Rugby videos of tackles, tries, funny incidents and more: Bulls into the Super 14 final after beating the Crusaders

Monday, May 25, 2009

Bulls into the Super 14 final after beating the Crusaders

The Bulls will meet the Chiefs in the final of the Super 14 at next weekend after they staged a stunning recovery to beat the Crusaders 36-23 at Loftus Versfeld this past weekend.

An early try by Bryan Habana got the home team on the board, but it was last years champions, the Crusaders, who then flew off to a 20-7 lead, much to the dismay of the 52 000 strong home crowd.

The Bulls the staged an inspired comeback as they scored 22 points in eight minutes, taking them to a 27-20 half-time lead.

Flyhalf Morne Steyn did his Springbok aspirations no harm as he kicked four drop goals and converted three of the Bulls tries, contributing 21 points and earning him the Man of the Match award.

The Bulls will host the Final at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday against the Chiefs. Home advantage will be a huge factor, with the majority of tickets already sold out.

"We will need to build extra stands for the final," joked Bulls skipper Victor Matfield as he thanked the passionate blue-clad crowd after the match.

"The Crusaders began with a bang and the way our boys came back was nothing less than awesome."

Crusaders captain Richie McCaw accepted defeat with dignity.

"We were not good enough because after a great start we surrendered the momentum to the Bulls."

Kick off is at 17:30 local time (GMT +2) on Saturday 30th May.

Time: 06:47

nice dropgoal

1st

By Anonymous, at May 25, 2009 5:47 pm
Go Bulls!

By jidertserf, at May 25, 2009 6:03 pm
OK so Spies is fast, but he will not that kind of room in a test series against the Lions.

By Anonymous, at May 25, 2009 6:38 pm
great game

By bob, at May 25, 2009 6:39 pm
BUUUUUUULLLLLLLLLLSSSSSSSSSSSS!

By Anonymous, at May 25, 2009 6:41 pm
GO THE BULLS!!!!

By Anonymous, at May 25, 2009 6:42 pm
Spies is so bril, that he can just hand-off anyone who gets in his way and CREATE space like that in a test match!

By Anonymous, at May 25, 2009 6:45 pm
IF MY BLOOD WAS MORE BLUE, I'D BE A SMURF!!! GO THE BULLSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!

By Anonymous, at May 25, 2009 6:48 pm
LOFTUS SOLD OUT AT LUNCHTIME TODAY, IT'S GOING TO BE A CRACKER OF A GAME, BRING ON THE CHIEFS!

By Anonymous, at May 25, 2009 6:52 pm
i was quite impressed with francois steyne. Saw him try the drop goal quite alot for the barbarians, to not such good effect. Yea he should be in with a shout against the lions i would think.

By Anonymous, at May 25, 2009 7:01 pm
@ anonymous above.

This here is Morne Steyn....
The last drop is a cracker.

By Ben, at May 25, 2009 7:04 pm
that last drop goal was almost identical to johnny sextons in the heiniken cup!! absolutely huge kicks

By Anonymous, at May 25, 2009 7:57 pm
who is this animal? the number eight

By Anonymous, at May 25, 2009 9:43 pm
No 8. of the Bulls is Pierre Spies.

Can anyone tell me the name of the South African TV commentator? Thanks

By Jochen, at May 25, 2009 10:13 pm
GO THE BULLS!!!

Love from SCOTLAND..

take it bulls

By bonnie guy, at May 25, 2009 11:48 pm
Brutal commentator. Like someone had put a old 45 on at 33rpm

By Anonymous, at May 26, 2009 12:40 am
Spies vs Lauaki = Showdown

By Doz, at May 26, 2009 1:28 am
Spies is going to destroy the Lions. It's gonna be great.

By Anonymous, at May 26, 2009 1:32 am
To Jochen

The main commentator is Hugh Bladen, a one-man SA rugby institution!

By Anonymous, at May 26, 2009 2:11 am
God, the try at 2:20 is gorgeous

By Anonymous, at May 26, 2009 4:18 am
Spies is an alien ...

By Anonymous, at May 26, 2009 7:22 am
steenkamp, bakkies, matfield, SPIES, du preez, STEYN, HABANA and kirchner should all start for the boks against the lions. Would have picked terblanche over kirchner but hes not in the bok squad
SPIES IS GUNA SMASH THE LIONS!

By Anonymous, at May 26, 2009 7:45 am
To anon above, Terblanche is too old, kirchner is for the future & Percy is there to train him!

By Anonymous, at May 26, 2009 9:17 am
forget the tries, what about those cheerleaders!!!!!!!

