Week 3: Bulls v Highlanders

Darwin · Mar 1, 2011

Should be an interesting game. Neither team has been convincing in their early seasons win, however one suspects that the Bulls have much more room for improvement than the Highlanders do!

The Highlanders have won there first two games on the back of a dominant forward pack. Unfortunately for them, the Bulls, unlike the Hurricanes & Chiefs, have the players (and more importantly the right attitude) to match (or even better) the Highlanders forwards. As far as Iâ€™m aware neither team has been named, though the Highlanders do have a 26-man touring squad:
Forwards: Jamie Mackintosh (c) , Josh Bekhuis , Tom Donnelly , Chris King , John Hardie , Jarrad Hoeata , Nasi Manu , Brayden Mitchell , Bronson Murray , Jason Rutledge , Mahonri Schwalger , Alando Soakai , David Te Moana , Adam Thomson Backs: Jimmy Cowan (vc) , Tony Brown, Kendrick Lynn , James Paterson , Siale Piutau , Kade Poki , Robbie Robinson , Matt Saunders , Aaron Smith , Ben Smith , Shaun Treeby , Telusa Veainu

After back to back wins I wouldnâ€™t expect many changes in the Highlanders team, with the only certain change being Robinson coming into first-five to replace the injured Sopoaga (with Brown likely on the bench). If Donnelly is back to full fitness he could slot into lock beside Bekhuis, though he may be eased back from the bench.

I would like to see King back starting at tighthead prop, as his workrate is far superior to Te Moanaâ€™s (who also struggled at scrum time against the Chiefs). I would also consider dropping Manu to the bench, with either Hoeata or Hardie at 6 (and Thomson moving to 8) though I probably give Manu one last chanceâ€¦

As much as I want the Mighty Southland Highlanders to win I would be surprised if we do winâ€¦ Iâ€™m picking the Bulls to win by 10-15 pointsâ€¦

Larksea · Mar 1, 2011

I think the main thing going against the highlanders is the road trip to the highveld after 2 tough games, else I'd pick them to win for sure. They still have a good chance though, wouldn'twrite them off.

donmcdazzle · Mar 1, 2011

Bulls should take this one. Can't see the Highlanders pack bullying the Bulls pack like they've done to the 'Canes and the Chiefs.

dan the man · Mar 1, 2011

I'm picking the Highlanders by less than 7... it'll probably be a game played with a real focus on defence. I cant imagine we'll see too many tries, I'm looking forward to seeing Tony Brown play! He was quality back in his days as an All Black but he was in competition with Mehrtens and Spencer... His experience will be a great asset to helping the Highlanders grind out another win.

Larksea · Mar 1, 2011

Why you bagging on Manu? I thought he was very good, best highlander forward with ball in hand and it was a couple of his pushes that helped shift the mommentum in that last game. Thompson is good come lineout or breakdown but he can't get over the advantage line around the scrum or ruck like Manu can.

donmcdazzle · Mar 1, 2011

Larksea said:
Why you bagging on Manu? I thought he was very good, best highlander forward with ball in hand and it was a couple of his pushes that helped shift the mommentum in that last game. Thompson is good come lineout or breakdown but he can't get over the advantage line around the scrum or ruck like Manu can.

Thomson's work rate is only about 300 times better than Manu's, he is miles better.

Darwin · Mar 1, 2011

Larksea said:
Why you bagging on Manu? I thought he was very good, best highlander forward with ball in hand and it was a couple of his pushes that helped shift the mommentum in that last game. Thompson is good come lineout or breakdown but he can't get over the advantage line around the scrum or ruck like Manu can.

His ball handling has been very poor... he's lost the ball in contact at least twice in the last game. His workrate is poor - all he does it stand one off the ruck so he is in position to hit the ball up. Most importantly his defense has been absolutely pathetic - I have never seen a loose-forward miss so many tackles! Both the Chiefs and the Canes made several clean line breaks after he missed a simple 1-on-1 tackle...

Just had a look at the stats from the last two Highlanders games (from foxsports.com.au) - Manu has missed 13 tackles in the first two games (more than anyone in the competition, and alsmost twice as many as the next loose-forward..). He has made 19/32 tackles (59%) - as a comparison Thomson has made 25/25 (100%), while Soakai has made 24/27 (89%).

