Are the Blue Bulls powerless without their Superhero jerseys? On the evidence of what we’ve seen in the Super Rugby season so far, the answer is a definite yes. Pote Human’s men started their campaign (wearing their Captain America kit) with an impressive 40-3 win over the Stormers. They then travelled to Argentina wearing their regular strip, and were soundly beaten by the Jaguares. The Superhero uniforms came back in Round 3 and 4, and so did the Bulls, producing dominant performances to see off both the Lions and Sharks to go top of the South African conference.
Few would’ve then expected the men from Pretoria to lose to a Chiefs side that had started their campaign on a horror note- 4 losses and a draw. Surely the well rested Bulls (they had a bye last weekend) would be too strong on the Highveld for Colin Cooper’s side? Instead what followed was an absolutely lacklustre Bulls performance as the Chiefs, bottom of the NZ conference, scored seven tries to steamroll the home side 56-20 at Loftus. It was at this same venue a decade ago that the Chiefs had been thrashed 61-17 in the 2009 Super Rugby final, but today’s Bulls looked a pale shadow of Frans Ludeke’s title winning team as the men from Waikato found gaps in their defence at will. It was the Chiefs’ highest ever victory margin over the men from Pretoria (beating the 33 point win they had back in 2000) Continue reading
