Bulls

BullsFrans LudekeThe Vodacom Bulls may be putting a brave face on their poor start to the Vodacom Super Rugby season, but is clear that there are glaring problems in the team at the moment that need to be sorted out.

The alarm bells may not be ringing in coach Frans Ludeke’s ears after two losses in as many games, but they certainly are loud as the team struggle to find their feet after losing a mass amount of players last season.

To expect the Bulls to face such a mass exodus – much of it their own doing – and not suffer much of a setback is too much. Add to that the loss of Arno Botha and captain Pierre Spies to injury and the problems seem bigger.

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BullsGrant HattinghThe Vodacom Bulls confirmed on Wednesday that regular captain, Pierre Spies, has been withdrawn from the team to play the Toyota Cheetahs in a Vodacom Super Rugby match in Bloemfontein on Friday.

Spies suffered a blow to the elbow in last weekend’s match against the Cell C Sharks and it did not recover as hoped. He will be replaced by Jacques Engelbrecht, who moves up from the bench. Wiaan Liebenberg will replace Engelbrecht on the bench.

Should he take to the field, Liebenberg will make his Super Rugby debut.

Flip van der Merwe takes over the captaincy.

Vodacom Bulls lock Grant Hattingh will make his first appearance for his team this season on Friday against the Toyota Cheetahs after being included in the side for the Bloemfontein clash.

Hattingh replaces Paul Willemse in the only change to the side that came up short against the Sharks in Durban last weekend.

Flanker Deon Stegmann remains unavailable for selection due to a groin strain and will again miss the match, with Jono Ross donning the number six jersey.

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Cobus ReinachGoverning body Sanzar has confirmed that Television Match Official Deon van Blommenstein made a critical error in awarding Cobus Reinach his try during the Cell C Sharks’ 31 / 16 win over the Vodacom Bulls in their Vodacom Super Rugby match in Durban on the weekend.

Sanzar referees boss Lyndon Bray confirmed the try – which led to repeated replays – should not have been awarded as the ball was knocked-on by Sharks lock Anton Bresler.

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Cell C SharksCell C Sharks Director of Rugby Jake White has named his team to play the Bulls in Saturday’s opening Vodacom Super Rugby clash against the Bulls at Growthpoint Kings Park.

Getting off to a good start is vital to the team’s tournament aims and there is no discounting the value of winning early to set up a platform for ongoing success. The team he has named includes 11 Springboks in the starting line-up with a further three on the bench as he has been able to name pretty much a full-strength side.

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BullsVodacom Bulls coach Frans Ludeke will look at his next generation Vodacom Bulls players to deliver the goods in the Vodacom Super Rugby season after he named a youthful looking side to face the Cell C Sharks in the season’s opener in Durban on Saturday.

Regular captain Pierre Spies will lead a team on the field with a number of players on debut and a number of others with only a handful of caps, but will also have the luxury of Victor Matfield on the bench.

Matfield will join former Sharks AJ Venter and John Smit in becoming the most capped South African Vodacom Super Rugby players and will play in his 125th match at this level.

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BullsThe Vodacom Bulls have released a statement about the finess of its players.

Bulls Fitness Update

The Vodacom Bulls will have to face the Cell C Sharks in Saturday’s season opener of the Vodacom Super Rugby competition without Arno Botha, Mornè Mellett and Jesse Kriel, it was announced on Monday.

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BullsFrans LudekeBulls coach Frans Ludeke has identified three areas of concern as they prepare for their Super Rugby opener against the Sharks in Durban on 15 February.

The Bulls lost a pre-season match in Polokwane 26 / 19 to the Stormers last weekend and according to Ludeke they must improve their scrums, tactical kicking and work ethic before the season-proper starts.

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BullsFrik KirstenMarcel van der MerweMorné MellettWerner KrugerDean GreylingThe Vodacom Bulls have dismissed worries about the quality of their scrum ahead of this year’s Vodacom Super Rugby series.

Eyebrows were raised after Saturday’s pre-season loss to the Stormers, and while the team have pronounced themselves happy with their performance in the 26 / 19 loss, a question mark still hangs over the set piece.

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BullsArno BothaThe Vodacom Bulls loose forward Arno Botha has been ruled out of rugby for at least six months after picking up an ACL injury against the DHL Stormers in Saturday’s season opening friendly in Polokwane, team doctor Org Strauss confirmed on Monday.

The injury, which will see Botha miss most of the 2014 Vodacom Super Rugby season, came in his first match back after injuring the same knee in June last year, which ruled him out of the rest of the 2013 season.

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BullsStormersVictor Matfield made his return to the playing field, but it was not enough to prevent the Stormers recording an impressive 26-19 win at the Peter Mokaba Stadium on Saturday.

The Super Rugby pre-season outing in Polokwane was a double blow for the Bulls, who will also be concerned about another knee injury suffered by star loose forward Arno Botha, the extent of which is knot known at this juncture, although it seemed  a serious injury.

