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Strong candidate for the most useless sporting arguments: which team has been responsible for South Africa’s most prosperous and proud era in Super Rugby?
It is, of course, the Bulls from 2007 to 2010, with just a strange “wobble” campaign in between, as the only winners of the country’s overall title in professional times so far, and three times in the period.
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That rise to constant glory, as is often the case in team sport, was not always marked by the more attractive scents of the Pretoria boat.
Often woefully poor in the early years of competition, the Bulls came to a boil very gradually: sixth out of 12 in 2003, sixth again in 2004; Increased patient progress to lose, distance semifinalists in each of 2005 and 2006.
When they finally climbed the highest levels of all, it was also with two coaches: first Heyneke Meyer (2007) and then Frans Ludeke, at the forefront of the 2009 and 2010 wins, who had actually experienced rugby blows and punches, while exhibiting so clearly the necessary character and self-confidence to recover with a certain vengeance.
Meyer presided over the previous 2000 (penultimate) and 2002 (bottom, winless) seasons at Loftus, while his successor for silverware glory, Ludeke, had also been less than distinguished in separate periods of high command with the Cats in 2002 and 2006.
In some ways, there were unmistakable parallels between the rise of the Bulls and that of the Springbok national team at the time, who had had some painful experiences under Jake White before reaching the World Cup win in France in 2007. Only about five months after the Bulls became the first South African winners of “Super Rugby-appropriate”, which had been called in 1996.
There were notable common denominators among core staff: This was, in general terms, the heyday (or very close to it) of several loyal Loftus-based icons, such as Victor Matfield and Bakkies Botha’s revered pair of locks, forceful but without pretensions, the striker of Danie Danie. Rossouw, galloping No. 8 and bunch of muscles Pierre Spies, the game’s controlling genius who was Fourie du Preez in the scrumhalf, and the eagle-eyed wing voice Bryan Habana.
Nor is it a coincidence that the Bulls’ three titles in those heady four years were almost always marked by the introduction of a combined master of tactics and kicks on the flyhalf: the first Derick “Liefling” Hougaard to drive the 2007 success in that channel, and then another emerging and fresh-faced pin-up figure in Morne Steyn, who had a major influence on the post-pinnacle charges of 2009 and 2010.
Just to become more decorated and record-breaking as the years progressed, Matfield was a fulcrum figure both in leadership and for his direction and self-control at the time of the lineup, an area where the Bulls could often be trusted to the rise.
Interestingly for a team that bases much of its success on the physical intimacy of its pack as a collective (the Meyer mastermind has always been smart in creating an ethic in the “master first, then penetrate” field), the glory years of The Bulls were rarely marked by a routinely brisk scrum, but they found ways to avoid that snag most of the time.
Particularly in the then-Loftus Fortress, once they had established testosterone-powered physical dominance, they were also famous for activating the ball-in-hand charm, ruthlessly tapping into the lead legs of high-altitude opponents.
What was the most memorable of your three crowns?
I would say 2007 is arguably the top candidate, simply because of the poignant novelty of a first South African win (with due apologies to the Transvaal team that won the experimental Super 10 in markedly “amateur” times) and the fact that it was accomplished. , unlike his next two, in a final away from the highveld.
There was also the thrill of how the Bulls secured a strong playoff: They entered their last home bout with the Reds who needed a bonus point victory just to secure a semifinal ticket, and very quickly (first quarter) rushed to four. Attempts.
Then a 45-point margin of victory became the goal for a final record in third place, and finally knowing that if they could break the 72-point margin, they would put a particularly tasty carrot right under their noses: defeating the Queenslanders. for that reason or more it would assure a semi house, as second finalists of the sharks.
The Bulls went on to a record-breaking 92-3 fairy tale win, with 13 attempts (including a brace for Habana, Spies, Wikus van Heerden and Derick Kuun), to have the luxury of hosting crusaders traveling in a Loftus last date.
Ironically, the semi made no attempts at all … but eight penalties and a dropped goal to Hougaard saw them gallop to a convincing 27-12 result.
So he went to Durban for a tough matchup to summon all SAs in the final (an inaugural event) with a galaxy of Springboks in both starting lineups.
It is deeply engraved in our first-class rugby history that the Sharks seemed to have achieved a 19-13 win, only not to be able to branch out, in the 82nd minute, that simply putting the ball in contact would guarantee them the silverware.
However, in the rampage of noise from more than 50,000 spectators, a misguided kick in the field was found in the hands of that alert predator Habana, whose instincts told him, a brilliant decision, that a personal dart in the field was the right medicine
The flying wing found a surprisingly large hole in the Sharks’ grueling defense to submerge theatrically … and close enough to the posts to ensure a comfortable conversion for visitors from a booty booty of 20-19, really eleventh hour . .
Unfamiliar and awkward, it seems in hindsight, with their defending champion status, the 2008 Bulls slipped back quite a bit to tenth, though it was also the lonely year when leader Matfield took a brief “gap year” in a period in the foreigner with Toulon
For the year 2009, they returned with a vengeance, and led the table each time to guarantee eventual rights to the respective pieces of display in the home.
The first was against Mils Muliaina and the company of the unsuspecting Chiefs, who ended up being victims of the even more unilateral final in terms of margin width: they were beaten 61-17 and by eight attempts to two in Loftus.
Probably more treasured a year later, considering it came through a classic “north against south” fight at the Orlando stadium (Loftus prepared for the soccer World Cup soon after) was the 25-17 win in a fight without limits against the Stormers. , which now featured the Bulls’ favorite old Havana in their midst.
The Capetonians recorded two attempts at one, but the Bulls had ordered the field position for the most part, and helped explain why Steyn’s six-for-seven count on the penalty kick (plus a conversion from Francois Hougaard’s attempt) ended being fundamental to the result.
It was the end of that prosperous era in Pretoria: the Bulls have not reached the final since then, and only reached one more semi, in 2013, when they threw it 23-26 against the White Brumbies charges at Loftus; Ironically, the former Bok coach is now tasked with designing a gradual return to those happy days in the late 2000s …
READ | Fine SA Super Rugby vintages: Sharks 1996-98
READ | Fine SA Super Rugby vintages: Stormers 1999 and 2012
* Follow our lead writer on Twitter: @RobHouwing
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