Sunday, May 31, 2009
The Bulls blitz the Chiefs to win the 2009 Super 14 final

The Bulls won their second Super 14 title in three seasons when they overwhelmed the visiting Chiefs at Loftus Versfeld yesterday. The 61-17 win is a Super 14 final record for the highest winning margin.
In front of an extremely passionate Loftus capacity crowd of 52 000, the Bulls conceded early, silencing the faithful momentarily. That didnt last long though as they soon got on the board through scrumhalf Fourie Du Preez, who picked up two quick fire tries.
Bryan Habana soon got in on the act after collecting a neat Du Preez kick ahead, then later on sniffing out a trademark intercept try. After forty minutes the match was all but over at 34-7, with seemingly no way for the visitors to stop the blue tide.
They got back into the match after halftime, taking the score up to a more respectable 37-17, but the Bulls controlled matters by scoring through Victor Matfield, Wynand Olivier, and a breakaway sprint once again from Pierre Spies.
Shortly before the end of the match, Danie Rossouw crossed to rub salt into the wound, making this easily the highest winning total in Super rugby finals history.
Scoring eight tries in total, the Bulls showed what a powerful side they are at home as they justified their top of the table standing by totally outplaying the Chiefs.
Both sides played positively from the start, showing us that finals of big competitions don't have to be dominated by the boot.
They showed us how to play, Chiefs captain Mils Muliaina said.
Time: 06:15
Posted at 2:47 pm | 114 comments
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Viewing 114 comments
Anonymous May 31, 2009 1:13 pm

I agree with Sean Fitzpatrick. That really is terrible. I cant enjoy a rugby game like that with just try after try. Cant anyone put a tackle in?
Are you allowed dive over a ruck like that for a try? I always thought that was illegal
Tommo May 31, 2009 1:13 pm

Tommo May 31, 2009 1:15 pm

FrankyH May 31, 2009 1:16 pm

I watched this match and after ten mins, thought back to that snoozefest at Twickenham a few weeks back.. You just cant compare the two in terms of entertainment, physicality, and precision. The match could easily have been tight and dull, kicking dominated as stated above, but both sides had a crack, which was awesome in a final.
Hats off to the Chiefs for playing possibly the most entertaining rugby of the tournament, but well done to the Bulls for completely dominating two top NZ sides two weeks in a row.
Pierre Spies outstripping Anesi was incredible too - Anesi was often spoken about as one of the quickest wings in NZ. Awesome.
Anonymous May 31, 2009 1:16 pm

FrankyH May 31, 2009 1:17 pm

Chris May 31, 2009 2:15 pm

I always thought that was illegal"
You thought wrong.
And as mentioned, if the S14 defense is as bad as claimed by old 'purists' like you who don't like tries, then why on the international stage is their defense so top notch?
Could it be that the reason so many tries are scored in the S14 is because of how good teams are on the front foot?
If you compare recent results from NH and SH nations that's the logical conclusion one would draw.
jon May 31, 2009 2:24 pm

The Bulls were awesome, and this could be a very good year for South african rugby. Steyn could be the answer at fly-half and with botha, matfield, du preez, habana and spies in such good form, the Lions are in trouble.
gfhmon May 31, 2009 2:26 pm

And a Leinster vs. Bulls match would probably answer a lot of the question above...
no9 May 31, 2009 2:47 pm

Boz May 31, 2009 2:57 pm

(I agree with the diving over comment but that is how rucks are these days)
When the Chiefs had the ball, players were looking around and crossing each other without direction. Support was flat and ball was of low quality.
The Lions will lose by a combined 50!
Anonymous May 31, 2009 3:46 pm

Anonymous May 31, 2009 4:25 pm

I very much doubt that!!
Anonymous May 31, 2009 4:34 pm

Anonymous May 31, 2009 4:49 pm

Jikle May 31, 2009 5:21 pm

With all their talents selling their asses to Europe, they seem to have forgotten that defense is at least one half of a good rugby team.
This score in a final is a disgrace, they are an embarrassement to rugby.
jidertserf May 31, 2009 5:23 pm

Munster vs Bulls would be a great one tho
Anonymous May 31, 2009 6:05 pm

Anonymous May 31, 2009 6:30 pm

Censu May 31, 2009 6:49 pm

Anonymous May 31, 2009 7:15 pm

Anonymous May 31, 2009 7:17 pm

Anonymous May 31, 2009 7:21 pm

Anonymous May 31, 2009 7:53 pm

Anonymous May 31, 2009 8:01 pm

Anonymous May 31, 2009 8:02 pm

Anonymous May 31, 2009 8:17 pm

Jochen May 31, 2009 8:42 pm

I dont think this score will do any good to the Super 14 or upcoming Super 15.
I rather watch a close intense game than such a final.
And to reason from this game to the result of a Lions tour is funny, its like everybody went for Munster winning the HC after their QF win against the Ospreys. Hey three games ahead and they have to be played first
Anonymous May 31, 2009 8:51 pm

