you’re always on the back foot,” Ludeke said after the match.

The defeat left the Bulls woefully off the pace in the Currie Cup, in sixth place, five points behind the Pumas and Cheetahs, and killing the momentum from two wins in a row.

“Trusting the process is the main thing, it was able to get us out of a bad start in the competition and we had some good wins. We had some good momentum with wins at home and we don’t want to lose here. The big thing is getting the tactical decisions right under pressure,” Ludeke said.

The Bulls thoroughly dominated the first half, but only had four Jacques-Louis Potgieter penalties to show for it, adding one more in the second half, while the Sharks were able to make much better use of their possession, scoring tries through wings Lwazi Mvovo and S’bura Sithole.

But according to Ludeke, their inability to cross the tryline is not a problem.

“The reason we didn’t score any tries is because of infringements at the breakdown, we had three penalties there and that’s where tries come from. We were in control in the first 40 minutes, but every time we got three points, we wouldn’t exit properly and they would get an easy three points back. We want to build the innings and take the three-pointers,” he said.

Mvovo scored a 50-metre intercept try a minute before half-time to allow the Sharks to go into the break with a 13-12 lead despite looking totally out of the contest and at odds with referee Quinton Immelman’s interpretations.

Buoyed by the late bonus, they came out a different side in the second half and held on to their possession much better, often simply refusing to let the ball die. Their second try, nine minutes into the second half, was a case in point.

Mvovo burst clear on a splendid run off a lineout move to put the Sharks on attack, and Sithole on the right and fullback SP Marais on the left flank both went to great lengths to keep the ball alive, while eighthman and captain Tera Mthembu’s storming run took the visitors into the Bulls’ 22.

From a ruck in the 22, flyhalf Lionel Cronje then produced a deft cross-kick for Sithole to score in the corner.

Cronje added the conversion and two more penalties to complete a fine game for the former Bulls player.

“We knew it would take an 80-minute effort up here and it was great to see such huge commitment. They showed a huge amount of character, making tackle after tackle and they kept working for each other.

“We’ve struggled this year to take our opportunities, but that was good tonight which was great to see. We also had good reward at the breakdown, which kept the Bulls under pressure, while the lineouts were a huge bonus. We know they like to maul, so we were able to deprive them of the opportunity to do what they’re really good at. I’m very happy with the contesting,” Sharks coach Brad Macleod-Henderson said.

Xerox Golden Lions coach Johan Ackermann described the 36-26 defeat his team suffered at the hands of the Vodacom Blue Bulls in the Absa Currie Cup match at Loftus Versfeld as “the most boring game of rugby” he has seen for a long time.

“The first half especially was so poor, we just couldn’t get our game to flow, it was penalty after penalty. The Bulls would just bomb it back, we wouldn’t be able to control the ball so we’d scrum again. It was the most boring game of rugby I’ve seen in a while and it’s not good for the supporters either.

“It was just penalty after penalty, high ball after high ball. A disappointing match with strange decisions,” Ackermann said after the game.

The Bulls totally dominated territory in the first half as they racked up a 19-12 lead at the break. The home side then stretched that to 29-12, but the Lions dominated the final quarter and the introduction of Sevens Springbok Kwagga Smith at eighthman and fullback Andries Coetzee moving to scrumhalf saw them score two tries in five minutes to close the gap to 29-26.

But the impressive comeback was ended in the 79^th minute when the Lions were penalised at scrum time, with the Bulls front row going up, and lock Grant Hattingh scored from the rolling maul set up from the lineout.

Ackermann said the decision by referee Marius van der Westhuizen puzzled him.

“I’d like to know what we did wrong at that last scrum when the score was 29-26, is the referee saying you’re no longer allowed to dominate a scrum?

“I think the referee wasn’t certain what was happening in the scrums, all the props were guilty of not binding properly, but it was one penalty for me, one penalty for you the whole match. It was frustrating because I think we had the scrums under control but still had a few penalties against us. Normally the apology comes on the Monday, but by then it’s too late. Something urgently needs to be done about the scrums,” Ackermann pleaded.