By Kenny, at May 26, 2009 10:43 am
if it's cheerleaders you're after i got some WAY better sites than this ;)

By Anonymous, at May 26, 2009 11:42 am
i only got to see the first half which was quite unfortunate

http://www.olympic-rugby.org/

By Anonymous, at May 26, 2009 11:52 am
comming back from 7-20 against a team like the crusaders - that's the stuff champions are made of...
i still hope the chiefs will be working wonders, but this year the bulls seem to be the team to beat...

great work bulls!

By opfazonk, at May 26, 2009 11:56 am
think about spies and Kankowski in the team

insane

By Anonymous, at May 26, 2009 12:23 pm
Bah, it would have been a better game if it wasn't for all the drop-goals... this isn't football for God's sake.

By Random, at May 26, 2009 12:41 pm
Random, drop-goals are part of rugby union (DEAL WITH IT!)...and there are none in football...so you aren't making a point. There were 5 tries as well, so it was one of those top (all round) brilliant games!

By Anonymous, at May 26, 2009 1:35 pm
SPIES is a MONSTER! Wouldn't want to mess with him! And I'm not even a Bulls/ Bok fan!

By Anonymous, at May 26, 2009 1:36 pm
Tell you one thing, if I saw either SPIES or BAKKIES running at me - I would just hand them the ball and close my eyes ...

By Anonymous, at May 26, 2009 1:39 pm
There were 4 drop goals scored by the bulls right? Now if they weren't scored, the score would be 24-23 which would be really close and if the game had been like that, both teams would have made it an even interesting game.

Drop-goals are a part of rugby but if every team score drop-goals without attempting to run the ball instead, might as well call it football.

By Random, at May 26, 2009 2:10 pm
Drop goals still take alot of brillance and skill to master, therefore only top class teams can achieve them in high-pressure games, the BULLS deserve the win - drop goals and all!

By Anonymous, at May 26, 2009 2:22 pm
I can see where Random is coming from but then again, it is a very hard thing to do ( a dropgoal), so it's fair enough to say it.

However, a few things. Pierre Spies in an incredible player but inconsistent. Morne Steyn is an excellent old-school outhalf but is actually terrible at attacking, so as a Springbok could possibly ruin the Lions Tests as a spectacle. DISCUSS

By Brick Shithouse, at May 26, 2009 2:40 pm
You mean, help assist the already stong Springboks win the series, that would only ruin it for the Lions fans, not the Boks. If you have a fantastic pack and you have the talent of Steyn and the other team lets you get away with it..why not? It's within the laws of the game and I think a nicely timed drop is just as good as an nicely timed try.

By Anonymous, at May 26, 2009 2:57 pm
wow steyn didnt even get closed down for 1 or 2 of them drop goals..

as a crusaders fan, bulls forwards looked more hungry for the ball.. and habana was looking back to his best, just in time for the lions... gotta think bulls had extra motivation for that game too..
lions tour will be brutal!!

By Abs7, at May 26, 2009 3:12 pm
The Bulls played an EXCELLENT game this past Saturday. I was at the game and thoroughly enjoyed every second of it.

Too bad I can't make the final this weekend. I'm sure that some of my friends will check the Junk Mail for tickets.

In fact, theres actually a competition on at the moment
http://www.junkmail.co.za/blog/2xsuper14finalticketsgrabs/19

By Running Wolf, at May 26, 2009 3:57 pm
Well anonymous, obviously the Boks will be happy with any sort of win but what I'm trying to say is that the Lions only come around every 4 years so to see them lose to a boring side ( not saying SA are boring but they will be if all Steyn does is knock over dropgoals) won't do anyone any good, as everyone involved wants to see 3 cracking high-intensity Test matches, not a shootout.
As an Irishman I love watching the Lions but I still appreciated watching them get stuffed by an all-conquering Dan Carter and Tana Umaga at his peak, and I don't think either of them went for a dropgoal ;)

By Brick Shithouse, at May 26, 2009 4:54 pm
Yes, but this game was anything but boring... & I should know as I was at the game...see my point?

By Anonymous, at May 26, 2009 5:01 pm
Good point. I suppose if the SA management encourage him to do it. But if they decide they want to play running rugby then Morne Steyn is definitely NOT the man for the job.

By Brick Shithouse, at May 26, 2009 8:57 pm
Brick Shithouse.. (love the name btw)
Remember the last time the Lions won in SA, how you won the match?? hmmm..

Also, being irish.. and having Ronan O'Gara as your flyhalf.. I'm not sure you're in any position to complain about morne steyn?? lol
Just sayin.. seems kinda premature to moan about the guy, considering he's got his side to the S14 final and is the top points scorer in the tournament. And if you've watched some of the tries the Bulls have created this season, it's anything but boring rugby imo..

