Victor Matfield
The Vodacom Bulls, fresh off a narrow loss to the DHL Stormers this past weekend, next face the ever-improving Emirates Lions, at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria on Saturday in the last Super Rugby match of the weekend.
It appears as though regular captain Pierre Spies is under the weather and will therefor sit out of the clash, with Victor Matfield back from Springbok rest and injury recovery set to take over the captaince helm for the vital match.
Meanwhile head coach Frans Ludeke is still moaning and groaning about the difficult laws and interpreations of those laws by the Super Rugby Referees.
Matfield set to captain:
Springbok veteran Victor Matfield won’t only be back to help the Vodacom Bulls try and save their season this weekend, he’s likely to lead them into battle as well.
Matfield will return from a knee injury that kept him out of action for a month at a crucial stage of the season, and will need to apply both his leadership and experience immediately to a side that has been rocked by the narrow loss to the DHL Stormers last weekend.
So close are things in the South African conference at the moment that the Bulls need to beat the Emirates Lions this weekend if they are to have a hope of making the Vodacom Super Rugby playoffs.
If they don’t they may find themselves 3rd in the conference and struggling to make the Top 6 after what could be considered a fairly decent season thus far.
The margins of error seem to be getting smaller between the teams and the Bulls have an uphill struggle as they still need to tour overseas while the other sides have completed their away fixtures for the season.
But as the Bulls always say, they can only take it “week-for-week” and that means winning the contest that they have to face at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.
And since Matfield and fellow Springbok Jan Serfontein last played for the side, they have lost tight contests against the Emirates Lions and DHL Stormers, both away from home while grabbing a win in Durban and at home against the Reds.
Every point the Bulls can pick up now will be crucial, hence the decision to rush the Springbok lock back into action.
“He’s a crucial part of our game and our decision-making and leadership, and what he brings to the game as well, so it’s good to have him back,” coach Frans Ludeke said on Matfield’s return.
Matfield will also lead the side as Pierre Spies is under the weather and is set to be rested this week. Deon Stegmann will also be on the sidelines this weekend, meaning a new loose trio will be chosen.
Ludeke is likely to keep Jacques du Plessis at No 7, with the hard-working duo of Arno Botha and Lappies Labuschagne being inserted at No 8 and No 6 respectively.
Trevor Nyakane will likely be at loosehead prop, with Dean Greyling paying for his indiscretions at the scrum this past weekend, while Serfontein will hopefully be back at inside centre.
The Springbok midfielder has been included in the team in the last 2 weeks, only to withdraw on both occasions, 1st with a hip flexor and then in Cape Town with a hamstring strain, but the Bulls are hopeful this week he will be fine.
“I’m confident he will make it this week. He has had a great 2 weeks, only to pull up on the final day and credit to him as well that he sacrificed the opportunity to play. He’s not a selfish player, he wants the best for the team and hopefully this weekend he will be fine,” Ludeke explained.
The Bulls coach says while Burger Odendaal has done a fine job standing in for Serfontein, the Springbok has always been 1st in the pecking order and it was an easy decision to choose him.
“I must say it’s an easy decision. We need all of them, it’s about good communication and backing Jan also – he has done a good job for us. And then it is about playing for the team – horses for courses – and who we are going to need going forward. This weekend it is vital for Jan to come in and do what he does. He has a huge workrate and is solid on defence, those are the things that we need him to do.”
The Bulls will announce their team on Thursday.
Scrums a grey area – Ludeke:
Scrums are increasingly becoming a grey area that must be sorted out, according to Vodacom Bulls coach Frans Ludeke.
Ludeke reacted after being asked about his side’s scrum issues, which again proved costly this past weekend in their Vodacom Super Rugby match against the DHL Stormers in Cape Town.
The Bulls lost a close game but gave away at least 9 points in the scrums, and even though they had rectified their issues by the 2nd half, they never received the reward from referee Jaco Peyper.
Ludeke was frustrated at this, but took responsibility for their failings in the 1st half, where prop Dean Greyling was repeatedly penalized for not keeping his bind.
Greyling is likely to pay the price this week and be dropped for the game against the Emirates Lions – a match the Bulls must win if they are to have any say in the playoffs of this year’s competition.
Ludeke said after watching the tape again, he could not fault Peyper’s decisions in the 1st half, but that the Bulls didn’t get the reward in the 2nd half for their scrum when the replacements were on.
Unfortunately it seemed that Peyper had already made up his mind in the 2nd half about who was infringing and allowed the Stormers to set incorrectly and scrum in, especially when Ollie Kebble came on.
Ludeke said the problem was that every scrum is a potential penalty, and players often don’t know which way a referee is going to rule when a scrum goes down.
“Obviously there are things that we need to take responsibility for, and we will definitely. Binding issues, keeping straight, keeping your weight up, those are issues we can sort out,” Ludeke said.
“It’s a battle, and that means it is a battle for referees as well. It is a little bit of a grey area to be honest, every scrum can go anywhere. It mustn’t be like that and it is a pity that the game is going in that direction.
