Bulls coach Frans Ludeke believes his side’s labours against the Lions was a good curtain raiser ahead of next week’s clash against the Crusaders.
Opinion is divided over whether Victor Matfield should come out of retirement and lead South Africa in a three-Test home series against England.
Bulls coach Frans Ludeke says it’s a feather in its cap that the South African Rugby Union is interested in four of its management assistants.
Blue Bulls coach Frans Ludeke has backed his side to overtake the Stormers and lead the South African Super Rugby conference at the weekend.
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/ 18 January 2012
Bulls coach Frans Ludeke says his side will be bigger, stronger and faster going into this year’s Super Rugby season.
Bulls captain Pierre Spies believes their new-look squad can bounce back in next year’s Super Rugby competition.
Bulls players are firmly focused on the task at hand: to beat the Sharks in their Super Rugby match.
Ahead of Saturday’s clash against the Stormers, Bulls captain Victor Matfield says the pressure is on both teams to qualify for the Super Rugby play
Bulls coach Frans Ludeke has promised that they would not expose potential World Cup players to unnecessary risks.
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/ 17 February 2010
Bulls coach Frans Ludeke has made two changes for Saturday’s Super 14 match against the Brumbies at Loftus Versfeld.
The Blue Bulls, known as the ”lock factory” for producing quality lock forwards over the years, are in a spot of bother.
Victor Matfield, Bulls captain when they won the Super 14 last year, will be back for the Blue Bulls when the Currie Cup season starts, and will therefore be eligible for the Springboks. The Blue Bulls on Thursday night announced that Matfield had signed a contract with them to return ”home”. The contract becomes effective on July 1 and ends on October 31 2011.
South Africa’s Coastal Sharks face a moment of truth against the toughest team in rugby’s Super 14 when they put their chances of a home play-off on the line against the Canterbury Crusaders in Christchurch on Friday. The Sharks are feeling the effects of five demanding weeks on the road in Australia and New Zealand.
With bearded behemoth Louis Moolman at lock, knuckle-dusters made flesh like Thys Lourens on the flank, Bugs Bunny’s lovechild Naas Botha at flyhalf and the effortless class of Johan Heunis at fullback, who was going to tell the Bulls they were getting it wrong? Not while the Currie Cup titles mounted up.
Lions coach Eugene Eloff has had enough of his side’s near-wins in the Super 14, in which they have only one win and a draw from seven outings. ”I’m fed up with saying that this was another match we should have won,” Eloff said after Friday’s defeat to the Highlanders, who were bottom of the log before their 29-20 win over the Lions.
Bulls loose forward Pedrie Wannenburg will become the most capped Bulls player in Super rugby when he takes the field against the Western Force in Perth on Friday. Wannenburg, who was selected as flank alongside Wikus van Heerden, will surpass Victor Matfield’s record of 77 matches for the franchise.
Pierre Spies has been included in the Bulls side to play the Blues in a Super 14 match in Auckland on Saturday. The inclusion of the Springbok number eight is a major boost for the defending champions, who have won only two of their six matches to date and were outplayed by two of the competition’s weaker sides over the past two weekends.
The Bulls will be without Bryan Habana for their Super 14 match against the Chiefs in Roturua on Saturday. The 2007 IRB Player of the Year has not been considered due to a recurrence of a shoulder injury, and Danwel Demas will replace him on the left wing.
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/ 28 February 2008
The Sharks and the Bulls will stage a replay of last year’s final in the third round of the Super 14 this weekend, with both teams attempting to prevent recent glory days from ebbing away. The Sharks won their first two matches by narrow margins, 17-10 over the Western Force and 12-10 — relying on penalties — over the Stormers.
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/ 27 February 2008
The Bulls have included their fit-again World Cup Springboks Bakkies Botha and Akona Ndungane in the team to play the Sharks at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday in a repeat of last year’s Super 14 final. Their inclusion was expected, pending their fitness, but coach Frans Ludeke made a surprise selection of Morne Steyn at flyhalf, while giving Springbok Derick Hougaard a rest.
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/ 14 February 2008
The new Super 14 season, which begins on Friday, could help determine whether South Africa’s dominance of world rugby was a one-year wonder. South Africa provided both teams in last year’s Super 14 final — the Bulls beat the Sharks — and the Springboks went on to win the sixth World Cup in France.
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/ 13 February 2008
South Africa’s five Super 14 teams will have to produce some of their best rugby yet if they are to retain the title they so famously won, for the first time, last year. After years of being denied the title by the Australian and New Zealand teams, South Africa’s Northern Bulls finally went all the way in 2007.
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/ 16 January 2008
The one-and-a-half-day visit of Eddie Jones to the Bulls was worthwhile — and the Super 14 champions have learnt a lot from it. Bulls forward coach Pote Human and the franchise’s new captain, Fourie du Preez, were unanimous in their view that the former Brumbies and Wallaby coach had lots to offer the Bulls.
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/ 5 December 2007
The worst-kept coaching secret of the year is out: former Cats and Golden Lions coach Frans Ludeke is the new coach of the Bulls. Ludeke’s appointment was confirmed by the Blue Bulls Company on Tuesday night after weeks of speculation. He will now join the team in George on Wednesday night.
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/ 17 November 2007
The Bulls’ quest to find a new coach to replace Heyneke Meyer next season has run its course — but now there seems to be doubt whether they must proceed with the appointment of Meyer’s successor. The incumbent coach is waiting for the appointment of the new Springbok coach, a position for which he has applied