Brumbies – praag.org

Brumbies beat Bulls for final berth

A last minute try by Brumbies centre Tevita Kuridrani and a number of dubious decisions saw the Bulls go down 26-23 in their Super Rugby semi-final at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria on Saturday.

The battle among the forwards was always going to be the deciding factor in the match, with the tourists enjoying the upper-hand in this department for most of the match.

The first 10 minutes belonged to the Brumbies as they put 10 points on the board in this period to leave the Bulls reeling.

The Australians fired the opening salvo as inside centre Christian Leali’ifano succeeding with a penalty three minutes into the match.

The visitors further showed their intent to dominate the set phases as they out-muscled the Bulls in the first scrum of the match in the fifth minute, enforcing a penalty from a kickable position.

Leali’ifano pulled his penalty attempt to the right that would have given his team a psychological six-point lead early in the match.

The missed opportunity, however, came at a small price as they found their way over the whitewash three minutes later to score the first try of the evening.

Danger man Henry Speight lived up to his reputation as playmaker and showed up the Bulls’ defence.

When he was finally chased down, he managed to offload to fullback Jesse Mogg to score the try, with Leali’ifano converting, to extend their lead to 10 points.

The Bulls’ plight was further complicated with Steyn missing his first attempt at goal in the 14th minute.

Two minutes later the Bulls reduced the deficit when outside centre JJ Engelbrecht powered his way over the tryline, with Steyn’s attempt going wide of the posts.

The Bulls flyhalf finally found the target in the 22nd minute to bring his side within two points of the Brumbies.

However, the visitors pulled back another three points with Leali’ifano succeeding with his attempt, while the Bulls responded with three points of their own 10 minutes from the half-time break.

Leali’ifano had the final say in the first half with Leali’ifano bringing an end to the tit-for-tat kicking to hand his side a five-point lead going into the break.

The Bulls started the second period with great intent and came painstakingly close to scoring shortly after the kickoff with Grant Hattingh being held up over the line.

Steyn, however, gathered the three points through a penalty conversion to again get his side within two points of the Brumbies.

The Bulls flyhalf and Leali’ifano continued to exchange kicking duties two more times until the hosts took the lead for the first time in the match in the 51st minute when Steyn landed his sixth penalty of the game.

The plot, however, reached farcical levels as Bulls captain Dewald Potgieter opted to go for the sideline rather than going for the points on three occasions.

All three times the Bulls failed in their attempt to score from the lineout and it ultimately backfired for the Pretoria side.

Potgieter’s earlier doubtful decisions, however, came back to haunt him as Brumbies outside centre Tevita Kuridrani crossed the whitewash to silence the Loftus faithful, with Leali’ifano ending the match as he started it, with a conversion.

Scorers:

Bulls 23 (11): Tries: JJ Engelbrecht. Penalties: Morne Steyn (6).

Brumbies 26 (16): Tries: Jesse Mogg, Tevita Kuridani. Conversions: Christian Leali’ifano (2). Penalties: Leali’ifano (4). – sapa

Set pieces will determine outcome for Bulls: Potgieter

Dewald Potgieter giving the thumbs-up sign

Bulls captain Dewald Potgieter says his side will be looking for set-piece domination against the Brumbies in their Super Rugby semi-final at Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria on Saturday.

“The Brumbies play total rugby which is similar to the type of rugby we play and, given that it is a semi-final, the greatest aspect of play would be the set pieces,” Potgieter said.

“The team that dominates the set pieces will control possession and will play in the right areas for most of the match.”

Despite the Bulls’ home-ground advantage, there is little to choose between the two sides with the match likely to go down to the wire.

The stadium has done justice to its reputation as ‘Fort Loftus’, with the Bulls not losing a match there, so far, this year.

The three-time Super Rugby champions have also never lost a semi-final at their base and will be looking to win their fourth semi-final.

The Brumbies have lost their last three matches against the Bulls at Loftus with their last victory in the capital dating back to 2006.

Potgieter said the Bulls needed to be accurate at the breakdown area against the two-time champion Brumbies.

“They are a world class team in terms of the breakdowns as they do not only have one or two players committing to this area, but every single player attacks the breakdowns,” he said.

