Bulls (rugby union)

Bulls

Union	South African Rugby Union
Founded	1997
Location	Pretoria, South Africa
Region	Pretoria, Gauteng Province, Limpopo Province
Ground(s)	Loftus Versfeld (Capacity: 51,762)
Coach(es)	Frans Ludeke
Captain(s)	Pierre Spies, Victor Matfield, Flip van der Merwe
League(s)	Super Rugby
2014	9th
1st kit 2nd kit
Official website
www.thebulls.co.za

The Bulls, for sponsorship reasons known as the Vodacom Bulls, are a South African rugby union team competing in the Super Rugby competition. They are based in Pretoria and play their home matches at Loftus Versfeld. Prior to 1998, the Bulls competed in the then-Super 12 as Northern Transvaal, as in those years South Africa was represented in the competition by its top four Currie Cup sides from the previous season, instead of the modern Super Rugby teams.

The side won the Super 14 in 2007, 2009 and 2010, placing them among the most successful teams in the Super Rugby history with three titles. They were the most successful team of the Super 14 era (2006–10), winning three out of the five titles. The current team captain is Pierre Spies, with Dewald Potgieter as stand-in captain on 29 June 2013. The coach is Frans Ludeke.

History

Early History

Prior to the professional Super Rugby competition, Northern Transvaal competed in the Super 10, which was a tournament featuring ten teams from Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Tonga and Western Samoa, which ran from 1993 to 1995. The top three teams from the previous Currie Cup season qualified for each of the Super 10 tournaments.

Northern Transvaal competed in the 1993 season, where they were grouped in Pool B alongside Transvaal, New South Wales, North Harbour and Waikato. Transvaal finished at the top of the pool, with Northern Transvaal finishing third, behind New South Wales. Northern Transvaal did not qualify for the Super 10 (Southern Hemisphere competition)#1994 Super 10 or 1995 seasons.

Early Professional Era (1996 - 2005)

After rugby union went professional, the Super 10 tournament was restructured. The Super 12 was created, and was to be competed by teams from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. Both Australia and New Zealand adopted new franchise models for their teams, whereas South Africa chose to use the Currie Cup to decide what teams were to be promoted in the Super 12 each season.

Competing in the inaugural Super 12 season of 1996, Northern Transvaal were one of the 12 teams. The side won eight of their 11 games and finished third on the table – behind only Auckland and Queensland. Jannie Kruger finished the season in the top three leading point-scorers, behind only Matthew Burke and John Eales. The side was however soundly defeated in a semi-final by the Auckland Blues, with the final score being 48 points to 11. The game was played at Eden Park in Auckland.

After their fairly successful performance in the opening competition, the subsequent competition of 1997 saw them with three wins and three draws from 11 games. They finished at eighth. Following the 1997 season, South Africa adopted a similar franchise system to that of Australia and New Zealand's, abolishing the Currie Cup promotion system in favour of creating new franchises. The Bulls were formed as one of the four new teams. They did not make the semis in the 1998 season.The Bulls were considered one of the worst teams in the Super 12 competition, finishing last or second to last for five consecutive seasons from 1998–2003. In 2002, they became the first team ever to go through an entire Super Rugby season without winning a single game. This record remained until the Lions repeated the feat during the 2010 season. After finishing fourth in the inaugural competition, they didn't make the semis again until the years 2003.

The Bulls finished in 6th place in both 2003 and 2004, though still missing out on a finals position. They equalled there 1996 performance in 2005, although there was a very poor start to the season, it was followed by six straight wins to earn them a semi-final berth, where they were defeated by the New South Wales Waratahs. Bryan Habana finished in the top three try-scorers by the end of the season, and was short-listed for IRB player of the year.

Super 14 Era (2006–10)

In 2006, the Super 12 became the Super 14, with the addition of two new franchises, the Central Cheetahs and the Western Force. By the last round of the 2006 season, the Bulls, along with the Brumbies and Sharks were all in contention to take the fourth and final position on the ladder to make the semi-finals. After the Brumbies were defeated 33 to 3 by the Crusaders, the Bulls or Sharks could mathematically take the fourth spot. The Bulls defeated the Stormers at Newlands in Cape Town 43 points to 10, which ensured they went through to the semi-finals. The Bulls travelled to Christchurch where they were defeated 35 to 15 at Jade Stadium and knocked out of the finals.

