Ludeke happy, Muir relaxed
January 31 2010
Bulls coach Frans Ludeke was a happy man after his side's 42-12 win over a spirited Lions side in a Super 14 warm-up in Polokwane on Saturday.
The reigning champions, playing without seven Springboks who are nursing injuries of various forms and grades of seriousness and some longer term, came out of the match unscathed - or nearly unscathed, that is.
Returnee from the Cheetahs Jacques-Louis Potgieter left the field with a nose that is broken, and has a bump to the leg. But other than that, the Bulls have a clean slate as they prepare for their first match in Bloemfontein against the Cheetahs on Friday, February 12.
"There's still lots of work ahead, but generally I'm happy with what the guys did today (Saturday)." Ludeke said after the match.
In particular the form of Jaco Pretorius, who looked sharp and eager at centre, and the work-rate of Pedrie Wannenburg would have impressed Ludeke. There was also a performance by Gerhard van den Heever that showed he has come of age. And Zane Kirchner had one of his very best outings yet for the Bulls.
Add to that a generally good all-round performance of the side, and Bulls fans will look forward content in the knowledge that their side is ready for their title defence.
Meanwhile, Lions boss Dick Muir played down the result from the Polokwane fixture.
"The scoreline never would have counted in this match," was Rugby Director Muir's response to the rather large defeat.
"This was not about winning, but about a process. And with that I'm happy."
What impressed him was the fact that his side from Johannesburg, not the best available selection like the Bulls', did create opportunities in the game.
"If we hadn't done that, I would have been worried. But we did, and now it's a case of finishing off properly," he added.
Errors and inconsistencies cost the Lions four tries and although the Bulls were undoubtedly the better side, the arrears did flatter them somewhat.
"Our lineouts weren't great, but we only had one week to work on that," Muir continued.