I do agree that his ball running in the second half was impressive last week, however the rest of his game is very poor..

Larksea · Mar 2, 2011

you need guys like him though, if the opositoins defence has it's tail up and you need to make the advantage line who you going to give the ball too in the highlanders forward pack? Thompson? no. Soakai? no. Manu is the #1 man and he does go forward and get the mommentum guys like thompson need, next you got macIntosh who is also good in that area and the locks. I believe the other aspects of Manu's game will improve as he adjusts to super rugby. As far as workrate goes your stats also show that he is at least attempting a lot of tackles - more than either thompson or Soakai. Those statistics suggest maybe he's trying to do too much. Which again suggests that area should improve as he adjusts to super rugby.

Darwin · Mar 2, 2011

Larksea said:
you need guys like him though, if the opositoins defence has it's tail up and you need to make the advantage line who you going to give the ball too in the highlanders forward pack? Thompson? no. Soakai? no. Manu is the #1 man and he does go forward and get the mommentum guys like thompson need, next you got macIntosh who is also good in that area and the locks. I believe the other aspects of Manu's game will improve as he adjusts to super rugby. As far as workrate goes your stats also show that he is at least attempting a lot of tackles - more than either thompson or Soakai. Those statistics suggest maybe he's trying to do too much. Which again suggests that area should improve as he adjusts to super rugby.

Don't get me wrong, I do rate Manu highly as a player (I was really happy when the Highlanders signed him), I've just been shocked at his poor defense this year (which is something I've never noticed before..). I do agree that his style of play suits the Highlanders, as they do need a strong running number 8 to get over the advantage line (Elliot Dixon may get a chance latter in the year...). I wonder whether he is carrying an injury (as he is often injured), or he is worried about getting injured again and as such is not fully committing to the tackle (and hence is falling off them). I don't imagine that Joseph will drop him anytime soon, I just hope Manu is spending a lot of time working on his tackling!

Shaggy · Mar 2, 2011

darwin_23 said:
His ball handling has been very poor... he's lost the ball in contact at least twice in the last game. His workrate is poor - all he does it stand one off the ruck so he is in position to hit the ball up. Most importantly his defense has been absolutely pathetic - I have never seen a loose-forward miss so many tackles! Both the Chiefs and the Canes made several clean line breaks after he missed a simple 1-on-1 tackle...

Just had a look at the stats from the last two Highlanders games (from foxsports.com.au) - Manu has missed 13 tackles in the first two games (more than anyone in the competition, and alsmost twice as many as the next loose-forward..). He has made 19/32 tackles (59%) - as a comparison Thomson has made 25/25 (100%), while Soakai has made 24/27 (89%).

I do agree that his ball running in the second half was impressive last week, however the rest of his game is very poor..

I agree with all that you've said ... he seems to have a touch of the Sione Lauaki's about him, where he makes metres when he catches the ball, but he seems to drop a lot of very easy passes ... I would normally put this down to early season rustiness, but he seem to drop a few in the ITM cup for Canterbury as well

... having said all of that, I would still play him, because when he does catch the ball, he does make successful line breaks, and it's one more ball runner for the bulls to mark, reducing the pressure on the likes of MacIntosh and Thomson

... as already mentioned, the likes of King and Donnelly would be welcome returns to the Highlanders pack ... it's inevitable that the Bulls will hit form sooner or latter ... I just, hope it's not this week ... predicting/hoping for a narrow victory to the Highlanders

TRF_stormer2010 · Mar 2, 2011

Highlanders have been dominating teams at the breakdown and if they can keep it up against the Bulls then they are definately in with a shout. I expect though that the Bulls will be warned and have the muscle up front to match the Highlanders and should still be favourites although they haven't been utterly convincing in their opening games. The wild card for me is Robinson at 10; he looks like a guy that has the potential to create something from nothing.

Sam Owen · Mar 2, 2011

My hearts with the Highlanders, my money and my mind is on the Bulls. This is the Highlanders first real test all due respect to the Chiefs and the 'Canes but I dont feel those teams have been up to standard and its probably cos its the start of the season. However its the 3rd week and most teams will have hit their straps by now and thats why Im leaning towards the Bulls for this week.

