Blow to Waratahs as Bulls set to rest stars in South African stitch-up

Blow to Waratahs as Bulls set to rest stars in South African stitch-up



DUNCAN JOHNSTONE AND RUPERT GUINNESS

May 11, 2010 - 12:26PM


Bulls captain Victor Matfield may have the week off if local media reports are correct.

It reeks of a South African stitch-up in the Super 14. With one round to go, the integrity of rugby's premier provincial competition could be compromised with tournament leaders, the Bulls, set to field a second-string team against the Stormers in the top-of-the-table clash in Cape Town.

The Stormers need only to beat the Bulls to secure a home semi-final, denying the NSW Waratahs a chance of hosting the financially lucrative game.

The Waratahs, currently third on the ladder with 38 points and one point behind the Stormers, will get to play a semi-final at the Sydney Football Stadium if they beat the Hurricanes on Friday night and the Stormers lose to the Bulls. Such a game could boost the Waratahs's coffers by several hundred thousand dollars.

But the odds of the Stormers hosting a semi-final in Cape Town will be shortened if the Bulls field a weakened team.

Such a result would be unfair to teams such as the Waratahs and the Crusaders from Christchurch who are both seeking a home semi-final and have both lost to full-strength Bulls teams this season.

The Bulls from Pretoria cannot be headed for the crucial No 1 position and are guaranteed of hosting both a semi-final and final should they make it that far.

The second-placed Stormers are vulnerable to the chasing pack but a win this weekend will be enough for them to host the other semi-final.

The Bulls signalled their intentions with their opening training session of the week.

The players going through their drills were very much the second-stringers.

Local media suggested at least 13 stars will be rested this weekend.

These include several Springbok stars such as Victor Matfield, Fourie du Preez, Morne Steyn, Zane Kirchner, Francois Hougaard, Gurthro Steenkamp, Gary Botha, Werner Kruger, Dewald Potgieter, Deon Stegmann, Wynand Olivier and Pierre Spies.

The Bulls will also be without Gerhard van der Heever after he was suspended for a dangerous tackle.

There is sense in the Bulls resting their stars ahead of the playoffs but it would also do rugby in the republic a big favour to have both the semi-finals there.

It could mean a long trip for Australia's other semi-final hopefuls the ACT Brumbies.

The difficulties in these assignments were exposed last season when the Crusaders lost their semi-final to the Bulls at Loftus Versfeld and the Chiefs from Waikato were crushed in the final in Pretoria.

with Stuff.co.nz

http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-union/un...0511-uqvp.html

The irony would be if the Stormers beat the Bulls in the Final

suck it up folks... That's the liberty you can take by being clear of the chasing pack by a full bonus point game in the penultimate round... As always the east coast media are making a story where there isn't one and even admitting alternate motives to the main issue
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The Bulls have earned the right to rest their starters by qualifying with a game to go. Guinness and Johnstone might not like it, but that's the way the draw goes. Do they want to cry foul every time a team rotates a player?

Notice that there's no quotes from Tahs players and management - it's only the journos who are upset.

Who cares? I agree with Sheikh and it certainly looks like it is mainly the media who are raising this.

If the Tahs or the Crusaders won a game or two more this wouldn't be an issue. Shouldn't have to rely on other results to scrape home for a home final
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The Bulls will still crush the Stormers.

Being 2 wins ahead of 13 `also rans` kinda gives them the right to rest their players - they've obviously worked for it...

The Stormers will underestimate them, the back-up Bulls will be keen to prove themselves. If the shoe were on the other foot we'd be doing the same. Robbie rested a bunch of Wallabies against the Springboks in Jo'Burg so they'd be ready to face the ABs in Brissie. Little good it did in either game.

however on the other hand... the Stormers will be looking to win to keep their play-off chances alive.. they wont be holding back at all...

I agree with all those who agree there's absolutely nothing wrong/untoward/smelly with what the Bulls are (reported to be) doing.

Heck, if I were the coach I'd be making sure my stars were not injured in the last game - which means jack to the place the team finishes - so they're raring to go for the finals campaign.

I'd do it if any of the top 4 spots were sewn up.

this reaks of a SARU stich up..

a home semi is worth $500-$800'000 depending on the size of the home ground

I had more of a think about it and Think the Tahs probably have a case to table.

Even though its a legit move, it is not in the spirit of the game and is bad for the corporate sponsors as well as media deals. As the media are bankrolling the comp they may step in and say to the Bulls that they can rest more than x many players or they risk sanctions ...

still the Tahs shouldnt have lost to the Highlanders last weekend or they wouldnt be in this mess now anyway!

It could be dangerous as well, how many times has a team rested their stars only to miss the mark when coming back?

The fact is the Tahs would do exactly the same thing if they were in that position. Whoever is bitching and moaning about this should dry their eyes and HTFU.

Playing devils advocate; as the Bulls management would you lay down to the Stormers and probably have to face them in the final after they win a home semi? Would it be better to play full on in the spirit of the game, win and also make them fight their way into the final after travelling half way round the world? Wouldn't the worst case scenario be a home final against an OZ or NZ team? I know what I'd do.