Force give Bulls the Blues
The Blues hammered the Force to make the Super 14 semi-final.
The Blues won 33-6, scoring the fourth-try bonus point in injury time. It means they will have to wait until the Bulls play to see where their semi-final will be. At this stage the odds must favour a trip to Christchurch. But in a weekend with all sorts of twists, the Blues could still end 2nd, third or fourth, depending on the outcome of the Sharks and Bulls matches.
The Bulls have to beat the Reds with a bonus point to push for a top two place. To overtake the Crusaders they have to beat the Reds by 70-plus points. Victory by 40-plus will mean they finish third and the Blues slip to fourth.
All this of course can only happen if the Sharks beat the Stormers. If the Sharks lose this match they could end up fourth and have to travel to Christchurch.
True to form, this tournament’s final placings will be decided in the last match, as it was last year when the Bulls had to beat the Stormers by 30-plus points in Cape Town. They did this in winning 43-10.
The Blues were a transformed team from that which stumbled through South Africa. In Perth they physically dominated the Force pack, something they could not do in South Africa.
With this front foot ball and the return of Luke McAlister at inside centre, the result was never in doubt.
McAlister’s presence galvanised the backline, and his three penalties and two conversions ensured that the Force were always playing catch up. But the Auckland franchise will still have to make significant improvements if they are to be considered serious title contenders.
They did show glimpses of the incisive backline play that had them firmly entrenched at the top of log for majority of tournament. Their first try, a breakout from their 22m in which Isa Necwa, McAlister and Ice Toeava played a central role, saw Rudi Wulf profit after a couple of phases had depleted the defence.
But the Blues struggled to penetrate thereafter, and at one stage one could be forgiven for forgetting that this was a team in need of a bonus-point victory. They spurned opportunities in good positions through poor handling, which wasn’t aided by steady rain. To the Forces’ credit they did defend well. When they slipped first-up hits their scramble defence was impressive.
In addition to their impotence with ball in hand, the Blues simply failed to find their range off the boot. They sort to play down in the Force half early on but instead simply gave the back three the opportunity to counterattack.
The Perth franchise failed to capitalise though, their kicks routinely finding grateful Blues catchers. If it was a tactic to keep the ball alive in the hope that they could force errors off the kick return, it failed. Their chasing line never put any significant pressure on the catcher allowing them to clear easily or break the first line of defence. That however was simply one in a multitude of flaws.
The Blues defensive line speed forced their backline crossfield, while the Auckland franchise’s superb defence around the scrum, ruck and maul fringe never allowed the Force to generate any momentum there.
The Blues dominance of the tackle situation gave them the ascendancy at the breakdown. This meant that the service to Matt Giteau was slow and often scrappy, which never allowed the Force pivot to get his back division going.
When he did produce moments of brilliance, his support runners were simply on a different wavelength.
The Blues led 13-6 at the break, and extended that to 10 points when McAlister sunk a close- range penalty early in the second-half. The Force made just one meaningful foray into the red zone in the half, despite a couple of promising linebreaks from Scott Staniforth and Digby Ione.
John Afoa and Keven Mealamu struck within five minutes of each other to effectively end the contest. The latter’s try was highly contentious, with Ali Williams receiving a new ball from the ball boy, and taking a quick throw to the All Black hooker who ran in as the Force ambled to the lineout. Neither referee Jonathan Kaplan nor his touch judge picked up the incident.
Tony Woodcock then crossed after the siren to secure the all important bonus point that sent the Blues into the semi-final.
By Ryan Vrede
Force – Penalties: Matt Giteau (2)
Blues – Tries: Rudi Wulf, John Afoa, Keven Mealamu and Tony Woodcock. Conversions: Luke McAlister (2), Penalties: McAlister (3)
May 4th, 2007 at 4:43 pm
Umb…
I was thinking exactly the same thing. If the Sharks win and top the log the bulls I think would rather be 4th than 3rd and so they might well produce quite a boring game against the Reds because they won’t want to win by too much. I think what might happen is they will play flat out at first and see whether it is possible to beat the Reds by 70+, when they realise they can’t they’ll slow down and make sure they don’t win by too much which will be quite boring. If I was a Bull I would much rather play a semi in Durban than in Christchurch.