“It is important for us to secure the ball and enable guys like Hougie (Francois Hougaard) and Jano Vermaak to control the ball behind the breakdown and set pieces.”

While the Bulls have introduced a few rookies this season, the side has a sufficient number of seasoned campaigners with the experience of playing knockout matches.

Potgieter said the core of senior players within the team brought some calm, ahead of the match, which made his task as captain slightly easier.

“The fact that it is a semi-final makes my job easier and the magnitude of the occasion is not lost on the players,” he said.

“It is almost more important to remain calm in everything you say, and through the way you execute everything, because the youngsters look up to you.

“We are fortunate to have senior players who know you have to bring the energy when it matters. It doesn’t help to make a big deal out of it at the beginning of the week.”

The Brumbies, coached by former Springbok coach Jake White, have not played in a Super Rugby final in nine years and the Australians would be determined to ensure a final berth.

White is a wily tactician and would have done all his homework ahead of the match, and the Bulls will have to be spot-on in the execution of their game plan.

Bulls flyhalf Morne Steyn is pivotal in that plan and his performance on Saturday could — as often is the case — be a deciding factor.

“When one talks about the territory game, Morne is the guy you want at number 10 to lead the charge,” Potgieter said.

“He knows exactly what the team’s strengths are and how to bring them out in a match.

“It is important for your number nine and 10 to make the decisions and Morne is one of the best in the world in that department.”

The teams:

Bulls team: Zane Kirchner, Akona Ndungane, JJ Engelbrecht, Jan Serfontein, Bjorn Basson, Morne Steyn, Francois Hougaard, Dewald Potgieter (captain), Jacques Potgieter, Deon Stegmann, Grant Hattingh, Flip van der Merwe, Werner Kruger, Chiliboy Ralepelle, Dean Greyling. Replacements: Callie Visagie, Frik Kirsten, Morne Mellett, Paul Willemse, Jono Ross, Jano Vermaak, Jürgen Visser.

Brumbies team: Jesse Mogg, Henry Speight, Tevita Kuridrani, Christian Lealiifano, Clyde Rathbone, Matt Toomua, Nic White, Ben Mowen (captain), George Smith, Peter Kimlin, Scott Fardy, Sam Carter, Ben Alexander, Stephen Moore, Scott Sio. Replacements: Siliva Siliva, Ruan Smith, Fotu Auelua, Colby Faingaa, Ian Prior, Andrew Smith, Joseph Tomane. – Sapa

Bulls or Brumbies?

Bulls captain Dewald Potgieter has targeted a solid start to Saturday’s Super Rugby semi-final against the Brumbies at Loftus Versfeld as the key for his team to make it through to their fourth final.

According to supersport.com, Potgieter will lead a younger and very different Bulls side out onto his home ground this weekend – a side with much less experience than the ones that won the other three competitions, but one which believes they have what it takes to become Southern Hemisphere champions.

But even though they play at Loftus Versfeld, a field where they are unbeaten this year, and one where they have never lost a playoff match, the Bulls know they will need to be at their best to beat Jake White’s Brumbies – a side who are not flashy but very effective in the way they win matches.

According to ruckingoodstats.com, there is very little to choose between the teams, based on their statistics through the season, which point to very similar trends:

• Both teams dominate possession – the Brumbies are slightly ahead with 53.3% to the Bulls’ 52.5%. This might not sound like much, being just over 50%, but after 16 rounds it is significant. Most teams sit just under 50% for possession.

• Both teams are averaging the same amount of attacking time needed to score a try. The Brumbies are scoring a try every 6 minutes 34 seconds and the Bulls every 6 minutes 51 seconds.

• When it comes to conceding tries, the numbers are also similar: the Brumbies concede a try every 8 minutes 42 seconds on average, while for the Bulls it’s 8 minutes 34 seconds. This means that the two teams have a similar attack and defence pattern – reflected by the fact that they have both made the semifinals!

