Has blind faith clouded Bulls coach Frans Ludeke’s thinking or has he hatched a master plan that will see the Pretoria side beat the Brumbies on Friday and march on to secure themselves a place in the lucrative Super Rugby play-offs?
The answer to that question will only be answered in the encounter in Canberra but for the time being, Ludeke will be crossing his fingers that the team he has selected salvage, not only an ailing tour abroad, but keep their chances of making the play-offs alive.
Having been hit by injuries and bowing down to an agreement to rest key Springbok players in his team, Ludeke failed to go with his strongest team on tour in what is the Bulls’ most important game of the season.
Yes, the Bulls have suffered an injury blow in Springbok centre Jan Serfontein going home over the weekend but his replacement in Burger Odendaal by no means weakens the team. However, the elephant in the room would be why rest Victor Matfield for such an important game and why not start with Springbok prop Trevor Nyakane and the in-form Jesse Kriel?
As much as Matfield is due for a rest according to the standing agreement between Saru and the five Super Rugby franchises, many times this season coaches, including Ludeke, have defied the agreement.
The Bulls clash against the Brumbies would exactly be the kind of game where the interest of the team far supersedes those of an individual and probably that of the national team but Ludeke has opted not to play Matfield at all and gone for Grant Hattingh at number five lock.
It is undeniable that the Bulls have been one of the best line-out teams in the competition and that is largely due to the towering figure of Matfield and his experience is most needed at a time like this where the entire season hinges on one game.
Furthermore, Ludeke cited the injury to Kriel as the reason why Jurgen Visser will start on Friday but has still kept Kriel on the bench even though he (Kriel) has been a revelation this season. Then there is the sad case of Nyakane who has not been rested this season and even though he sustained a hip flexor injury in last week’s loss to the Chiefs, has been passed fit to start off the bench with the struggling Dean Greyling starting at loosehead prop.
“The changes in the team are all within the squad set-up. Jurgen has played for us many times and will slot in without ease, while Burger showed his worth earlier in the season. We know that we need log points if we want this season to still mean something to us and the team will be going out there determined to achieve what we set out at the beginning of the season,” Ludeke said.
Having artfully dodged presenting his strongest team for the most important game of the season, the ever optimistic Ludeke waxed lyrically yesterday about the master plan to turn around his team’s eight-match losing streak overseas.
“I believe we have a good plan. It is about execution ... we will need to be at our best and there can’t be excuses,” said Ludeke.