Seaton · Mar 2, 2011

If the Bulls don't start off like they did against the Cheetahs, they could be facing down the barrel of a .50 caliber

On the other hand, if they start like they did against the Lions, they will out of sight of HT.

Hope the Highlanders win, and then I get to read all the doomsday colunms (sp.) that get put in newspapers
I love those kind of articles

TRF_stormer2010 · Mar 2, 2011

Bulls team to ace the Highlanders

http://www.sarugby.com/2011/03/02/rossouw-starts-for-bulls/

Bulls (with Super Rugby caps): 15 Zane Kirchner (42), 14 Gerhard van den Heever (19), 13 Jaco Pretorius (38), 12 Wynand Olivier (73), 11 Bjorn Basson (11), 10 MornÃ© Steyn (75), 9 Fourie du Preez (101), 8 Pierre Spies (58), 7 Dewald Potgieter (33), 6 Deon Stegmann (41), 5 Victor Matfield (111), 4 Danie Rossouw (103), 3 Werner Kruger (44), 2 Chiliboy Ralepelle (21), 1 GurthrÃ¶ Steenkamp (68). Replacements: Derick KuÃ¼n (58), Rossouw de Klerk (1), Flip van der Merwe (21), JuandrÃ© Kruger (0), Ruan Snyman (1), Francois Brummer (1), Stephan Dippenaar (14).

Except for the 2 Botha's this is pretty much a full strength team. Interesting to see Kruger on the bench ahead of the back-up loose forwards. That said he is the type of lock that can play a loose forward role. A tough one to call but as this is the first Bulls game at Loftus and the bulls have had decent warm-up now I will go for a Bulls win. Hope Basson starts scoring some tries as well. I'd like to see the Bulls play more rugby though and drop the kick-anything-and-everything-game.

Cassie · Mar 2, 2011

Hope Bulls play 80 mins of rugby because against a dangerous side like the Highlanders you cant afford not to. Good looking team, also hoping to see Bason get more ball he is a really good finisher.

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Darwin · Mar 3, 2011

The Mighty Southland Highlanders have been named:

15.Ben Smith, 14 Siale Piutau, 13 Kendrick Lynn, 12 Shaun Treeby, 11 Kade Poki, 10 Robbie Robinson, 9 Jimmy Cowan, 8 Nasi Manu, 7 Alando Soakai, 6 Adam Thomson, 5 Josh Bekhuis, 4 Jarrad Hoeata, 3 Chris King, 2 Jason Rutledge, 1 Jamie Mackintosh (c).
Subs: 16 Brayden Mitchell, 17 Bronson Murray, 18 Tom Donnelly, 19 John Hardie, 20 Aaron Smith, 21 Tony Brown, 22 Telusa Veainu.

A couple of changes from last week. Up front Chris King starts ahead of Te Moana at tighthead prop which should improve the forward pack as King is far more mobile than Te Moana (and in my opinion just as good in the scrum..). Tom Donnelly is being eased back from the bench, but I'd expect him to get a good 20-30 minutes.

In the backs Robinson comes in for the injured Sopoaga (with the 36 year old Tony Brown coming onto the bench). Robinson is still a bit error prone at Super Rugby level, though he does always show 2-3 flashes of brilliance a game - the Bulls loose-forwards and inside backs will have to keep a close eye on him as he has phenomenal acceleration.

Piutau comes in for Paterson on the right wing, which will add another attacking weapon to the Highlanders backline. Paterson has been very solid in the first two games, but really hasn't caused the opposition any worries. In contrast Piutau could cause some damage with his powerful running. His match-up with Basson will be interesting - Piutau could cause Basson some problems with his power, while Basson could cause Piutau all sorts of problems with his pace. Great to see Veainu on the bench, as he's an incredibly talented young player.

Amobokoboko · Mar 3, 2011

Should be a good game if both teams bring the rugby they brought the last two weeks.

Shaggy · Mar 4, 2011

i'm looking forward to if/when Veainu gets subbed on for the Highlanders ... he's another one who can score tries

Ostrayian · Mar 5, 2011

Highllanders up at halftime!!! BRING IT HOME BOYS!!

Seaton · Mar 5, 2011

Jeepers, the Bulls are making the Highlanders look like the Crusaders!

I just love watching the Bulls losing, and seeing the hordes of the great unwashed blue silenced and/or booing the ref

Mon the Highlanders!

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