The Bulls lost their first game of the 2007 Super 14 season, going down to the Sharks in Durban 17 points to 3, though the next week they posted their first win of the season, defeating the Central Cheetahs at home in Pretoria. Entering week 14, the last round of the regular season, the Bulls were chasing an unlikely 72-point win over the Queensland Reds in order to move into second place and get a home semi-final.^[1] At Loftus, the Bulls defeated the Reds 92 points to 3, with the 89-point margin of victory setting a new Super rugby record.^[1] The Bulls ran in 13 tries with four players getting doubles and Derick Hougaard kicking 11 conversions. The Sharks finished first, so it became the first time that both home venues in the semi-finals was in South Africa.

The Bulls defeated the Crusaders in their semi-final by 27 points to 12, with Derick Hougaard kicking eight penalties and a drop-goal. The Sharks ensured a home-final in the 2007 Super 14-competition by defeating the Blues with a scoreline of 34–18.

When the Bulls met the Sharks in the Super 14 final at the Absa Stadium in Durban the match turned out to be a tight, nervous affair with the Bulls initially being guilty of indiscipline and making a lot of mistakes. The Sharks carried a 14–10 advantage into half-time after a JP Pietersen try cancelled out one from Pierre Spies. The second half of the match was just as nail-biting, with the Bulls gaining the ascendancy in the match, but failing to turn their rising amount of possession into points. A Derick Hougaard penalty closed the gap to 14–13, after which the Bulls made several onslaughts on the Sharks line, only to lose the ball at critical stages. Their match looked to be all but over for the Bulls when Albert van den Berg barged over the line for a Sharks try two minutes from full-time to stretch their lead to six points. However, Francois Steyn failed with the conversion attempt, and the Bulls restarted with barely seconds on the clock. After regaining the ball from the kick-off, play went through several phases before Bryan Habana received the ball on the right wing. He cut infield and scored the most dramatic of match winning tries, more than a minute after official play. The try was converted by Derick Hougaard and the Bulls won the match by 20 points to 19. In 2009 the Bulls again won the super 14, defeating the Chiefs 61 – 17 in the final in Pretoria.

In 2010 the Bulls again finished top of the log by beating the Crusaders in a home semi final to secure a home final. Because the Fifa World cup was being hosted by South-Africa that year and Loftus was included as a venue, they had to play the Semi and Final in Soweto, A first in Super rugby history. The Stormers had beaten the Waratahs at home and would face off with the Bulls in the Final. The Bulls won the final once again in dramatic style when Francois Hougaard side stepped the Stormers Fullback Joe Petersen to score an impressive try.

Home Grounds

The Bulls play all their home matches at the Loftus Versfeld stadium in Pretoria, which is also the home of the Blue Bulls during the Currie Cup season. The stadium is also a regular host for Springboks Test matches, and was a venue during the 1995 Rugby World Cup which South Africa hosted. Loftus was a venue for Pool D matches including France v Tonga, Scotland v Tonga and France v Scotland. Loftus was also used twice during the finals stages – for the New Zealand v Scotland quarter-final and the England v France third place play-off.

The ground has been used for rugby since 1908, and in 1932 the stadium was renamed to Loftus Versfeld in honor of Robert Owen Loftus Versfeld, the founder of organized rugby in Pretoria.^[2][3] The stadium has undergone numerous renovations over the years, and is currently capable of holding 51,762 spectators.

Franchise Area

The team is centred around the Blue Bulls Rugby Union, whose catchment covers Pretoria as well as Limpopo, but also draws players from the Falcons Rugby Union, who represent the East Rand. Through 2005, the Bulls also drew players from the Pumas Rugby Union and Leopards Rugby Union, but in the realignment of franchise areas that came from the expansion of Super 12 to Super 14, these unions were moved into the Lions.

