Super 14: Blues can take the Bulls by the horn

Will it be a BULLRUSH this weekend? Can the Bulls turn around their horror season?

Well the fact that they have called in winger Bryan Habana and No.8 Pierre Spies shows they mean to be at full strength. There was no Habana for last week’s loss to the Chiefs after he suffered a shoulder injury, while Spies was diagnosed with a dangerous blood condition last year, and it was thought that a heavy knock could kill him. Doctors have now given him the all-clear to play against the Blues this Saturday night at Eden Park, but is it too late for the defending Super 14 Champs?

Pre-match entertainment includes a BULLRUSH event in which 20 people from the crowd will participate in what’s described as a good old-fashioned game from the old schoolyard days.

Back to the real business, and the Bulls are clearly a very desperate side, only winning two of their six games this season so far, whereas the Blues are four wins and two losses. This Bulls side is a far cry from the one that took the title almost 12 months ago in an all South African final against the Sharks. Since then they have lost half of arguably the best locking combination in world rugby. Victor Matfield has left to play in France. The side have clearly struggled all season. They have been slaughtered on at least three occasions, suffering a humiliating 19-54 loss to the Crusaders in what is normally described as one of the fortresses of South African rugby – Loftus Road in Pretoria.

They then lost to the Sharks. Week four saw them win just their second game of season, but then two weeks on the road in Australia and New Zealand saw two complete thumpings at the hands of the Reds, losing 40-8, then in week six they were humiliated 43-27 by a Chiefs side whose season was not panning out much better than the Bulls.

Bulls coaching staff have to be really concerned, with almost half the competition over and the side languishing near bottom of table. Currently, the Bulls are in 11th place, far from where they should be.

Things are not looking any better for them, as the Blues will see the return of the talented Nick Evans who was showing some great form prior to his head knock against the Force two weeks ago. Also, flying Blues and Auckland winger David Smith gets his first chance this season. Joe Rokocoko and Rudi Wulf will be on the wings, Anthony Tuitavake gets rested altogether this week, while Isaia Toeava heads back to midfield to partner Benson Stanley, and Harbour player George Pisi will start in the No.15 jersey. Storming No.8 Nick Williams will be on the bench, with Jerome Kaino starting in that position, while Justin (Gus) Collins, will partner Daniel Braid on side of scrum.

The front row combo of Tony Woodcock, Keven Mealamu and John Afoa stays the same. All in all, it’s a very strong looking Blues side. After seeing his side beat the Blues in week five, Force coach John Mitchell said he still thought they were ”the strongest side across the board” in Super 14. We will hopefully get to see this on Saturday night, just after 9.15pm when the ref blows the full-time whistle – as a loyal Blues fan, I don’t think I could watch another game like last week’s last-gasp win over the Stormers.

So can the Blues make it two victories in a row?

Well, I say YES they can. They have more than enough talent in this side, but they need to play as a team, not as individuals like they have been in recent games. They need to play like they did against the Chiefs, Lions and Cheetahs, where they scored 137 points in three games, and to show the kind of form that brought them  21 tries in the first four games.