• Turnovers are not high for these teams. Given the hype about Brumbies flanker George Smith’s role in the game from the Aussies, you would expect higher turnover ratios. The Brumbies are stealing/turning over 2.9% of the opposition’s rucks, the Bulls slightly better at 3.3%. In comparison, the Crusaders were just 2% for the season (Reds 4%) but last week against the Reds, turned over a massive 9%, showing how much their game execution has improved in the last few weeks.

• While the Bulls have had some shockers defensively, they are missing 1 in 5.5 tackle attempts or a tackle every 58 seconds in defence. The Brumbies are again similar, with a miss every 1 in 5.9 tackle attempts or every 59 seconds.

• The biggest area of difference is handling errors. When looking at handling errors as a proportion of total errors made, the Brumbies’ handling errors make up 37.9% as opposed to the Bulls at 43.4%. When you take time on the field into consideration, the Bulls are 20% more likely to make a handling error than the Brumbies

• When it comes to kicking – the stat that is likely to dominate this weekend – there is only 1 tactical kick from the hand difference between the two teams. The Bulls have made 409 tactical kicks from the hand and the Brumbies 410. Factoring in time on attack means that the Bulls kick every 39 seconds and the Brumbies every 41 seconds.

• The Bulls will kick and chase more, retaining 10.5% of their kicks compared to the Brumbies’ 7.1% retained kicks. But the Bulls will kick less for touch with only 25.5% of tactical kicks from hand going to touch to the Brumbies’ 26.8%.

• When it comes to kicking errors – and this will be key this weekend – the Bulls’ stat is 10.8%, which is much higher than the Brumbies’ 6.8%, meaning that there is a 58% greater chance that the Bulls will make a kicking error than the Brumbies will.

So with this in mind, Bulls coach Frans Ludeke summed it up quite nicely when he spoke about what he saw between the Cheetahs and Brumbies in Canberra last Sunday.

“It was quite a battle. Hats off to the Cheetahs, there were some areas in the game where I felt they had control.

“But the way the Brumbies stuck to their game-plan, to the way they play, gave them the result.

“We feel this weekend will be the same. They play a lot like us, they like field position and to suffocate the opposition.

“They have a good pack of forwards and are dangerous in broken play.

“They have players who can finish off as well,” Ludeke said.

“This is why I say set pieces are vital.

“You need to control the broken field, use your opportunities when you get there and applying the pressure is vital.” – ruckingoodstats.com/Supersport

Chiefs the underdogs in Super Rugby semifinal

by Steve McMorran

Despite being defending champions and finishing atop the Super Rugby standings in the regular season, the Chiefs accept that they’re underdogs in Saturday’s all-New Zealand semifinal against the Crusaders.

Though they won 12 of 16 games to qualify automatically for the semifinals and though they beat the Crusaders in the first of two regular season meetings, the Hamilton-based Chiefs are given little chance of halting the Crusaders’ drive to an eighth Super Rugby title.

The Christchurch-based Crusaders have developed an irresistible momentum in the second half of the season, winning five straight matches since their 28-19 loss to the Chiefs on May 24. Their 43-15 win over the Chiefs three weeks ago and their 38-9 quarterfinal win over the Queensland Reds make them hot title favorites.

The Pretoria-based Bulls will host the ACT Brumbies in the other semifinal after finishing second behind the Chiefs in the regular season to earn home advantage in the playoffs.

The Bulls performed substantially above expectations to finish atop the South African conference and won eight straight matches before a loss to the Stormers in the last round cost them the chance of finishing in first place overall.

The Canberra-based Brumbies, who edged the Cheetahs 15-13 last weekend, face the immense task of traveling to South Africa for the semifinal and attempting to overcome the Bulls’ formidable home advantage at Loftus Versfeld.

The task is a larger one for the members of the Brumbies’ squad who played for Australia against the British and Irish Lions and may still be recovering from the physical and emotional strain of that series defeat.

The All Blacks’ mid-year series against France was less taxing and neither the Chiefs nor the Crusaders have been harmed by their players’ involvement. If anything, the Crusaders’ form has steadily improved in the month since the test window, led particularly by an upswing in the form of star flyhalf Dan Carter, who scored 18 points in their win over the Chiefs and 20 against the Reds.