By Shaft, at May 26, 2009 9:15 pm
That no 8, is shit hot! They do make them big in SA, wonder what they feed their young there???

By Anonymous, at May 26, 2009 11:17 pm
SHIT THOSE FANS ARE CRAZY ABOUT THEIR RUGGER!

By Anonymous, at May 26, 2009 11:33 pm
When Wilko does it it's boring, when a Bok does it it's great.

Southern hemisphere stupidity at its best.

Decent result against a weakened Saders team though, the outcome would have been reversed had they had Carter at the helm, regardless of location.

By Anonymous, at May 27, 2009 2:13 am
'Anonymous said...
SHIT THOSE FANS ARE CRAZY ABOUT THEIR RUGGER!'

If they are crazy about their rugger, why isn't every game a sell out instead of just a semi and a final?

By Anonymous, at May 27, 2009 2:18 am
Because the populations are smaller and poorer and they compete in a more congested marketplace, you ingorant bastard.

By Anonymous, at May 27, 2009 2:25 am
populations are smaller? you joker, south africa has the same population as england.

when was the last time manchester united had a home league game that wasnt a sell out? and ticket prices are 20x the price of rugby tickets in south africa.

By Anonymous, at May 27, 2009 2:32 am
The vast majority of the South African population are dirt poor you knob.
It's not Europe, South Africa is not awash with money.
The standard of living for the majority of the South African population precludes them attending rugby matches.

By Anonymous, at May 27, 2009 3:00 am
I don't know Shaft, Ronan O'Gara only did that out of necessity, last 5 minutes, Grand Slam on the line, but Steyn seems to do it as an option.
I watch all the s14 rugbyh, I know Steyn is a good player, just if he is the starting 10 then I think it could force South Africa to play pretty limited rugby. Look at their 3 tries here, he doesn't give a killer pass in any of them, seems to step in side alot. We'll have to wait and see.

By Brick Shithouse, at May 27, 2009 9:19 am
Anon ass said: If they are crazy about their rugger, why isn't every game a sell out instead of just a semi and a final?

BECAUSE SOUTH AFRICA IS A THIRD WOLRD COUNTRY YOU ASS, THEREFORE ITS MORE IMPORTANT TO SOME TO ACTUALLY FEED THEIR CHILDREN THAN TO GO TO A RUGGER MATCH' have you even been outside of Europe??? From your comment - Obviously not!!!
And to compare the £ to the Rand, just shows you how uneducated you really are!!! GROW UP!!!!

By Anonymous, at May 27, 2009 9:33 am
GO THE BULLSSSSSSS!!!!!!

By Anonymous, at May 27, 2009 9:33 am
Damn SPIES is good!

By Anonymous, at May 27, 2009 9:36 am
Spies in full flight is a sight to behold. Rugby poetry.

By Wildebees, at May 27, 2009 11:29 am
hi Brickshithouse (top name), the dropgoal was the perfect weapon against the crusaders. their defence was usually outstanding, but on attack, pretty mediocre (including their penalty kicking), so taking a droppie and conceding territory seems like a great tactic to me (i'm a crusaders nut, btw).

against the chiefs, however, there's no way you want to let them into your half. try the same tactics this week, and the Bulls might get hurt bigtime.

By the Emperor Fabulous, at May 27, 2009 4:33 pm
Morne Steyn, Francois Steyn, Ruuan Pienaar. I thought SA couldnt produce good fly halves? Gotta love the commentary too.

By Schpoople maestro, at May 27, 2009 5:48 pm
MAKE THE BULLS ALL BOKS!

By Anonymous, at May 28, 2009 9:04 am
i believe it might be a different story with dan carter back.
to reach the semis with a team of unknowns is a great effort.

By Anonymous, at May 28, 2009 11:18 am
lol Hugh Bladen was loving that

By Anonymous, at May 28, 2009 11:58 am
You're incredibly ignorant (and have absolutely no clue) if you say that the Crusaders wouldnt have lost if that had Dan Carter, and they have a team of unknowns?? wtf.

Their captain is Richie McCaw, for starters, and they're the most successful side in Super Rugby history, with or without Carter.

To say that is the same as saying that Eng would win every match they play IF Jonny Wilkinson were playing.. or that the Bulls would have lost if Habana werent.. thats just stupid tbh..

By Shaft, at May 28, 2009 12:24 pm
This is class everyone likes my name haha. I don't really get what you're saying to be honest Emperor Fabulous.

By Brick Shithouse, at May 28, 2009 11:23 pm
Bulls fourth dropgoal was the best! nice one! crusaders was good too.

By Aaron, at October 20, 2009 2:25 pm