Certainly not much of a preparation for a tight Lions series.
Anonymous May 31, 2009 8:57 pm

I seem to remember exactly the same tripe come out of Bok fans mouths back in 1997.
How did that turn out for you? 2-1 to the Lions if I recall.
As for Spies. No doubt he is an amazing athlete. Whether he will be as noticed in a tight test match versus the Lions when the ball isn't being thrown arounf like a game of sevens is another question.
Not that I don't admire some Bok players. Burger is the best back row forward I have ever seen.
FrankyH May 31, 2009 9:09 pm

In 2007 everyone moaned about 'negative' slow and boring rugby in the knockout stages of the WC.. now the same people seem to be the ones moaning about high scoring, positive, attacking rugby. Slightly irritating.
This game was awesome to watch, in every aspect. Anyone who says that they'd prefer to see a match like the GP Final.. sigh I dunno..
Anonymous May 31, 2009 9:18 pm

nasau May 31, 2009 9:24 pm

Anonymous May 31, 2009 9:36 pm

Anonymous May 31, 2009 9:42 pm

Nuff said
Anonymous May 31, 2009 9:51 pm

Anonymous May 31, 2009 9:51 pm

Anonymous May 31, 2009 10:08 pm

Sure SA are world champs and they were the best team no doubt.
Notice that both games between the north and south heavweights were tight low scoring affairs.
France beat NZ 20-18 with 2 tries each.
England beat Australia 12-10 with 1 try by Aus.
SA beat England...15-6 no tries.
No doub thet super 14 in 2007 was full of 65-38 games as well. It really is meeaningless in terms of comparing it to heavweight test matches that actuall mean something....i.e. world cups and lions tours. You can't read much into autumn internatonals or summer tour results which are often lop sided.
Hennie May 31, 2009 11:15 pm

con bons June 01, 2009 12:21 am

Anonymous June 01, 2009 3:05 am

Anonymous June 01, 2009 3:14 am

Anonymous June 01, 2009 3:57 am

(i love the super 14 btw)
i thought the chiefs played some sort of fluid rugby....?
the kind that would normally get a team to the super 14 final...?
i wish the lions were touring NZ this year, with the looks of that they might stand a pretty good chance!!!
i think the SA/lions tests are going to be great matchups.
JACQUE FOURIE FOR FULLBACK!!!
goodman June 01, 2009 4:38 am

Anonymous June 01, 2009 8:30 am

Yeah, the BI lions almost lost to a team full of players that get dominated by the free state cheetahs in the Currie Cup. The players from the royals are really only semi-professional, just a group of guys that enjoy a beer after the game. You'd expect the might of the British to be bumping every 2nd tackle off. Luckily the minnows (the royals) got tired in the last 10 minutes.
Flooz June 01, 2009 8:34 am

i'm a bit surprised by the famous "physical" defences of SH...
Spies was offside on his try
Anonymous June 01, 2009 8:48 am

D. Thomas Knapp June 01, 2009 8:50 am

The Lions will have to play out of their skins to stand a chance against the Boks... but then, isn't that all part of the magic?
Fair play to the SH for giving us a glimpse of what rugby can be. I personally would love to see that attacking ethos, that finesse and that athleticism up here in the NH.
Anonymous June 01, 2009 8:51 am

Anonymous June 01, 2009 9:04 am

durrie June 01, 2009 9:51 am

de Malmanche is one of the chiefs primary ball carriers aside from Lauaki and this incident changed the game immediatley...the Bulls got better and the Chiefs began to flounder.
The Bulls made at least 45-50% of their tackles from set pieces behind the advantage line...the Chiefs simply didn't get enough ball as it was and when they did the Bulls didn't give them an inch to move in.
The chiefs had prepared for a kicking game by the Bulls which didn't happen...the Bulls kicking dominance all season ironically turned out to be their secret weapon by NOT being played...
After kicking all season it takes a great deal oftalent to run that well...the Bulls were simply sublime on the day making almost no mistakes at all...end of story.
con bons June 01, 2009 10:10 am

