Bulls make it a 2009 double
Sat, 31 Oct 2009 19:19
Double delight: Bryan Habana said goodbye to Loftus with two tries
The Blue Bulls became only the second South African team to secure a Super Rugby and Currie Cup double, when they held off a strong Free State Cheetahs comeback to win 36-24 at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.
In adding the Currie Cup title to their Super 14 crown, they joined the 1993 Transvaal team that won the Super 10 and Currie Cup titles.
But perhaps the 2009 exploits are far more impressive, considering the advances in the game.
What a match! What a wonderful match! What energy, intensity, excitement, adventure, skill - all things romantic! It was a match played in nonstop noise in the blue bullring that is Loftus Versfeld and the noise continued and continued after the final whistle and after the ceremonies. To do it justice is not possible in the words man has. It is a match to keep and savour - the fastest 80 minutes of rugby this year.
Pretoria had become more intensely blue from the time that it was known that the 2009 Currie Cup Final would be at Loftus Versfeld. Early on Monday the ticket office opened and early on Monday the place was sold out. It is jacaranda time in Pretoria, and the trees were decked in blue. The supporters wore blue. Their flags was blue. There was blue ice cream for sale and blue boerewors and blue biltong. And in the end the blue was brighter than ever as the tickertape came down, the songs rose into the night air and the champagne went up as the team that deserved all accolades celebrated.
The Blue Bulls deserve all praise. As the Bulls they massacred the Chiefs in the Super 14 Final. As an important component of the Springboks they beat the B&I Lions and won the Tri-Nations and trophies attendant on those victories, and now they have the Currie Cup, the trophy they most desire and which they have made a part of their culture. They were again referred to as "the best team in the world".
Victor Matfield won the toss when Adriaan Strauss called tails, and the Free State Cheetahs kicked off but not before there was a short silence in memory of Basie Vivier, the oldest living Springbok captain at the time of his death who had played for both Northern Transvaal and the Orange Free State in his day.
From the start the Free State Cheetahs ran. Ashley Johnson charged and then there was an overlap for Danwel Demas. The opening salvo lasted more than a minute and a half and stopped because of a little knock-on. That is how the half racketed along. The Free State Cheetahs had something like 80 percent possession in the half and over 80 percent of the territory but the Blue Bulls were the ones who scored the points.
That first scrum was significant because of the nerves the Blue Bulls supporters had about their team's ability to stand up to the Free State Cheetahs trio, but the Blue Bulls were clever - the ball shot in and shot out again.
From their own territory the Blue Bulls attacked with Pierre Spies and then on the break Wynand Olivier making long metres. Morné Steyn carried it on and just when it seemed that Derick Kuün would score, Lionel Mapoe flattened him. The Free State Cheetahs were penalised and immediately Fourie du Preez tapped and kicked a long diagonal across the posts to François Hougaard who caught the ball and dropped down for the try. 7-0 after three minutes.
The Blue Bulls would score another two tries and in each of them there was the calm, skilled hand of Du Preez. But before the next try the Free State Cheetahs had good moments as Adriaan Strauss charged and Jean-Louis Potgieter, who missed a sitter of a penalty, broke. The Free State Cheetahs had had three scrums five metres from the Blue Bulls line and three times they went for a push-over try and three times they failed. Then Meyer Bosman, who had an otherwise excellent game, dropped the ball. Dewald Potgieter snatched it up and there was Kirchner racing down the left. He passed a horrible pass inside which Du Preez managed to hold onto and then transfer to Bryan Habana who raced away for a try, smiling broadly. 14-0 after 14 minutes.
This match was fascinating for the way the Blue Bulls won turnovers at tackles when that was supposed to be the preserve of Heinrich Brüssow. Deon Stegmann won a turnover and Du Preez chipped over the tackle/ruck thing into empty space. Habana raced after the ball, outsprinted JP Joubert, collected the bounce and scored far out on the left. Inevitably Steyn converted. 21-0 after 17 minutes.
One side had possession and territory, the other side the points.
Jacques-Louis Potgieter was penalised when the assistant referee reported him for kneeing an opponents and Steyn goaled from inside his own half and not far from touch. 24-0 after 25 minutes.
The Free State Cheetahs looked dead and buried. The final of the Super 14 loomed large but the Cheetahs were not Chiefs. Inside their jerseys they had embroidered "The Greatest Comeback". They could come back as the Chiefs could not, and they came back by playing with the ball in hand. In the first half, which was livelier than the second half, probably because no mortals could keep up such pace and intensity, the Blue Bulls threw the ball into only two line-outs.
First Bosman and Daniller combined well on attack. Then at a penalty against Stegmann and Habana the Free State Cheetahs tapped and bashed with Brüssow and WP Nel prominent till Frans Viljoen forced his way past and through Dewald Potgieter, Spies and Matfield to score. 24-7 after 31 minutes.
