If the two warm-up games between the Cats and Bulls at Ellis Park on Saturday was used as a yardstick for the coaches to measure how much work still needs to be done before the Super 14 competition next month, they received a rude awakening.
Apart from flashes of brilliance by certain players such as Cats scrumhalf Jano Vermaak and Bulls replacement hooker Chilliboy Ralepelle and solid performances by Cats skipper Wikus van Heerden, centre Jaque Fourie and Bulls flyhalf Morne Steyn, among others, both teams looked nothing more than average.
However, both the Cats and Bulls were understandably rusty after their festive season breaks.
Bulls locks Victor Matfield and Bakkies Botha also asserted their dominance in the lineouts.
But Matfield had to leave the field shortly before halftime of the second game after hurting his right knee.
The Cats had injury problems of their own, with flyhalves Tiaan Snyman and replacement Nel Fourie being forced to leave the field in the first game due to injury.
Snyman took a knock to the head and had to be carried off the field, while Fourie hurt his left shoulder.
The Bulls dominated in both games, registering victories of 15-11 and 30-12 respectively.
One of the areas that coaches Frans Ludeke for the Cats and Heyneke Meyer for the BUlls will have to work hard to improve in the next three weeks is to round off their try-scoring opportunities -‒ something that will be vital to beat teams like the Crusaders, Blues and Waratahs, among others.
It appears as though the Bulls will not deviate much from the game plan that earned them a place in the semifinal of the Super 12 last year -‒ using their forwards to drive the ball over the advantage line and rely on their creative backs to round off the opportunities.
The Cats, meanwhile, lacked structure and fixed game plan, and relied on lucky breaks through the Bulls defence to create opportunities to put points on the board -‒ and this could cost them dearly in the gruelling competition.
To make matters worse, the South African franchise that finishes the competition in the lowest position on the log table will be dropped from the 2007 series to make way for the Southern Spears, meaning that Ludeke’s team in particular will have to step up tremendously if they plan to pose as a threat in the competition. – Sapa