Anthony June 01, 2009 11:07 am

Anonymous June 01, 2009 12:40 pm

And these highlights also confirm one thing to me - DU PREEZ is the best no 9 in world rugby at the moment - he was the diffs for them in the world cup and he was the diffs for the bulls in this game - he is just all over the park. The Lions need to get to him first if they want any chance ( and this coming frm a LIONS fan..)
vrot vark 4000 June 01, 2009 12:45 pm

it translates into "captain raise the sails", because victor is captain.
Just a Fan June 01, 2009 1:36 pm

Hats off to the Bulls - they really did show the rest of us how is it should be done. While the score line might have been one sided - the Chiefs never gave up, and it definitely was not a boring game to watch.
Hoping my Sharks can pull themselves together for next year.
Go Bokke.
Anonymous June 01, 2009 1:43 pm

Anonymous June 01, 2009 3:37 pm

gongshow June 01, 2009 3:45 pm

Anonymous June 01, 2009 3:50 pm

Anonymous June 01, 2009 3:51 pm

Anonymous June 01, 2009 3:52 pm

Anonymous June 01, 2009 4:00 pm

Anonymous June 01, 2009 4:05 pm

Anonymous June 01, 2009 4:18 pm

Back Line Boy! June 01, 2009 5:54 pm

Anonymous June 01, 2009 6:00 pm

The Shers were calling it the "game of the century." In reality the defense was shocking on both sides.
bD June 01, 2009 6:30 pm

well we know where the loftus 'faithful' got that from. shark tank ;)
Jeroen June 01, 2009 6:55 pm

Anonymous June 01, 2009 9:09 pm

"Do not under any cicumcstances attempt to tackle of otherwise prevent the other team from scoring a try."
What a friggin joke the Super 14 is.
Tommo June 01, 2009 9:15 pm

Hennie June 01, 2009 10:03 pm

Anonymous June 01, 2009 11:40 pm

Your pathetic attempt at an analogy to the Champions League Final doesn't come close.
An approximate equivalent score would be Barcelona winning by 9-3 over Man United. So yes, if that happened I might be questioning whether United defended very well!
Anonymous June 02, 2009 12:09 am

You lot are livin in a fantasy world. Maybe if NH teams learned how to offload in the tackle, ruck quickly, bust tackles and run good attacking lines, you'd know how to score tries, rather than just picking up the ball and runnoing straight into the teeth of the defence.
Look a Rocky Elsom, decent player in the S14, broke a few tackles, but not better than a number of other players. Goes up north and in one season runs over the top of half the European players and shows everyone how it's done. But still you don't learn. When Rocky breaks a tackle, it's cuz he's so good, but when he breaks one oin the S14 it's crap defence according to you lot.
Absolute fantasy world, seriously.
Anonymous June 02, 2009 12:17 am

As Aus and NZ were both knocked out of the last World Cup by England and France respectively. So while SA won the WCUP, head to head between the north and south heavweights it was 2-1 to the North.
The WCUP are the games that really count.
Anonymous June 02, 2009 12:49 am

Benny June 02, 2009 1:08 am

Tell all those NH test sides that regularly get their arse handed to them on a plate that it doesn't matter. Or are you saying that they really don't try very hard when they represent their countries away from the WC? The NH was mostly against the WC when it was first being organised, now it's the only excuse they've got and they've still only won one.
Anonymous June 02, 2009 3:44 am

And you lot have the gall to lecture us on defence!
Why not learn how to win a few games and then we'll respect your opinion when it comes to rugby.
I mean Jesus, you can actually see the difference in the styles of play by watching. In the North they are patheticaly unimaginative, their running lines are predictale, they have slow hands and thy drop tough passes, they rarely offload in the contact and they can't break a tackle to save themselves, in fact they seem to activly seek contact and then just go straight to ground to feed back the ball. They can't even ruck with any speed or intensity.
Their attacking tactical kicking game is sb standard.
Their only strengths are mauling, scrums, their ok at line-outs and they're good at kicking the ball into touch. Their defence isn't even that good, as evidenced by the Boks, All-Blacks and Wallabies running tries through them with regularity.
FrankyH June 02, 2009 6:36 am