May 4th, 2007 at 4:44 pm
#25 the imbalance as you say is that the Sharks have won more games than the Saders and don’t lead. Im not sure that bonus points should carry so much weight.
May 4th, 2007 at 4:46 pm
If I was a Bull I would also want the Sharks to win, because as I said above the, a semi against the Sharks is much easier than against either the Blues or Crusaders in New Zealand. If the Sharks lose they will be in 4th spot and the Bulls would have to finish 1st on the log in order to play them which is virtually impossible.
May 4th, 2007 at 4:47 pm
#51 I agree, a flat out first half to check out their chances, then play accordingly in the second.
May 4th, 2007 at 4:48 pm
disgree 16 and 19
agree with 20
for once Kaplan did the Bulls a big favour by letting the Blues get a bonus point.
As things currently stand the Bulls just need to win to get a semi
Assuming the Sharks win, they don’t want to travel to NZ for the semi, so it is better for Bulls to end 4th and play semi in Durbs
They will achieve that if they beat Reds without bonus point or with bonus point (provided they win by no more than 46 points in the latter instance).
So the Bulls can hammer the Reds tomorrow as long as they don’t beat them by more than 46 points. Then off to Durbs we go next week, playing against a Sharks team that has to go all out against the Stormers
apart from first or second on the log and getting a home semi, ending fourth is by far the better option for the Bulls
May 4th, 2007 at 4:48 pm
Have I got this right?
Likely outcome with a Sharks and Bulls win tommorrow:
Sharks play Bulls in Natal? 1st vs 4th?
Saders play Blues in Jade? 2nd vs 3rd?
If Sharks win, then Kiwi side goes to Shark tank
If Bulls win and Saders win, Bulls go to Jade?
May 4th, 2007 at 4:48 pm
#47 They beat the Crusaders once before.
May 4th, 2007 at 4:53 pm
Even though it was 27-26 at home, the Crusaders let it slip. And should never have lost. The Sharks therefore should never have one, yet they did. I wouldnt say the Saders are playing any better now that they have their AB’s back. So home or away, the Sharks have a pretty good shot at it.
May 4th, 2007 at 4:53 pm
#56
That’s why South Africa’s best chance of a side winning the competition is if the Sharks win their semi. The Bulls going to Jade, well we all know what will happen, history will repeat itself.
May 4th, 2007 at 5:10 pm
#59- ideally, the Bulls will beat the REds by 44 and the Sharks win too. Then the bulls can go soften the Saders up for the Sharks in a final at Kings park.
Nett result if all that happened – Springbok rugby wins!
May 4th, 2007 at 5:14 pm
And for SA rugby to win, the Stormers have to lay low tomorrow.
May 4th, 2007 at 5:14 pm
Another good point, whoever plays the bulls in the semis is going to be softened up. Maybe it will be good for the bulls to go make right for last year. Besides the Crusaders aren’t looking that hot at the moment.
May 4th, 2007 at 5:15 pm
#61
Agreed, but they are good at that. Remember how they laid low for the bulls last year in the final round.
May 4th, 2007 at 5:21 pm
Why oh why did the Bulls loose against the Force in the third round? If Vic only chose to kick for the posts and win the Force match first, they could have ended top of the log!
May 4th, 2007 at 5:29 pm
Tjorts
You’re forgetting that the Sharks are going to end top of the log and that extra point wouldn’t have been enough for the Bulls. They would have finished second though.
May 4th, 2007 at 5:32 pm
If you wanna be a champion go over and play the Saders and beat them, they are not super humans and the Chiefs showed how-passion
May 4th, 2007 at 5:36 pm
Hobbo, the Sharks first have to beat the Stormers, and the Stormers have kind of started to gel lately. A Sharks win tomorrow is not a given and I think the Stormers may just do to the Sharks what the Chiefs did to the Saders. The Reds may pull the upset of the tournament, but it is highly unlikely given the Bulls present form.
May 4th, 2007 at 5:48 pm
Dont forget, the sharks have not been in a semi in super rugby for a long time. At CC level they could not go further than the semi’s for a long time. They do not have the mental strenght and crack under pressure. The Bulls are our best chance. In fact an ideal situation for the Bulls would be Bulls and Sharks semi.They can take that and give it all to win the final away.