“It is an area that we need to look at. We don’t want to lose a game because of a scrum, especially not a final or a semifinal, or a vital game like we had on the weekend. But first of all we need to sort out stuff out, and we need to be more accurate.”
There has been a lot of introspection from the Bulls since Saturday, and an acceptance that they were wrong in a large part of the contests. That they need to take responsibility for and realise that the problems they had weren’t ones that haven’t happened before.
Greyling has been pinned for not keeping his bind over the years and is a serial offender, and in terms of their selection for the game, the Bulls got it wrong.
It also means they need to keep a more consistent approach to Trevor Nyakane and keeping him on one side of the scrum, not moving him around between loosehead and tighthead week for week.
Nyakane is likely to start this weekend, and will be watched, especially as the Lions have a strong scrum and will be targeting the Bulls up front. But the Springbok has been more than impressive this year and is currently one of the standout players for the Bulls, so he should be able to hold his own.
Ludeke said he had respect for the refs, and wasn’t blaming Peyper, but called for more clarity about decisions.
“If you look at the game I thought it was a tough contest from both sides. We had 10 resets and he didn’t want to guess. That is fair enough. It’s definitely an area we want to sort out. We need to see what we can do to help them.”
The Bulls need to beat the Lions on Saturday, not only to give themselves a shot at the playoffs, but to keep in touch with the Stormers at the Top of the South African conference.
@ grootblousmile:
jy het kop slaan, oor byt ,deep heat op die skof,kort arm bind, broeksak skeur,gorrel stamp,skewe kop scrum en kieliebak haar trek vergeet
28 @ smallies:
Dean Greyling het paar jaar terug sommer heeltemal verby sy opponent geskrum, sy kop sommer langs die ou se nier… en op, soos jy sê!
As ek sy haker was, het ek sy koffie vergiftig, en heavy ook, want die opponent vaskop kry so die geleentheid om in te skrum op die haker, sodat hy effektiewelik 2 ouens het wat teen hom neerkom en nooit so sy regtervoet kan gebruik om te haak nie.
Dis nou nie meer so erg nie, maar ou habits die hard… en sy tegniek is swak man, uiters swak.
re: MB’s “Ou Dean was heeltemal verneder, daai arme ou het nie meer geweet waar om sy kop weg te steek nie”, & my subsequent reference to a Namibian WP/Stormers prop:
I was thinking of Wicus Blaauw – you guys remember him? My apologies to Wicus, I for a moment confused Wicus with Tommie, & Wicus is not deceased.
As regards, e.g. Werner Kruger, whenever I see Werner, I keep visualising a mental picture of Wicus Blaauw totally destroying Werner in the scrum. Also, Ollie Kebble, I looked with disbelief at him scrumming on Saturday, because whenever he jogs onto the field I see this mental picture of Kebble jnr. being destroyed in the scrum during the Junior World Cup. Ditto for John Smit who as a then hooker had to regularly double as prop at Test level with bad results for him & the Bokke. There are many incidents such as this. But sometimes the roles are reversed, & the vanquished become the conquerors. Did that not happen to the Beast vs. the B & I Lions? Even Dok Jannie’s scrummaging performance is inconsistent.
I think we should cut props some slack (it is a tough, ungrateful job & there is no place to hide), but then (unlike Dean) they should at least sometimes get the better of an opponent. 🙂
ungrateful = thankless
33 @ Angostura:
Old Wicus Blaauw always reminded me of the Toy Story hero… what’shisname Captain Fantastic or something.
Hy was maar ‘n ander useless ou moepel, daai ene!
I like this NZ site for their match stats
I can’t believe Spies had the most tackles 😯
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/rugby/match.cfm?season=2015&competition=205&match=515116
@ Victoriabok:
Spies het n moerse game gehad, Duane was maar net beter.
37… Eerlikwaar, was dit maar net daai laaste afstorm wat die in Duane se guns geswaai het, altwee was puik gewees Saterdag.
Spies is an improved player (I can’t believe I said that 🙂 )
Nothing beats competition, eh?
@ Angostura:
Indeed, I dont think I would rest Spies now, he is getting some good momentum going.
Angostura wrote:
fixed it for you 😉
Victoriabok wrote:
I am with you there. The Bulls scrum has been poor for some time now. The opposing teams know it, the refs know it and worst of all the Bulls players know it.
Greyling is a poor scrummager and doesn’t deserve a starting spot. Surely the Bulls have a younger player out of the U21’s (that won the CC last year) that they can play??
What about all those WP players that they bought a few years ago??
Stormersboy wrote:
The Bulls have the Bok 2nd choice loosehead (occasionally) playing for them as a tighthead – they really don’t have to resort to a loosehead freshly out of u/21.
Angostura wrote:
Well they have to try something different
MacroBull wrote:
Neeman,
you TRANSLATE incorrectly, & quote me OUT OF CONTEXT … 😀
Angostura wrote:
OK so there’s Trevor, and then?