Pick a name
Pick a name
Pick a name.
Got it? Get it. thanks.
That aside.. as a rugby fan through and through, if you were to compare the GP Final against the S14 Final, did you guys up north reeeaaally enjoy the GP final more, cause there were less points?? According to the way some of you think, that means better tackling? lol
Or was it just poor execution, lack of creativity, and both sides bottling it on the day. The Bulls vs the Chiefs was one of the most enjoyable matches of rugby I've watched in ages, and I support neither side.
Don't forget, the Chiefs were second on the log at the end of the tournament. Bulls were top. It was the top two sides. Therefore, the Chiefs were the best NZ side in the tournament, and we all know a little something about NZ rugby.
Anyway, swallow your pride, quit being so childish, and give credit where credit is due. The Bulls were awesome, and would have blown any side away on the day.
Oh and Pierre Spies was NOT offside btw.. look where he is when the ball leaves the ruck - behind the last man's feet. He's blatantly onside.
And that guy who said 'SA beat England...15-6 no tries.' - you're conveniently forgetting the drubbing in the group stages?
Anyway.. I've decided that you muppets will always find something to moan about. I'll stick to be a RUGBY fan, and appreciate the work that goes into this site, instead of slating clips as they get posted. Cheers RD. Awesome for the true fans out there.
Ted June 02, 2009 7:56 am

On a related point, I wonder how many people on this site only watch the highlights and don't watch the games themselves? Probably the same guys who then go shooting their mouths off about one hemisphere being better than the other like kids in a playground.
Why don't we make this a rule - don't comment on games you didn't watch? That way we wouldn't get morons saying that S14 tackling is poor based on a try compilation or that GP rugby is poor because there are fewer tries.
Jonathan June 02, 2009 1:07 pm

I If Barcelona had beaten Man U by 9-3 I think we can assume that would have been a combination of superb attack b y Barcelona and sloppy defending by Man U....with more of the latter.
Same is true in the S14 final. I watched it and the Bulls played well and took all their chances. Having said that, the defending was not up to much either.
As usual it's not black and white....but a combination of both.
I don't think anyone can see that the S14 final score was all down to great attacking or all down to bad defending.
I would observe that you do not usually see scorelines like this when the top teams play each other.
Anonymous June 02, 2009 1:08 pm

Jonathan June 02, 2009 1:41 pm

Sure, that can be the case...i.e. 1999 WCUp semi between France and NZ....or a relatively low scoring nail biter.....
We saw what happened when the bulk of the ELVs were scrapped because they had all these unintended consequences and were scrapped.
If the S14 was played in a nothern winter I don't think it would be as high octane.
Hennie June 02, 2009 2:04 pm

Richard June 02, 2009 3:17 pm

The truth is anyone watching rugby knows that the SH are streets ahead.
The north has won 14 out of 87 games against the south since 2003, how can u argue with that.
Oh England> aus and france> nz at wc 2007? the only reason why these scores are remembered is because of how shocking they are. And guess which hemisphere has won 5 out of the 6 world cups thus far?
And the worse part is, the games in the north are entertaining because half the players are actually from the south.
And lee bryne vs mils muliaina? i think warren gatland for wales or ian mcgeechan would be very happy to pick muliaina over bryne anyday.
Anonymous June 02, 2009 4:16 pm

Anonymous June 02, 2009 7:10 pm

Anonymous June 02, 2009 7:11 pm

Anonymous June 02, 2009 7:12 pm

Anonymous June 02, 2009 7:14 pm

Anonymous June 02, 2009 7:20 pm

Anonymous June 02, 2009 7:21 pm

Anonymous June 02, 2009 8:30 pm

Anonymous June 03, 2009 1:07 pm

1209am.....that's why I said "60+" and not 60......
Let me help...60+ means over 60 points.....which would include the number 80. I think you're a bit thick..along with 11:55am.
Anonymous June 03, 2009 1:57 pm

"We are World Champs."
"The Super 12 is far superior, look at all the attacking play and tries."
"The Five Nations is crap compared to our Tri Nations."
"We are going to put 40 to 50 points on the "pussycats."
Wow, could history be repeating itself?
The best thing the Lions have going for them is the arrogance and over confidence that is part of South African sporting culture. They cannot conceive that they could get beaten by the Lions, and that is their achilles heel.
Anonymous June 03, 2009 2:53 pm

Anonymous June 03, 2009 2:54 pm

Anonymous June 03, 2009 3:11 pm

I said there is no way the the heineken Cup semi finalists would have conceded 60 + points to the Bulls...in other words..."any score over 60 including 80."
and he said, "you're right, mate they would have conceded 80."
So he was disagreeing with my premise you dope, even though he wrote "you're right"...because he took my OP to me that the Bulls wouldn't have scored 60, but might have scopred something higher than that.
Get a brain.
Anonymous June 03, 2009 6:54 pm

Yeah the S14 is great!!
Anonymous June 03, 2009 6:57 pm

Anonymous June 03, 2009 6:59 pm

Anonymous June 03, 2009 7:02 pm

by the way take oz,nz and sa against any hc team - and you will have a cricket score!!!
Anonymous June 05, 2009 1:07 am

The Schpoople Master June 07, 2009 5:36 pm
















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