Supporters

Bulls supporters are known to be very passionate about rugby and their team in particular. This can sometimes lead to unfortunate incidents such as in March 2012, when Johannes Gideon Nel spoiled the Blues 29-23 victory over the Bulls at Loftus Versfeld. Blues captain Keven Mealamu was hit by a bottle thrown by Johannes.^[4][5]

Current squad

The Bulls squad for the 2015 Super Rugby season:^[6]

Props Andrew Beerwinkel Dean Greyling Werner Kruger Morné Mellett Trevor Nyakane Marcel van der Merwe Dayan van der Westhuizen Hencus van Wyk Hookers Bandise Maku Adriaan Strauss Callie Visagie Jaco Visagie Locks Grant Hattingh Nico Janse van Rensburg Victor Matfield Marvin Orie RG Snyman Flip van der Merwe

Loose Forwards Arno Botha Jacques du Plessis Jacques Engelbrecht Lappies Labuschagné Hanro Liebenberg Wiaan Liebenberg Roelof Smit Pierre Spies Deon Stegmann Nardus van der Walt Scrum Halves Francois Hougaard Rudy Paige Piet van Zyl Fly Halves Handré Pollard Jacques-Louis Potgieter Tian Schoeman

Centres JJ Engelbrecht Ryan Nell Burger Odendaal Jan Serfontein William Small-Smith Wingers Bjorn Basson Travis Ismaiel Akona Ndungane Jamba Ulengo Full Backs Warrick Gelant Jesse Kriel Duncan Matthews Jurgen Visser

(c) Denotes team captain, Bold denotes player is internationally capped.

Coaches

• 1996: Dr John Williams
• 1997: Kitch Christie
• 1998–99: Eugene van Wyk
• 2000: Heyneke Meyer
• 2001: Phil Pretorius
• 2002: Heyneke Meyer
• 2003: Rudi Joubert
• 2004–07: Heyneke Meyer
• 2008–: Frans Ludeke

Captains

• 1996–97: Ruben Kruger
• 1998: Adriaan Richter
• 1999: Schutte Bekker
• 2000: Ruben Kruger
• 2001: Joost van der Westhuizen
• 2002: Chris le Roux
• 2003: Joost van der Westhuizen
• 2004: Victor Matfield
• 2005: Anton Leonard
• 2006–07: Victor Matfield
• 2008: Fourie du Preez
• 2009–11: Victor Matfield
• 2012-13: Pierre Spies
• 2014: Flip van der Merwe & Victor Matfield
• 2015: Victor Matfield

Records and Statistics

Super 12, Super 14 and Super Rugby eras.

Competition	Period	Games	Won	Drawn	Lost	Win %	Points for	Average PF	Points against	Most points for	Most points conceded
Super 12	1996–2005	112	36	6	70	32.14%	2696	24.07	3550	75–14 vs Stormers (2005)	75–27 vs Crusaders (2000)
Super 14	2006–10	72	48	1	23	66.67%	2064	28.67	1623	92–3 vs Reds (2007)	54–19 vs Crusaders (2008)
Super Rugby	2011–13	50	32	0	18	64.00%	1372	27.44	1123	61–8 vs Reds (2012)	41–19 vs Crusaders (2013)
Overall	1996–2013	234	116	7	111	49.57%	6132	26.21	6296	92-3 vs Reds (2007)	75–27 vs Crusaders (2000)

Ten highest Super Rugby scores since 1996

Super Rugby
Number	Score	Opponent	Date	Scorecard
1	92 - 3	Reds	5 May 2007	Scorecard
2	75 - 14	Stormers	28 April 2005	Scorecard
3	62 - 52	Lions	8 May 2004	Scorecard
4	61 - 8	Reds	24 March 2012	Scorecard
5	61 - 17	Chiefs	30 May 2009	Scorecard
6	60 - 20	Cheetahs	17 May 2008	Scorecard
7	59 - 26	Blues	21 February 2009	Scorecard
8	59 - 29	Highlanders	20 March 1996	Scorecard
9	51 - 11	Lions	24 April 2010	Scorecard
10	51 - 19	Cheetahs	3 March 2012	Scorecard

Results per opposition

The Bulls full playing record against other teams are:^{[7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24]}

