‘Déjà vu’ for stuttering Blue Bulls in Currie Cup semi-final
Supporters of the Bulls cannot be blamed if, after Saturday's disappointing performance against the Sharks in the Currie Cup semi-final, they start to wonder how many more times they will see this movie where their team stumbles over one of the last hurdles, while the finish line is already in sight.
What is the most important aspect that is thoroughly instilled by his coach before kick-off for a play-off match in the mind of every u.14 rugby captain of a school team?
Yes, that’s correct, it’s the same principle with which the Bulls captain, Dewald Potgieter, struggled so much in the SuperRugby semi-final of 2013 against the Brumbies.
Maybe during play-off games it should be written in big letters somewhere on Loftus Versfeld where every captain can see it – if there are points available, take them! In the end, one single point would have been enough on Saturday, but when the game still ended in a tie (40-all) after extra time, the Bulls were eliminated on a technical point.
Ironically enough, less than three months ago, the Bulls’ downfall in the URC final against the Glasgow Warriors at Loftus Versfeld was mainly caused by exactly the same scenario. Then Ruan Nortjé explained to the media after the match that the leaders on the field “collectively” decided to kick to the corner rather than take the points in that tense last quarter. Again, the rest is history…
There are of course other similarities between the Bulls’ performance against Glasgow in June and Saturday’s Currie Cup semi-final fiasco. Like the fact that the team dominated play early in the game and have built a lead, only to seem to lose focus later that gave the opponents the opportunity to bounce back on the scoreboard.
This is probably the one big difference between the current teams (at URC and Currie Cup level) at Loftus and the Bulls’ champion teams of the past – the fact that the current team does not seem to know the art of “sealing a victory” by knockout if they dominate their opponents and are clearly the better team on the field.
There can be no doubt that this problem’s origin is something that begins on a psychological level in players’ heads.
If you lose focus, it shows on the defence. Just look again at the desperately poor efforts on defence on Saturday before at least three of the Sharks’ tries – first James Venter’s effort, which finally wiped out the comfortable lead shortly before half-time, then the ridiculously easy way in which the home side were outplayed with André Esterhuizen’s try in the second half and of course the way in which a clearly unfit prop, Trevor Nyakane, was allowed to make fools of several defenders for the “winning try” in the dying moments of the game.
How does the old saying go again – ‘attack puts bums on seats, but defence wins trophies’? Indeed, spectacular tries attract the crowds and fill the pavilions, but unrelenting defence is the secret that gets trophies in the display case.
Ironically, under the current dispensation, the Bulls have already shown that they can win games with unrelenting defence. Two semi-final wins over powerhouse Leinster during the past three seasons in the URC proved that. It’s that continuous focus – the strong heads to the bitter end – that seems to be a problem. And of course the struggles with leadership and sober decision making under pressure.
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