The Chiefs’ sandwiched their loss to the Crusaders between unconvincing wins over the Blues and Hurricanes and seem well short of the form which carried them to their first Super Rugby title last year.

“Most of the country is writing us off, which is not a bad thing,” Chiefs coach Dave Rennie said. “But we’re happy with where we’re heading and we’ve got a pretty happy bunch who are keen to make amends from the last time we played,” the Crusaders.

“Obviously they’ll come in as favorites but we get to play them at home.”

The Chiefs have carefully analyzed their recent heavy loss to the Crusaders and are confident of repairing the deficiencies that match highlighted.

“We were caught short, especially from an intensity point of view, so we can change that quickly because we can control that,” Rennie said. “We’ve been here before, we’ve played the Crusaders quite a bit over the last couple of years and so we know what to expect.”

The Crusaders have named the same 22 they deployed against the Reds, resisting any temptation to elevate All Blacks captain Richie McCaw from the bench into the starting XV. McCaw returned to top rugby in last weekend’s match, playing the last 15 minutes.

Coach Todd Blackadder said starting McCaw “was never part of our thinking” because the veteran backrower is only just returning from an extended break and “it would be a huge step to go into a game like this.”

The Bulls have been able to nurse several key players back to health during the break they earned by qualifying directly for the semifinals. Scrumhalf Francois Hougaard and center Jan Serfontein have recovered from injuries and been named in the starting lineup, while Junior Springboks lock Paul Willemse has been included on the bench.

“We have worked hard to put ourselves in a position where we could host a semifinal at home and achieved that,” Bulls coach Frans Ludeke said. “We cannot allow all that effort to go to waste.

“We certainly respect the Brumbies. But this match will be about us and our ability and drive to make them play the game at our tempo.”

Brumbies coach Jake White shunned the temptation to ring changes after last weekend’s unconvincing performance against the Cheetahs.

“They have a good record at Loftus and … they are a typical South African side: very big and physical with some quality finishers out wide,” said White, who guided South Africa to the 2007 World Cup title. “So it’s up to our players to combat that with our own game.” – AP

Serfontein, Hougaard return for Bulls

The Bulls will be buoyed by the return from injury of scrumhalf Francois Hougaard and centre Jan Serfontein for their crucial Super Rugby semi-final against the Brumbies at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.

Serfontein replaces Francois Venter in the midfield and Hougaard’s inclusion comes at the expense of Jano Vermaak, who will supply cover from the bench.

Bulls coach Frans Ludeke said on Wednesday that accuracy would be decisive against a Brumbies side desperate to make the final.

“We would like to be accurate from the first minute to the last, and turnovers in a semi-final will be vital,” Ludeke said.

“We are playing against very good opposition and that is why they finished third in the competition [after the league phase] and they have a lot of strengths all-round.”

The team will be further boosted by the inclusion of lock Paul Willemse, who takes the place of Jacques du Plessis on the bench.

While the Brumbies narrowly won 23-20 in the previous encounter between the two teams in Canberra in March, the Bulls’ semi-final history at Loftus counts heavily in their favour.

The Pretoria side have never lost a Super Rugby last-four clash on home turf and they should use the support from the Loftus faithful to their benefit.

Ludeke, however, said they could not rely solely on the home fans and they would have to be accurate in executing their game plan.

“It is about getting in the right areas and setting up a good platform to launch a good attack, and it is all about being patient because we believe we’ve got the ability to score tries and to squeeze points when we are in the right area,” he said.

The Bulls mentor believed the Brumbies played a similar style of rugby to the men in blue, which would make for an intense battle.

“They play a lot like us — it is field position, a suffocate type of game.

“They are very good on defence, with a solid pack of forwards, and in broken field they have players that can finish off.

“The set pieces will be vital and you have to control the broken field, and we will have to use the opportunities when we get there.”

Meanwhile, Brumbies coach Jake White named an unchanged team for the match.

Though his side faced an uphill battle against the Bulls, White said his charges were up for the challenge.

“The Bulls present us with a huge challenge this weekend. We know they will play through their forwards and use Morne [Steyn] to finish with points,” White said.