Bulls coach Frans Ludeke, on the other hand, felt the referee had made the right decisions.

“The scrums were a huge battle and there were problems with the binding and hinging of both packs. I thought all the decisions were accurate and both packs got penalised. It depends on how you view the scrums, Johan Ackermann probably feels they had an edge at the scrums and they didn’t get the benefit of that. But I thought we were better than them in all other facets,” Ludeke said.

The Bulls coach said he felt his team were turning the corner after losing three of their first four games.

“It’s a great feeling because we worked hard and the way we reacted because we were under pressure. It brought us together and we backed each other. I felt the gain-line and collisions were better in this match than in any other game and that’s why we got reward.

“The Lions like to counter-attack from broken field, they like to move the ball around from deep, that’s their strength, but our first-time tackling was great and if you can defuse that then you get a lot of energy from that. The hunger to succeed was massive and we’ll take a lot from this,” Ludeke said.

`Ackermann acknowledged that his team did not have the energy of the Bulls.

“We just need to look at ourselves and work out why the levels of intensity  and energy weren’t there. Everything just looked slow in the first half, we didn’t react to the Bulls’ game and back ourselves to play more. There wasn’t enough ball-in-hand, not enough flow.

“We lost patience and suddenly had one-off runners against a hungry, desperate side, which doesn’t help. There was no tempo or speed to our game, they slowed down our ruck ball and the stop-start game suited the Bulls,” Ackermann said.

The Vodacom Blue Bulls produced their most passionate performance since the start of the Absa Currie Cup season as they beat the Xerox Golden Lions 36-26 at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.

Mobile lock Grant Hattingh, who produced a top-class performance in open play and the lineouts, sealed a second win this season for the Bulls with his 79^th-minute try off a rolling maul, but the home side had to see off a ferocious comeback from the Lions.

A burst of two tries in five minutes between the 69^th and 74^th minutes saw the Lions substantially reduce a commanding 29-12 lead for the Bulls, wing Ruan Combrinck’s two conversions closing the gap to 26-29 and giving him a perfect record of six from six at goal.

But the Bulls, with their front row pulling out of the set-piece, were then awarded a controversial scrum penalty, which they kicked into the corner and set up the rolling maul from which Hattingh scored.

The Bulls controlled proceedings for the opening hour, their clinical kicking game keeping the Lions pegged back in their own territory and a robust defensive performance ensuring that the visitors were not able to break the shackles when they tried to run from their own half.

Referee Marius van der Westhuizen was also strict with the whistle and regularly penalised the players, leading to Combrinck and Bulls flyhalf Jacques-Louis Potgieter exchanging penalties in the first quarter.

The Bulls were leading 9-6 in the 23^rd minute when Hattingh pounced on a misunderstanding between Lions scrumhalf Ross Cronje and his backline that led to a loose ball on the ground. The rangy lock burst clear and, after sending the ball wide and then back infield, the Bulls had a ruck in the shadow of the Lions’ posts. Potgieter threw a flat pass to fullback Ulrich Beyers, who went through one tackle and scored.

Potgieter converted and that was followed by one more penalty to the Bulls and two more to the Lions as the home side went into the break 19-12 up.

That became a 29-12 lead in the 51^st minute as Potgieter kicked a 40m scrum penalty and centre Burger Odendaal scored the Bulls’ second try as he gathered a grubber from Potgieter that rebounded off the rushing Lions defence in front of their poles.

The Lions’ task looked even more hopeless when tighthead prop Ruan Dreyer was yellow-carded for collapsing a Bulls maul – the fourth time the visitors had infringed in that way – but Johan Ackermann’s team were inspired by the arrival on the field of Sevens Springboks Kwagga Smith and Mark Richards.

Smith, playing eighthman, showed a nose for the line when he slithered over in the 69^th minute and, five minutes later, his foray from the base of a scrum led to replacement lock Martin Muller galloping over for the Lions’ second try.