May 4th, 2007 at 5:50 pm
Also don’t forget, the bulls have never won a semi, the sharks have done that twice.
May 4th, 2007 at 5:51 pm
FLIP the bulls will win against the Reds but I cannot see them going for a 40 pointer and having to travel down to Christchurch. They will engineer a trip down to Durbs to meet the mighty Sharks
Comment by side_show_bob : May 4, 2007 @ 3:13 pm
Spot on dude, or beat the Reds by 71. We know they can do it. The sharks are the easy beats though.
May 4th, 2007 at 6:06 pm
“The sharks are the easy beats though”
What are you smoking buddy. If anyone is an easy beat at the moment I would say its the Jaded Blues.
May 4th, 2007 at 6:45 pm
the bull can score more tries they have players with more meat.
May 4th, 2007 at 7:14 pm
Man oh man, Kaplan has a gift to spoil any game he officiates.
I hope this is the last time we see him in this year’s tournament.
May 4th, 2007 at 9:27 pm
#6 — “Bare with us”? Put your clothes back on, fellas. You’re frightening the computers.
(The things one has to bear these days, hey?)
May 4th, 2007 at 9:29 pm
#72 — Pity that Bull meat is mostly located between their ears, hey?
May 4th, 2007 at 9:34 pm
Hows the Crusade going this morning tackles?
May 4th, 2007 at 11:19 pm
71: Hobo: The blues earned a fine win in Perth, be careful about you assess these guys at the moment, nothing more embarrassing for an SA to talk his team up and then come crashing down.
This is the business end of a tournament, and as such, winning, be it ugly or not, is the key point.
The sharks should not have left their fate to others either, they should have wrapped this up against the Chiefs a couple of weeks ago, that game showed how dynamic they are not, and how a team who has pure pace out wide can cut them to ribbons.
Additionally, the Bulls may have played their best game last week – how often have you seen teams perform at the same level consistently – very few is the answer.
Be confident sure, but be be careful and humble.
May 5th, 2007 at 2:09 am
Now lets summmerise:
Chiefs over Saders——Perfect.
Blues over Force…….Perfect.
Now go the Stormers, All NZ wish you well. Luke the Halfling to score 3 tries today.
May 5th, 2007 at 3:40 am
Tackles – spell-check on cane please!
May 5th, 2007 at 3:45 am
45 Sharks to easily beat the Crusaders – didn’t the Chiefs do that to the Sharks? The Sharks only beat the Crusaders in the last minutes in Durban so I doubt that they would get away with twice – especially now the Crusaders have lost 2 in a row.
Whether Reds can show any pride remains to be seen – they have been **** nearly all season and as for The Stormers can they do a Chiefs remains to be seen.
May 5th, 2007 at 5:32 am
what happened to this site yesterday?
May 5th, 2007 at 6:45 am
It went Zim Dollar.
May 5th, 2007 at 7:14 am
morning people, an exciting day! up early for a surf, then 3 games in a row from 3pm, concluding a great super 14 round robin. what more could u ask for?
May 5th, 2007 at 7:28 am
morning Kners – eishh that surfthingie sounds great!
May 5th, 2007 at 7:36 am
#78 cane…u missed out one more there
reds to do one over bulls….super super perfect!
May 5th, 2007 at 7:52 am
if the Crusaders end up going to Durban, I’d back them by 12 points. If the Blues go there, 8.
Bulls would beat the Blues again if they had to play but would lose against the Crusaders
just my zim dollars worth
May 5th, 2007 at 8:25 am
This has all been messed up by the Blues getting a bonus point. Two Australian teams conspiring!!!
May 5th, 2007 at 10:06 am
damn waratahs are upsetting tanas farewell too, …
so the brumbies got the bonus, need the reds to strike a light for them, can’t see it
love to see the Stormers canter home though, can’t see it mind you.
May 5th, 2007 at 10:09 am
can’t see much can I
more beer please
May 5th, 2007 at 1:49 pm
Great win to the Blues I hope you guys can go one step more make the final then your in with a chance I believe all the teams are so close and any team on their day can beat who ever and Home advantage is a bonus which I guess the Blues wont have, but you made the playoffs which is a very good season.GO THE BLUES