Top South African referee Craig Joubert has been rewarded with his first Vodacom Super 14 final, and the Bulls, of all people are rather happy with this. By Stephen Nel, sport24
While there may be some wry smiles when the appointment was announced – especially as the only two games the Bulls have lost this season have been reffed by Joubert – the Bulls made all the right noises when asked about the influence of the 31st man on the field this Saturday.
Joubert was particularly harsh on the Bulls at the breakdown in the game against the Blues – pinning Deon Stegmann five times and virtually reffing them out of the game in the first half, so much that they never recovered.
While it is true that champion teams should recover from any setback, the Bulls were off on the day and even though nobody will say it publicly, privately Joubert had a long session with the Bulls after the game and according to one or two team sources even admitted getting it wrong on one or two occasions.
The Reds game was no different as the Bulls again suffered at the breakdown and lost a game where they were outclassed.
It could be just coincidence that Joubert had the whistle for both games, as the Bulls looked jaded and had very little ball in both, looking far from the complete outfit they did in the rest of the competition.
Still, there will be more than just the odd mention of the officials in team talks this week, especially with the margin for error so small in a one-off 80 minute final.
Bulls captain Victor Matfield said there were no problems with Joubert, and it was up to the Bulls to make sure they didn’t give him anything to penalise them for.
“We’ve got a very good relationship with him and met with him after both games, receiving good feedback from him. He was also the referee at our pre-season game that helped us so we’re happy with him in the middle,” Matfield said. “The big thing is that it is up to us to win the game and in those two games we made it easy for him to penalise us for mistakes we made. We have to be much more disciplined this week.”
While at one stage even the SA Referees association was pointing out flanker Deon Stegmann’s indiscretions in those games, and it was felt that he was being victimised, the star flanker bounced back with some exceptional displays that other referees were fine with – including two big matches against the Crusaders, one of which where he overshadowed All Black captain Richie McCaw.
Stegmann’s contribution in the final match at Loftus Versfeld was exceptional at the breakdown and he has all the hallmarks similar to his long-time friend Heinrich Brussow. And adding to that, it is natural for openside flankers to live on the edge of the law, meaning that sometimes they will be pinned.
Bulls coach Frans Ludeke believes the young flanker has sorted out any problems he might have. In fact, the coach even went as far as suggesting that Joubert’s harsh calls were “a favour” for the Bulls.
“As Victor said, we had great feedback from the officials and we know we were at fault. We adjusted and in fact, Craig did us some favours in forcing us to become more accurate at the breakdown. We needed to look at our decision making and we have to be positive this weekend.”
Either way the pressure is on, not only for the two sets of forwards facing laws that are left open to interpretation, but to a referee who has proved himself the best in the Southern Hemisphere to be appointed to the final. As Ludeke rightly says, it is the team that will be more accurate on Saturday that will win. Both sides have in-form flyhalves, and rest assured, any indiscretions will be punished.
Oi, I hope the referee is a facilitator and not judge and jury and the difference in this game…
Think the situation was well handled by the Bulls.
Ref was harsh on the Bulls against the Blues…
Bulls were their own worst enemies against the Reds !!!
Think the ref should be fine. Well hope so !!!
He might bring our 30 point defecit down to only a 12 point victory!!! 😆
Well, what did you expect them to say: “Oh no, anyone but Joubert!”?
Ofcourse not, this is “lets suck up to ref before the game by calling him the best ref in the world and we are very happy we have him” time.
@ Hokaai:
Exactly !!!…so they’ve handled it well hey ? 🙄
hmmmmm, strange isnt it?
the only things coming out of the bulls supporters camp are excuses, excuses, excuses!!
its either bakkies
and/or
playing away from loftus
and/or
the ref!!
hmmmm, wonder whats next? 😉
anyway, its nice NOT TO BE THE FAVOURATE!! 😆
Ash
Buls by 12…
Your take ?
Ps. I’m being humble 😆
blouste @ 6
yip, so gesien. ekt skoon van my stoel af gedonner van skrik!!
stormers met 9 of minder!! sal in elk geval nie TE sleg voel as ons moet verloor nie!! dink bulls se ondervinding in hierdie soort games mag uiteindelik die verskil wees
maar nou ja
mens kan hoop, kan jy nie?
anyway, schalk SAL saterdag die beker omhoog hou
… al moet hy dan ook vir matfield omhoog hou wat op sy beurt die beker omhoog hou!! 😆
@ Ashley:
😆
@ Ashley:
Ash hul kry maar net als in orde, soos dit vir my lyk klink dit asof die bulls net moet opdaag en dan is die trofee gewen… Ja bulls is great span maar dit gaan nie n walk in the park is nie…
Iets moet mos die skuld kry as die bulls nie wen nie…..die vraag is net wie??