Stormersboy wrote:
Why? Why not play the Trev at loosehead? Did they recruit him with the view to changing him into a tighthead? Did they tell him that? Trev is never going to be a Bok tighthead, but he is the reserve Bok loosehead. Why fcuk up his Bok prospects?
43 @ Angostura:
The problem is that the Bulls have 3 Loosehead props (Trevor Nyakane, Morné Mellett & Dean Greyling), but only 2 Tighthead props – since Frik Kirsten had to retire due to medical grounds (Marcel van der Merwe & Werner Kruger)… and with Werner Kruger on a longer term injury… one of the 3 Loosehead props have had to move over to play Tighthead prop.
Not all Looseheads can play Tighthead at all, and that is the case with both Mellett and Dean Greyling… so Trevor was the only real solution to move over.
Add to that some injuries to backup props and it complicated things further.
Maybe, just maybe Dean Greyling’s longer term solution would be to convert slowly but surely (in a Vodacom Cup environment) to a Tighthead prop, as on that side he would not be able to scrum past his opposition Tighthead prop, thus maybe solving a vital scrumming shortcoming of his.
Stormersboy wrote:
The topic of discussion is the starting loosehead, not the reserve: but any of Mellett, Greyling or any other loosehead (& they’ll have several) that they have on their books can be reserve loosehead.
grootblousmile wrote:
The Bulls have more tightheads than that – but they don’t give them a break, same as they did to their Junior Bok opensiders when Steggies was injured & Jono got the nod instead.
The Bulls for instance have a Junior Bok tighthead, Dayan van der Westhuizen, on their books.
Is he a worse prop than Dean? I don’t know, but if he is, the question arises why did the Bulls recruit him & all the others that get no look-in?
50 @ Angostura:
I was disappointed with Dayan van der Westhuizen’s performances in the Varsity Cup for Tuks, to be perfectly honest.
Anyway, I think we all agree Dean Greyling is a sub-standard Loosehead scrummager and a penalty machine, and has been for a number of seasons.
In the longer run, the Bulls will have to find / develop 2 good Tightheads… as Werner Kruger is also not what he used to be.
Hopefully Dean Greyling and Werner Kruger… and hopefully Jurgen Visser & JJ Engelbrecht do us all a favour and also do a Jono Ross… by leaving to go play abroad… so that Frans Ludeke cannot possibly pick them week after week.
I’m out for the night.
Goeie nag, slaap sag!
Coaches who had a hand in the recruitment of certain players, can’t “drop” them if they suck…..it’s an admittance that they contracted like their arse.
The same way HM (or any Bok coach) is stuck with the Boks whom he offered a contract.
In real extreme cases, like JJ, they might ignore one player, but collectively the bulk will be in the squad, irrespective of current form.
The only SA coach who can be excused for sitting with shit is Gary Glitter….the current crop do Sharks were already contracted and he inherited them…..what is even worse for him is that he even inherited a bunch of useless schoolboy coaches as his assistants.
Angostura wrote:
So you will start Trevor every game then?
Wikipedia reports that Bulls have the following props on their books, 20 in all:
Neethling Fouché
Dean Greyling
Werner Kruger
Morné Mellett
Trevor Nyakane
Marcel van der Merwe
Dayan van der Westhuizen
Hencus van Wyk
Johan Bannink
Matthys Basson
Andrew Beerwinkel
Jan Enslin
Justin Forwood
Du Toit Genis
Stefaan Grundlingh
Njabula Gumede
Primo Ncube
Basil Short
Johan van Wyk
Xander van Wyk
Most of them I do not know, & I assume some of them may be with the Junior Bokke, but even so, is there not even 1 tighthead capable of understudying Marcel vdM & not even 1 loosehead up for it to replace Greyling or Mellet as loosehead?
If that is the case then the Bulls are surely just wasting money & destroying potential careers recruiting all these players while they have no intention of playing them at SR level, even in an emergency? What future do they have at the Bulls when a failure like Dean gets selected match after match?
BTW, are Hencus van Wyk, Andrew Beerwinkel & Basil Short injured (genuine question)?
And who are the Bulls regular Vodacom Cup props? Is there nobody with SR potential?
**
Anyway, I shouldn’t shoot off my mouth – the Sharks have recruited Matt Stevens – what a waste of money & opportunity for a younger player.
Stormersboy wrote:
No not all, but most games – I’ll treat him in much the same way as A Strauss is treated, or most other important players at most other franchises.
BTW, what are your thoughts about all the games Kitshoff started, & will still start in the remainder of the competition?
I’m out – nice chatting – g’nite
Angostura wrote:
We are weak at loosehead cover, with Allister Vermaak and Ollie Kebble not being up to snuff IMO, so AC plays Steven as much as possible, but thankfully he is pretty robust, although he will be leaving at the end of the season.
@ nortie:
“Coaches who had a hand in the recruitment of certain players, can’t “drop” them if they suck…..it’s an admittance that they contracted like their arse.
The same way HM (or any Bok coach) is stuck with the Boks whom he offered a contract.”
Let the truth be spoken.
Unfortunately for you, as a “konstabel”, your truth won’t go far. Some people will still believe “their” truth.
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