Super Rugby
Opposition	Period	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Win%	Points for	Average PF	Points against	Best score	Worst score	40-49 points	50+ points
Sharks	1996–2013	22	12	2	8	52.38%	422	19.18	461	34-27 (29 Apr 2006)	32-10 (6 Jul 2012)	0	0
Waratahs	1996–2013	19	11	0	8	57.89%	458	24.11	538	48-38 (27 Feb 2010)	53-7 (10 Mar 2001)	1	0
Highlanders	1996–2013	18	6	1	11	33.33%	448	24.29	534	59-29 (20 Mar 1996)	65-23 (6 Mar 1999)	2	2
Reds	1996–2013	18	7	0	11	38.39%	467	25.94	399	92-3 (5 May 2007)	48-12 (12 Apr 2002)	0	2
Crusaders	1996–2013	23	9	0	14	39.13%	544	23.65	750	40-35 (7 May 2010)	75-27 (28 Apr 2000)	1	0
Blues	1996–2013	18	6	1	11	33.33%	475	26.39	631	59-26 (20 Feb 2009)	65-24 (19 Apr 2002)	2	1
Chiefs	1996–2012	18	8	1	9	44.44%	522	29.00	552	61-17 (30 May 2009)	53-24 (27 Apr 2002)	1	1
Lions	1996–2012	19	13	1	5	68.42%	579	30.47	456	62-52 (8 May 2004)	57-24 (3 Apr 1999)	1	2
Hurricanes	1996–2013	17	9	0	8	52.94%	465	27.35	472	48-14 (4 May 2013)	64-32 (16 Mar 1997)	4	0
Brumbies	1996–2013	18	7	0	11	38.89%	464	25.78	544	50-32 (20 Feb 2010)	73-9 (27 Mar 1999)	0	1
Stormers	1996–2013	21	9	1	11	42.86%	509	24.24	455	75-14 (28 Apr 2005)	42-19 (27 Feb 1999)	2	1
Cheetahs	1997–2013	12	11	0	1	91.67%	421	35.08	279	60-20 (17 May 2008)	35-23 (16 May 1997)	1	3
Force	2006–13	7	4	0	3	57.14%	188	26.86	162	36-26 (2 Mar 2013)	30-27 (16 Feb 2007)	0	0
Rebels	2011–12	2	2	0	0	100.00%	88	44.00	45	47-10 (14 May 2011)	35-41 (4 May 2012)	2	0
Kings	2013	2	2	0	0	100.00%	82	41.00	18	48-18 (29 Jun 2013)	18-48 (29 Jun 2013)	1	0
Overall	1996–2013	234	116	7	111	49.57%	6132	26.21	6296	92–3 vs Reds (2007)	75–27 vs Crusaders (2000)	18	13

Individual

Record	Held by
Most appearances	130 by Victor Matfield (2001–2011) (2014-)
Most consecutive appearances	99 by Pedrie Wannenburg (19 April 2003 – 31 May 2010)
Oldest player	37 years, 7 months, and 17 days. by Victor Matfield (27 December 2014)
Most points	1467 by Morné Steyn (2005 – 30 July 2013 – 124 games)
Most tries	37 by Bryan Habana (2005–09) 2nd Akona Ndungane 33 tries (2005–14)
Most conversions	234 by Morné Steyn (2005–13 – 119 games)
Most penalty kicks	263 by Morné Steyn (2005–13 – 119 games)
Most drop goals	25 by Morné Steyn (2005–13, 119 games)
Most appearances as captain	60 by Victor Matfield (2004–11)

Match

Record	Held by
Biggest victory and the biggest home victory.	92–3 (v. Queensland Reds, 2007)
Largest points for	92 (v Queensland Reds, 2007)
Biggest defeat	9–73 (v ACT Brumbies, 1999)
Most points conceded	75 (v Crusaders, 2000)
Most tries:	13 (v Queensland Reds, 2007)
Most tries conceded	11 (v Crusaders, 2000)
Most points by a player	35 by Morné Steyn (v Stormers, 2005, v Brumbies 2010)
Most tries by a player	3 by Fourie du Preez (v Cats, 2004)
Most conversions by a player	11 by Derick Hougaard (v Queensland Reds, 2007)
Most penalties by a player	8 by Jannie de Beer (versus Highlanders, 1996, then Northern Transvaal)
	8 by Derick Hougaard (versus Crusaders, 2007)
Most drop goals by a player	4 by Morné Steyn (v Crusaders, 2009)

