Bulls coach Frans Ludeke finds himself with a somewhat difficult call to make ahead of this weekend’s crunch game against the Sharks. Veteran enforcer lock Bakkies Botha is finally fit after rupturing his Achilles tendon back in December and Ludeke needs to decide how best to use him, if at all.
On paper, it’s a no-brainer of a call. Botha and Victor Matfield are generally regarded as the best lock pairing in the world and there’s a certain bizarre synergy at play between the two of them that sees each play a hell of lot better when the other is on the field. Against a Sharks side that has rediscovered the art of forward play over the last 5 weeks, you could forgive Ludeke for wanting to throw absolutely everything he has into the forward battle. While the addition of Gary Botha to the mix has aided the Bulls scrum immensely this year, my feeling is that they may just find themselves a wee bit light against the Sharks, particularly if the wrecking-ball combination of Jean Deysel and Willem Alberts is selected in the back row. The Bulls first-choice flankers, Dewald Potgeiter and Derick Kuun, while both fast and skillful, both hover just around the 100 kilogram mark, leaving Pierre Spies as the only really “big boy” in the back row. Alberts and Deysel between them add an astonishing 230kg to the Sharks pack weight and they do tend to use those extra kilos to good effect on the drive and in the tackle.
The Bulls pack, though, are looking settled and in Danie Rossouw have a hugely capable and experienced front lock who is fit and in-form. Second row replacement Flip van der Merwe is also enjoying the form of his life right now and it would be the young former Cheetahs player who would lose his spot in the squad should Botha be selected. While Ludeke may justifiably feel that rushing Botha back into his starting lineup might be just the tonic to take the edge off the abrasive Sharks pack, nobody can be really sure right now exactly how long Botha will last, given that he’s had no rugby at all for five months. Sticking with Rossouw and potentially picking Botha on the bench would no doubt be the safer option, but Big Pakslae, despite his nickname, is nowhere near as physical as Botha is, despite being almost as tall and weighing a few kilos more.
It’s a pretty tough decision to make and from a Sharks perspective, I really hope that Ludeke goes with Bakkies. He’ll be only half fit, for one thing and his notoriously volatile temperament tends to boil over in niggly games, leading to yellow cards. That’s just the sort of thing we need.
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agree ❗
Don’t rush Bakkies back. In Klein Flip and Danie they have adequate replacements. Play Bakkies off the bench and have him ready for the playoffs.
@Oubaas2009 (Comment 2) : worst-case scenario for Bulls and Boks is that they rush Bakkies in for this game and he ends up getting crocked again. He’s not a youngster any more…
@robdylan (Comment 3) : Botha and Ali Williams would make a great locking partnership. Both injured, and past it…… roll him back out their against the Crusaders 😎
My prediction for this game…
It will be won and lost based on the respective benches, and there I am afraid the Bulls edge it.
@Morné (Comment 5) : think you may be right. But we’ll probably have Keegan the Bullslayer on the bench. He’s their kryptonite.
Actually, nah. If we have Keegan, Burden, Hargo, Beast on the bench, I think we can run them ragged late in the game. If only the backs don’t stuff it up for us.
@robdylan (Comment 6) :
Pedrie, Stegmann, Flip makes massive contributions off the bench as does Potgieter in the backs.
It is very tight, but Bulls edge the bench for me.
@Morné (Comment 7) : different dynamic, sure… but I see your point about JLP. Man, would love to have a backline replacement like that on our side.
@robdylan (Comment 8) : I agree with your Sharks perspective here, lets hope they push Bakkies in who will take a while to find his feet again.
I realy like JLP, I think he has amazing talent, can run at the opposing backline and has a decent boot. Why he went to the Bulls to sit on a bench all season really goes beyond me?!
@Rob : I’m an IT specialist and mathematician, but please explain your “Alberts and Deysel between them add an astonishing 130kg to the Sharks pack weight” statement to me.
@Rob : I guess that must be “sharkspeak”, or whatever the diatribe flowing on this site is called
@eckard (Comment 10) :
@eckard (Comment 11) :
❓ ❓ ❓ ❓
So did you find the guy who pissed in your corn flakes? Or are you still in a bad mood.
@eckard (Comment 10) : @KSA Shark © (Comment 12) : Fair question….Rob please explain your calculations to us 😯
@Pokkel (Comment 13) : That would be 65kg’s heavier each than the next best players
@Pokkel (Comment 13) :
Fair question yes, deserves and answer, Rude Bulls supporter rant deserves a retort.
In answer to YOUR question
Alberts 119kg
Deysel 112kg
=231kg
the 130kg was a typo by Rob.
@KSA Shark © (Comment 15) : That still doesn’t ADD 130 kg’s. It might ADD 30 kg’s 😉
@Pokkel (Comment 14) : ❓
How did you get to that 65kg? 😛
Anyway it’s good to be back after all the ADSL problems we’ve had. 😎
@KSA Shark © (Comment 17) : 130 divided by 2 according to Rob.
@Pokkel (Comment 16) :
HUH? They weight 231kg between them so they add 231 KGs to the pack. Rob wasn’t comparing them to other players’ weights.
@Pokkel (Comment 19) :
I must be looking like my arse again, kette tells me that all the time. 🙂 Where does Rob say that?
@KSA Shark © (Comment 20) : but you wouldn’t play with only 6 guys in the pack now would you.
@Pokkel (Comment 22) :
so maybe Rob should have used the word contribute rather than add. Let me ask him to add that word to his vocabulary. 😉
@KSA Shark © (Comment 23) :
It is clear that ‘pinky’ is using the keyboard and not ‘brain’
@KSA Shark © (Comment 12) : @Pokkel (Comment 13) : @Rob
Fair remark(s). I was a bit rude. Put it down to a hot day in the Arabian desert, and a couple of ales too many. I apologise
@wpw (Comment 24) : It’s ‘Friday’ in KSA we’ll forgive him 😉
you guys can be horribly pedantic sometimes. 130kg was a typo… it should have been 230. I’ll fix it now
@eckard (Comment 25) : after running this site for 2 years, I’ve developed a pretty thick skin, mate 🙂
@robdylan (Comment 27) : “add 130kg” should be “contribute 230kg” to make sense 😀
@eckard (Comment 29) : potayto potahto… it’s only going to cause confusion if you want it to 🙂
OMG!!!!
I hope that Deysel and Alberts ‘Enforce’ themselves upon Bakkies, they have the weight advantage
@JarsonX (Comment 32) : 😈 😆
@JarsonX (Comment 32) :
Come on ladies….break it up 😆
Watch out Rob… they are a coming… with pitch forks and burning stakes. 😆 Nothing but perfection is expected from you.