It was a strong second half performance and a late try that secured the win for the Stormers, who outscored the Bulls by four tries to three.

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BullsVictor MatfieldVictor Matfield, one of the most decorated players in the history of South African rugby, will make his return to the playing field for the Vodacom Bulls in Vodacom Super, the Blue Bulls Company (Pty) Ltd confirmed on Friday.

Matfield is a former Springbok captain with 110 Test caps behind his name – only John Smit, with 111 caps, has played more Tests for South Africa. He also lead the Vodacom Bulls to all three their Vodacom Super Rugby titles, in 2007, 2009 and 2010.

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BullsStormersThe Bulls are expected to provide a stern pre-season test for the relatively young Stormers tight five in Polokwane on Saturday.

The versatile Rynhardt Elstadt is the oldest in the Stormers engine room at just 24, although he and loosehead prop Steven Kitshoff have three years of Super Rugby experience whilst Frans Malherbe and Scarra Ntubeni both toured with the Springboks at the end of last year.

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Victor MatfieldVictor Matfield, who became a father for the third time on Wednesday, is expected to confirm his return to the playing field later this week.

Matfield’s name was omitted from the Bulls’ team ahead of their warm-up match against the Stormers at the Peter Mokaba Stadium on Saturday, when coach Frans Ludeke unveiled two teams for the trip to Polokwane.

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BullsThis weekend sees the only Vodacom Bulls warm-up fixture in preparation for Super Rugby in 2014. The Bulls play the DHL Stormers in Polokwane.

In an interesting twist, the Bulls will also use the curtain raiser game between the Vodacom Blue Bulls and Golden Lions as part of their Super Rugby preparations, with a strong side which closely resmbles their Currie Cup side, to face the 2nd string Golden Lions outfit. This Bulls side will include the likes of Piet van Zyl at scrumhalf, Handré Pollard at flyhalf and a number of Bulls players who will see enough Super Rugby time in 2014.

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BullsAs the Super Rugby season draws nearer, the teams will be trying to get their injury lists as short as possible, to go into Super Rugby with real war machines.

At the Bulls it was last weak feared and speculated that the Bulls would go into the Stormers warm-up with 3 key players not available. That fear is now eased with the news that only one player, Morné Mellet, won’t be ready to play on the weekend.

The Bulls also expressed their confidence in their all-round props after last year’s Super Rugby season saw them struggle in the scrums at times.

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Super RugbyIn December 2013 and January 2014 we looked at Squad Contenders in the SA Super Rugby participating franchises. This tiime we will focus on the SA Conference Coaches for Super Rugby 2014.

We’ll have a look at all the head coaches and briefly their assistant staff, for the various South African Super Rugby franchises.

We look at their history and discuss their coaching styles and speculate about what can be expected.

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BullsDavid BullbringMorné MellettArno BothaThe Vodacom Bulls will be without three of their regulars when they take on the DHL Stormers in their only pre-season match in Polokwane on 1 February.

The Bulls will be missing the likes of Springbok Arno Botha, prop Morne Mellett and lock David Bulbring for the game, after the medical team decided to withdraw them from the clash ahead of a long and tough season that lies ahead.

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This is the 7th article in the series of Bulls Squad Contenders for Super Rugby 2014. We do 2 articles per week per South African Super Rugby participating franchise.

We discuss the players IN the Super Rugby Group, and not all the options beyond that.

In this Article we look at the contenders for MIDFIELD in the Vodacom Bulls 2014 Super Rugby group, and whether they could force their way into Bok contention.

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BullsFrans LudekeThe Vodacom Bulls will head into this year’s Vodacom Super Rugby series with only one warm-up game under their belts.

The Bulls, who will face the Stormers in their pre-season friendly in Polokwane on 1 February, have decided that this will be their only warm-up game to prepare for the Southern Hemisphere tournament.

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Super RugbySuper Rugby teams will step up their preparations for the upcoming season and shake off some rust in pre-season friendlies in the coming weeks.

Preparing for the gruelling Super Rugby tournament, which gets underway on 15 February and culminates on 2 August, is not an exact science.

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This is the 6th article in the series of Bulls Squad Contenders for Super Rugby 2014. We do 2 articles per week per South African Super Rugby participating franchise.

We discuss the players IN the Super Rugby Group, and not all the options beyond that.

In this Article we look at the contenders for FLYHALVES in the Vodacom Bulls 2014 Super Rugby group, and whether they could force their way into Bok contention.

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This is the 6th article in the series of Bulls Squad Contenders for Super Rugby 2014. We do 2 articles per week per South African Super Rugby participating franchise.

We discuss the players IN the Super Rugby Group, and not all the options beyond that.

In this Article we look at the contenders for SCRUMHALVES in the Vodacom Bulls 2014 Super Rugby group, and whether they could force their way into Bok contention.

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