Winning Streaks

Record	Held by
Most consecutive victories	12 (25 April 2009 – 27 March 2010)
Most consecutive home victories	20 (19 April 2008 – 5 March 2011)

Season

Record	Held by
Most points	500 (2010)
Most points by a player	263 by Morné Steyn (2010 – Super Rugby record)
Most team tries	51 (2010)
Most tries by a player	11 by Bjorn Basson (2012)
Most conversions by a player	38 by Morné Steyn (2010)
Most penalty kicks by a player	51 Morné Steyn (2010 – Super Rugby Record)
Most drop goals by a player	11 by Morné Steyn (2009, Super Rugby Record)

Honours

Finals

Season	Result	Date
2007	Won the final 20 - 19 against the Sharks	19 May 2007
2009	Won the final 61 - 17 against the Chiefs	30 May 2009
2010	Won the final 25 - 17 against the Stormers	29 May 2010

Semi finals

Season	Result	Date	Notes
1996	Lost 11 - 48 to Blues	19 May 1996
2005	Lost 13 - 23 to Waratahs	21 May 2005
2006	Lost 15 - 35 to Crusaders	20 May 2006
2013	Lost 23 - 26 to Brumbies	27 July 2013	South African conference winners

Qualifiers

Season	Result	Date
2012	Lost 13 - 28 to Crusaders	21 July 2012

Season-by-Season Standings

Super 10

Super 10 Results
Year	Place	Played	Win	Draw	Loss	PF	PA	Diff	BP	Points	Playoffs
1993	3rd	4	2	0	2	109	109	0	0	8
1994	Did not qualify
1995	Did not qualify

Super 12

Super 12 Results
Year	Place	Played	Win	Draw	Loss	PF	PA	Diff	BP	Points	Playoffs
1996	4th	11	8	0	3	329	208	+121	6	38	Lost semi-final 48-11 to Auckland Blues.
1997	8th	11	3	3	5	264	342	−78	4	22
1998	11th	11	3	0	8	249	306	−57	4	16
1999	12th	11	1	0	10	203	447	−244	3	7
2000	11th	11	1	2	8	231	395	−164	3	11
2001	12th	11	2	0	9	241	378	−137	3	11
2002	12th	11	0	0	11	232	500	−268	1	1
2003	6th	11	6	0	5	320	354	−34	5	30
2004	6th	11	5	1	5	302	320	−18	6	28
2005	3rd	11	7	0	4	301	229	+72	6	34	Lost semi-final 23–13 to Waratahs .

Super 14

Super 14 Results
Year	Place	Played	Win	Draw	Loss	PF	PA	Diff	BP	Points	Playoffs
2006	4th	13	7	1	5	355	290	+65	8	38	Lost semi-final 35–15 to Crusaders.
2007	1st	15	11	0	4	435	254	+181	6	42	Defeated the Sharks 19–20
2008	10th	13	6	0	7	324	347	−23	4	28
2009	1st	15	12	0	3	435	311	+124	6	46	Defeated the Chiefs 61-17
2010	1st	13	10	0	3	436	345	+91	7	47	Defeated the Stormers 25-17

Super Rugby

Super Rugby Results
Year	Place	Played	Win	Draw	Loss	PF	PA	Diff	BP	Points	Playoffs	South African conference
2011	7th	16	10	0	6	416	370	+46	6	54		3rd
2012	5th	16	10	0	6	472	369	+103	11	59	Lost qualifiers 28-13 to the Crusaders.	2nd
2013	2nd	16	12	0	4	448	330	+118	7	63	Lost semi final 23-26 to the Brumbies.	1st (winners)
2014	9th	16	7	1	8	365	335	+30	8	38		2nd

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bulls (rugby).

	Wikinews has News related to this article:
Bulls

• Official website
• Official supporters' website
• Bulls on super14.com
• superrugby.co.za

Preceded by 2006 – Crusaders	Super 14 Champions 2007 (first title)	Succeeded by 2008 – Crusaders
Preceded by 2008 – Crusaders	Super 14 Champions 2009	Succeeded by 2010 – Bulls
Preceded by 2009 – Bulls	Super 14 Champions 2010	Succeeded by 2011 –

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