S14 Final: Bulls v Chiefs
May 28 2009
And then there were two! After fifteen gruelling weeks and 93 games, the Super 14 Final is upon us as the Bulls and Chiefs face-off for a titanic battle to decide who will be crowned champions after 80 minutes played at the daunting Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria.
Arguably the two best teams in the tournament have made it through to the winner-takes-all extravaganza in South Africa's capital, as the Chiefs prepare themselves for their first ever Super Rugby final.
The Bulls however will have the familiarity of not only taking part, but winning a Super 14 final thanks to a last ditch effort by Bryan Habana to deny the Sharks 20-19 in Durban two years ago.
Times and venues have changed since then, but only slightly.
Following the Bulls' last-minute win over their SA rivals, the men in blue have gone from hero to zero and back again. Champions in 2007, tenth the following year and number one this time out - the Bulls will be looking for a second title in three seasons...not bad going by any means!
Furthermore, the Bulls will be confident at home after last week's solid 36-23 semi-final performance against the Crusaders. Another encouraging factor will be their form against New Zealand teams during the 2009 competition.
The Bulls have won five out of their six matches against New Zealand teams this season with three of those wins coming at home.
The only loss came in the league fixture against the Crusaders in Christchurch in early April, but last week's semi-final win over the reigning champions means they have beaten all five Kiwi teams in 2009.
The Chiefs, meanwhile, have had three wins out of five against South African sides this season, two of which were in South Africa against the Stormers and the Cheetahs. They also beat the Lions in Hamilton.
The Bulls have won their last five matches in a row, a sequence that ironically began with their 33-27 win over the Chiefs at Loftus on April 25. That defeat was also the Chiefs' last and they have put together an unbeaten run of four matches going into Saturday's Final.
The Chiefs would have done well to study the Crusaders' valiant effort last week when they led 20-7 at the 25-minute mark, before the hosts snatched back control to lead 27-20 at half-time. Aside from a brief flurry early in the second half, the match was gone for the Crusaders as the crowd roared and Morne Steyn finished the job with four drop-goals.
His four cheeky attempts set a new competition record for a single match and his season total of 10, also a season record, is more than seven teams have kicked in their entire Super Rugby histories.
However, lessons learned from their own recent blunders in Pretoria and those by the Crusaders a week ago, will only harden the Chiefs for this weekend's Super 14 finale.
By beating the Hurricanes, one of the form teams in recent weeks, for the second time within the space of a month, the Chiefs proved their right to be ranked alongside the Bulls as one of the top two teams in the Super 14.
They will not be easy to beat, and the Bulls should be mindful of the fact that the last few times the Chiefs have come to Pretoria, the games have been close.
With two teams in good form and clearly peaking at the right time, the final could go either way. But the way both have played their rugby this season should make for an exciting and entertaining contest with the hosts starting as slight favourites.
Ones to watch:
For Bulls: Fly-half Morne Steyn could decide this game with his boot, and there's no reason to believe that he won't attempt to replicate his drop kicking feats of a week ago. Provided the execution is spot on, it's a very effective method of points accumulation.
For Chiefs: The Chiefs' ability to strike from turnover ball is well documented as well and in this regard they have the ability to hurt the Bulls should they boss the breakdown. The Bulls' cleaners will have to ensure the Chiefs' primary pilferer, Tanerau Latimer, has minimal influence in this contest.
Super head to head: Both teams have a number of world-class players ...starting from one to fifteen!
Prediction: The Bulls will be looking for a second title in three seasons whilst the Chiefs are chasing their first-ever Super Rugby crown and there is everything to play for. The hosts remain favourites amongst the local media to recapture the title they first acquired in 2007 due to their settled squad, which includes twelve Springboks and multiple World Cup winners. Adding to that, the Bulls surely must be favourites on the back of ten consecutive unbeaten matches at home, and another baying 52,000-strong Loftus Versfeld crowd in store. Surely? The Bulls to win by four points.
The teams:
Bulls: 15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Akona Ndungane, 13 Jaco Pretorius, 12 Wynand Olivier, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Morné Steyn, 9 Fourie du Preez, 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Dewald Potgieter, 6 Deon Stegmann, 5 Victor Matfield (c), 4 Bakkies Botha, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 Derick Kuün, 1 Gurthrö Steenkamp.
Replacements: 16 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 17 Rayno Gerber, 18 Danie Rossouw, 19 Pedrie Wannenburg, 20 Heini Adams, 21 Burton Francis, 22 Marius Delport.
Chiefs: 15 Mils Muliaina (c), 14 Lelia Masaga, 13 Richard Kahui, 12 Callum Bruce, 11 Dwayne Sweeney, 10 Stephen Donald, 9 Toby Morland, 8 Sione Lauaki, 7 Tanerau Latimer, 6 Liam Messam, 5 Kevin O'Neill, 4 Craig Clarke, 3 James McGougan, 2 Aled de Malmanche, 1 Sona Taumalolo.
Replacements: 16 Hika Elliot, 17 Joe Savage, 18 Toby Lynn, 19 Serge Lilo, 20 David Bason, 21 Mike Delany, 22 Sosene Anesi.
Date: Saturday, May 30
Venue: Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
Kick-off: 17:30 (15:30 GMT)
Referee: Jonathan Kaplan
Touch judges: Craig Joubert, Cobus Wessels
TMO: Johann Meuwesen