0
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