“They have a good record here at Loftus and for our players to experience running on in front of a full house of more than 50,000 people will be fantastic.

“They are a typical South African side — very big and physical with some quality finishers out wide — so it’s up to our players to combat that with our own game.”

Brumbies team: Jesse Mogg, Henry Speight, Tevita Kuridrani, Christian Lealiifano, Clyde Rathbone, Matt Toomua, Nic White, Ben Mowen (captain), George Smith, Peter Kimlin, Sam Carter, Scott Fardy, Ben Alexander, Stephen Moore, Scott Sio. Replacements: Siliva Siliva, Ruan Smith, Fotu Auelua, Colby Faingaa, Ian Prior, Andrew Smith, Joe Tomane. – sapa

Unlucky kick dashes Cheetah hopes in dying moments

Cheetahs five-eighth Riaan Smit hit the post with a conversion attempt after the siren to give the Brumbies a 15-13 win in their Super Rugby qualifying final in Canberra.

While the Cheetahs scored the only two tries of the match, the Brumbies dominated the kicking duel and were amply rewarded with prime territory throughout the game.

The Brumbies had the lion’s share of the possession in the first half, yet the Cheetahs’ trademark scrambling defence proved up to the task.

A hotly contested breakdown battle also stilted momentum for both teams, referee Glenn Jackson warning both captains to clean up their sides’ acts midway through the second half.

The Cheetahs were seven points down when replacement Ryno Benjamin crossed in the left corner in the final minute to give Smit a chance to send the game into extra time.

But the kick hit the left post and the Brumbies escaped with the narrow victory to book a semi-final against the Bulls in Pretoria early next Sunday morning (AEST).

While the home side arguably had the rub of the green on scrum penalty decisions from Jackson in the first half, Brumbies loose-head prop Scott Sio was clearly dominant in the second half.

Man-of-the-match George Smith was also outstanding for the Brumbies, his presence at the breakdown a constant thorn in the side of the Cheetahs.

The Brumbies were rewarded for a blitzing start with an early penalty goal, but the Cheetahs hit back in the 16th minute when their first attacking set-piece yielded a try to outside centre Johann Sadie.

Sharp-shooting goal-kicker Christian Lealiifano then uncharacteristically missed two penalty shots before finding his range again to give the Brumbies a 6-5 lead at the break.

The Cheetahs drew first blood after the break with a penalty goal to Smit, but the Brumbies hit back with three of their own to gain the seven-point lead which would eventually help them hold on for victory. – AP

Super 15 rugby: Brumbies 15 Cheetahs 13

Johann Sadie, one of the try scorers for the Cheetahs

Result of a Super 15 rugby qualifier between the ACT Brumbies and Central Cheetahs on Sunday:
ACT Brumbies (AUS) 15 Central Cheetahs (RSA) 13
Ht: 6-5
Scorers
Brumbies – Penalties: Christian Lealiifano (4), Nic White
Cheetahs – Tries: Johann Sadie, Rayno Benjamin; Penalties: Riaan Smit
Referee: Glen Jackson (NZL) – AFP

Smith, Rathbone to face Cheetahs

Wallabies George Smith and Clyde Rathbone will return to the ACT Brumbies starting team for this weekend’s Super Rugby qualifier against South Africa’s Central Cheetahs, the club said Friday.

The players are making an unlikely finals appearance in Canberra on Sunday after Rathbone came out of retirement this year and Smith was loaned by his Japanese club Suntory Sungoliath.

Making way for winger Rathbone is Joe Tomane, who played for the Wallabies against the British and Irish Lions this month, while Colby Faingaa also goes to the bench with flanker Smith taking the number seven jersey.

Scrum-half Nic White also returns to the starting side for the first time since injuring his shoulder with Ian Prior returning to the bench.

“Bringing two guys like Clyde and George into our starting side will give us experience when we need it. Those two guys have both won championships at Canberra Stadium and it’s exciting to have them involved,” coach Jake White said.

“The Cheetahs are a side which has made huge improvements over the last two seasons and it’s a credit to them that they are now a competition threat.”

It will be the Brumbies first finals match since they won the Super Rugby title in 2004. – AFP