Bob Dwyer Rugby Workshops

Eden Park. Saturday, 3^rd April. 2010.

The Auckland Blues ended the twelve match winning run of the Pretoria-based Bulls, with a bruising, brutal win at Eden Park, with a final scoreline of 32-17. Strangely, the Bulls have never won in the New Zealand capital, despite being a dominant team in the Super-14 for the last few years.

The result confirmed widely held opinion that the Blues could develop into a challenge for the title, with just a little tweaking here and there. In recent years, they have frequently promised much, only to falter, generally at their own hand. This convincing win was not without blemish either. The accuracy of their passing was often poor and several scintillating attacks came to nothing as a “pass to nobody” surrendered possession. They have great speed and power across the pitch and, perhaps, unmatched individual running skills, but without accuracy, all of their talent is sometimes wasted. I have long held the view that all quality play is based on the application of quality technique under the pressure of game situations. The Blues have obviously not read my Coaching Manual.

The hosts would surely have been concerned that their All Black prop, Tony Woodcock, was out injured and their fears were immediately realized when a scrum penalty in the third minute gave the visitors a three point lead. To his great credit, Woodcock’s replacement, Charlie Faumuina, worked hard to adjust and was eventually one of Auckland’s very best on the day.

The Blues applied early pressure with Rene Ranger again dangerous, but their high-risk approach and passing inaccuracies gave the Bulls’ counter-attack several opportunities. One such counter opened the Blues defence and the brilliant Pierre Spies finished the try in the corner, actually forcing the ball over his head. This gave the lead back to the Bulls at 6-8, after 25 minutes, and I had the feeling that the Bulls were on route to a first ever win at Eden Park. The Blues were having lineout problems also and without the security of first-phase ball, they were never going to contain this Bulls’ attack.

The Bulls, on the other hand, were having problems with referee, Craig Joubert, at the tackle contest and Stephen Brett was able to keep his team in touch, despite being less than brilliant with his penalty kicks. It seemed clear that the Bulls defensive strategy was based on not allowing any quick recycles to the Blues attack, but Joubert was well on top of this and punished any illegality. The Bulls would be better placed to work on the legal aspects of a defensive strategy – after all, this weakness has been clear all season.

Despite their free-flowing, free-running strengths, the Blues decided that they must first of all generate some forward momentum around the tackle contest, in order to make space for the undoubted running skills of their backline. “Pick and go” was vital to their game plan and they worked hard, and often successfully, at it, eventually regaining the lead when Ranger put Toeava over down the left flank, for a half-time lead of 16-11.

The half had seen some fantastic running and continuity by the Blues, but the inaccuracy of their passing had let them down badly. They could not win unless they could set this right, and their coach, Pat Lam, said as much at the break.

The game was in the balance and the Bulls’ lineout superiority gave them an early opportunity. Steyn was equal to the task and it was 16-14 after only three minutes of the resumption. The tackling from both teams had been fierce and the Blues were not conceding anything to their much vaunted opponents. Jerome Kaino had been well to the fore throughout and produced another bone-shattering effort in mid-field to give his team the turnover. Another Blues counter-attack put the Bulls’ defence under pressure and Pedrie Wannenburg gave the penalty. He also paid the additional penalty for his team-mates many earlier indiscretions and was given a yellow card, despite having only been on the pitch for a few minutes.

But the Bulls rallied and, to their great credit, were still able to resist consistent Blues’ pressure with almost fanatical defence. Matfield gained a great ball steal on his own line and the Bulls were able to clear and stay in touch, but Stephen Brett was more pragmatic than many of his team-mates and continued to push the Bulls back into the corners – a bit of the Crusaders that he brought with him, perhaps. This tactic eventually paid dividends for the Blues!

The Bulls were under the pressure of a five point deficit and took the riskiest of quick throws on their own line – this from a team with the best lineout in world rugby! The Blues piled on the pressure and eventually Toeava drew two defenders for Rokocoko to touch down. It was 29-17, but still with 16 minutes to play - the Bulls are proud of their ability and were not about to concede defeat. They lifted their game and hit harder in attack, but the Blues more than matched them with the ferocity of their defence. Both teams were running themselves to exhaustion, but Stephen Brett was still the voice of reason as his grubber to touch turned the Bulls around again.

With just four minutes still to play, a second yellow card for the Bulls – this time to Flip van der Merwe, for a “high and late tackle” – sealed their fate. The Blues had indeed been fortunate to avoid sanction for a similar tackle of their own, but Brett converted for a full-time score of 32-17.

Bulls’ captain, Victor Matfield, was generous in his praise for his opponents, saying that the Blues had “dominated the contact point” and this was accurate. The punishing Blues’ defence had defused the Bulls’ driving maul, but the Bulls had been unable to contain the pick-and-go from the Blues.

It might well be different at Loftus Versfield and with Bakkies Botha back on deck, but the Bulls had eventually paid the penalty for a season of poor defence. Six penalty goals to Stephen Brett and two yellow cards for the Bulls were their ‘just desserts’!