9@ Scrumsaam:
maak jou reg vir “bakkies wassie darie”!! 😀
9@ Scrumsaam:
As die Bulle iemand die skuld gaan gee is dit die Stormers wat hulle gaan beskuldig… dat hulle te goed gespeel het…. hehehe
Wens julle nie ook julle gaan daar wees soos ek nie?
Hahahaha
@ Scrumsaam:
As die Bulls nie wen nie sal dit net ons eie skuld wees dat ons , met ons kampioen span julle nie kon afstof nie. 😉
@ Ashley:
Of die Joubert faktor, as hy die hele tyd vir Stegmann straf beteken nie hy like die bulls nie al wat dit beteken is hy het nie tyd vir Stegmann…
Wonder of Schalk sy eerste geel gaan kry in die game ?
Ons almal weet hy kan nie een hele kompetisie deurgaan sonder ‘n kaart nie…
Dit sal sy reputasie in sy moer in stuur 😆
Wel al raad wat ek vir my Stormers het is gaan uit en geniet julself, en met dit bewys die hele wêreld verkeerd en flok die bulls op…
@ grootblousmile:
Jy is een lucky man, sal my voor tande gee om daar te wees…en dan is ek n Stormer supporter tot die mond……..
15 @ Scrumsaam:
😆
Landros : Gatiep waar is jy gebore ?
Gatiep : Innie Kaap djou onner…
Landros : Watter deel ?
Gatiep : My hele lyf djou onner… net die tanne kom van Gauteng af….
@ Blouste:Stem saam die pressure is op die bulls, stormers kan maar net die game geniet als gee en hoop die bulls flok so hard op dat ons wen, die trofee hou vir altyd en dan sal die stormers trofee kas nooit weer so leeg wees nie…
#16 BWAHAHA!!!! Disse classic Blouste, thanks….
@ fender:
😉
hierdie week gaan beslis ñ groot finansiële inspuiting vir die vir die inwoners van soweto wees, veral dié wat hul geldjies maak deur kunsmis te verkoop. hulle gaan beslis oorgenoeg werk volgende week hê vir die doodeenvoudige rede dat 22 bulle gaan KAK en hul hordes ondersteuners hulself gaan BEKAK!!
en
op daai KAK noot is ek eers uit!!
cheers!!
Ek haal iemand op ‘n ander site aan…
“…Stormers front row as firm as Julius under oath…”
Almost pissed myself laughing !!! 😆
@ Ashley:
Ja, KAK praat was nog altyd een van jou talente !!! 😉
Stormers team for final
******************************************************************************************
15 Joe Pietersen, 14 Gio Aplon, 13 Jaque Fourie, 12 Juan de Jongh, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Peter Grant, 9 Dewaldt Duvenage, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Francois Louw, 6 Schalk Burger (c), 5 Andries Bekker, 4 Adriaan Fondse, 3 Brok Harris, 2 Tiaan Liebenberg, 1 Wicus Blaauw.
Subs: 16 Deon Fourie, 17 JC Kritzinger, 18 Anton van Zyl, 19 Pieter Louw, 20 Ricky Januarie, 21 Willem de Waal, 22 Tim Whitehead.
@ Blouste:
Dis die name wat in die history boeke in gaan vir 2010 Super 14 Champs!!!!!
@ Scrumsaam:
They say if you stop to dream, you might just aswell stop to live…
So no offense taken 😉
And if you stop to live your a Zombie who supports the Bulls….
Hi all,been a bit quiet with being at work for a change 🙂 All I can say is that I think the Bulls will win by 15 or so,I say this because the Sharks killed the Stormers tight 5 and I’m pretty sure the Bulls will do the same,as a result the backline will get crap ball and the rest is history.. But the Stormers have better game breakers so anything is possible 🙂
26 @ Scrumsaam:
Come again 😕
No more mr.B-team 👿
😆
Stormers B-team will play this time, give our boks a brake…lol..
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