The Bulls had somehow lost the spring in their steps, but were fortunate to win a scrum penalty while on the retreat, which allowed them to claim the match-winning try and condemn the Lions to just their second defeat in five matches. That has allowed the Pumas to leap into second place on the log, five points behind Western Province.

Points scorers

Blue Bulls – Tries: Ulrich Beyers, Burger Odendaal, Grant Hattingh. Conversions: Jacques-Louis Potgieter (3). Penalties: Potgieter (5).

Lions – Tries: Kwagga Smith, Martin Muller. Conversions: Ruan Combrinck (2). Penalties: Combrinck (4).

Vodacom Blue Bulls coach Frans Ludeke on Thursday named a starting pack with just one change in it as he looks to his forwards to dominate the set-piece and the gain-line in their Absa Currie Cup match against the Xerox Golden Lions at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.

Hooker Bongi Mbonambi is the only new face up front, relegating Callie Visagie to the bench, but this is an enormous contrast to the backline, where Ludeke has introduced four new players and made a positional switch.

An injury to the exciting young Jesse Kriel sees Ulrich Beyers back in the number 15 jersey, while Springbok JJ Engelbrecht returns from an injury-enforced absence at outside centre, pushing William Small-Smith out of the match-day 22 entirely.

Springbok Sevens player Jamba Ulengo is an exciting new addition to the Bulls team, making his debut on the left wing, with Sampie Mastriet shifting to number 14, replacing Akona Ndungane, who has a bruised knee.

Ludeke has also decided to back experience at flyhalf, with Jacques-Louis Potgieter returning to the number 10 jersey, but has made a change at scrumhalf, with Rudy Paige preferred to Piet van Zyl.

“Quality set-piece ball and controlling possession is going to be the key for both teams and we’re going to be striving for momentum and energy,” Ludeke said on Thursday at Loftus Versfeld.

“I’m confident Bongi will bring exactly the same at the scrum as Callie Visagie, but the Lions are a team that likes to move the ball around so we’ve elected to go for Bongi to start. Callie can come on and cement the scrum because it’s going to be a battle there for 80 minutes. He was really solid last week against Western Province, but we have two quality hookers.”

Springbok Bjorn Basson’s comeback from an ankle injury will now probably happen a week later than expected because the 27-year-old lost his grandfather on Thursday morning.

“Bjorn’s grandfather passed away unfortunately and he’s also had eight weeks off with injury and only one full day’s preparation, so we thought it would be better to give him more time off.

“The timing is exactly right for Jamba Ulengo, he’s worked hard for this opportunity and I want to see what Sevens skills he can bring to the 15s game, especially in space where he can really put the defence under pressure in broken play. He’s big, strong and fast,” Ludeke said.

“This is obviously our most important game of the season, you can call it do or die, and it’s vital for us to win to stay in the race. We don’t want the Lions playing for broken field, this is why game management when we’re with the ball and getting over the gain line is so crucial. And when we kick, we have to get out of our half,” the coach of the team languishing in sixth place on the log said.

“Jacques-Louis started the season at flyhalf and he’s an old head, he stabilises the backline and he brings calm.

“Rudy Paige and Piet van Zyl are both quality scrumhalves but we’ve gone with Rudy to start this game because he’s very quick at the base and has a good kicking game. Piet likes to take control and go for space,” Ludeke added.

Team: 15-Ulrich Beyers, 14-Sampie Mastriet, 13-JJ Engelbrecht, 12-Burger Odendaal, 11-Jamba Ulengo, 10-Jacques-Louis Potgieter, 9-Rudy Paige, 8-Jono Ross, 7-Jacques du Plessis, 6-Deon Stegmann, 5-Grant Hattingh, 4-Paul Willemse, 3-Werner Kruger, 2-Bongi Mbonambi, 1-Dean Greyling. Replacements – 16-Callie Visagie, 17-Basil Short, 18-Nicolaas Janse van Rensburg, 19-Jacques Engelbrecht, 20-Piet van Zyl, 21-Tony Jantjies, 22-Ryan Nell.