From the kick-off the Free State Cheetahs started running from two metres from their line. They went wide to the right with Mapoe racing away. The strong, young wing kicked ahead and chased as the Blue Bulls scampered back and Spies knocked the ball back from the field over his dead-ball line.
From the resultant five-metre scrum, the Free State Cheetahs bashed again and Du Preez was penalised for side entry. The Free State tapped and Brüssow gave a quick and perfect pass to Corné Uys who scored in the right corner. 24-14 after 35 minutes. But they spoiled things just before half-time when Jacques-Louis Potgieter dropped an easy, no-pressure high kick from Kirchner. The ball was worked to Steyn and he dropped a soaring goal.
That made the half-time score 27-14. The half had flown by.
The second half was more sedate.
Early in the half Jacques-Louis Potgieter was penalised at a tackle and Steyn made it 30-14 after 43 minutes. In the next 37 minutes the Blue Bulls scored only six points.
When the Free State Cheetahs destroyed a Blue Bulls scrum Brüssow got possession and gave to Nico Breedt on his left and the lock went over in the corner. 30-21 after 45 minutes and three minutes later Jacques-Louis Potgieter dropped a goal. 30-24 with 32 minutes to play.
Was this yet another great comeback for the Bloemfonteiners?
Steyn kicked a long drop-out after a misdirected diagonal kick and Spies and Habana chased, catching Jacques-Louis Potgieter who was penalised. 33-24 and then with 13 minutes to play Steyn closed the scoring when Richardt Strauss misbehaved in touch.
Not long before the end Richardt Strauss had rude things to say to the assistant referee and this time he was sent to the sin bin.
The Free State Cheetahs kept trying to attack but two attacks produced two turnovers and then Du Preez kicked the ball out to start the speeches and presentations and great glee in Pretoria where blue was just the most heavenly colour on earth.
One of the important factors contributing to the speed and excitement of the game was the speed with which the ball became available from tackles, which was probably thanks to the teams and their willingness to comply with what the referee wanted.
The results was one of the greatest Currie Cup Finals of all time.
Man of the Match: There were many great performances in this stunning match but our Man of the Match is cool, calm, skilled, effective Fourie du Preez who played a vital part in all three of his side's tries and he made it look so simple.
Moment of the Match: Probably the first of the Blue Bulls' tries. The penalty was easily kickable but calmly Fourie du Preez picked up the ball, tapped, took two steps to his right and kicked a perfect foot pass to François Hougaard about 25 metres away. It showed the way both sides wanted to play.
Villain of the Match: There were some moments of minor niggle but Richardt Strauss took it too far, first grabbing Deon Stegmann, then disputing a free kick when a line-out throw did not go five metres and then being rude to the assistant referee, thus earning a yellow card.
The scorers:
For the Blue Bulls:
Tries: Hougaard, Habana 2
Cons: Steyn 3
Pens: Steyn 4
DG: Steyn
For the Free State Cheetahs:
Tries: Viljoen, Uys, Breedt
Cons: Potgieter 3
DG: Potgieter
Yellow card: Richardt Strauss (Free State Cheetahs, 74 - verbals towards match officials)
Teams:
Blue Bulls: 15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Francois Hougaard, 13 Jaco Pretorius, 12 Wynand Olivier, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Morné Steyn, 9 Fourie du Preez, 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Dewald Potgieter, 6 Deon Stegmann, 5 Victor Matfield (captain), 4 Bakkies Botha, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 Derick Kuün, 1 Gurthrö Steenkamp.
Replacements: 16 Bandise Maku, 17 Rossouw de Klerk, 18 Danie Rossouw, 19 Pedrie Wannenburg, 20 Heini Adams, 21 Burton Francis, 22
Gerhard van den Heever.
Free State Cheetahs: 15 Hennie Daniller, 14 Lionel Mapoe, 13 Corné Uys, 12 Meyer Bosman, 11 Danwel Demas, 10 Jacques-Louis Potgieter, 9 JP Joubert, 8 Ashley Johnson, 7 Frans Viljoen, 6 Heinrich Brüssow, 5 David de Villiers, 4 Nico Breedt, 3 WP Nel, 2 Adriaan Strauss (captain), 1 Wian du Preez.
Replacements: 16 Richardt Strauss, 17 Coenie Oosthuizen, 18 Izak van der Westhuizen, 19 Lukas Floors, 20 Tewis de Bruyn, 21 Louis Strydom, 22 Fabian Juries.
Referee: Jonathan Kaplan
Assistant referees: Pro Legoete, Cobus Wessels
TMO: Shaun Veldsman
Contact Us | Terms and Conditions | Privacy Policy | Advertising
