Bulls v Reds – Memories of 2007

The Reds 2015 season moves to South Africa and the first team off the rank is the Bulls. The Bulls have been almost unstoppable at Loftus since 2007. Shit I put Bulls, Loftus and 2007 in one sentence! The pain has started pulsating through my chest. No one mention 92-3!

How they’re Travelling

The Reds have had a crap week. And that’s saying a hell of a lot. The man who was going to save the coaches job is broken for most of the season. Quade Cooper’s return saw an almost instant return to something like organisation in the team. But just after half time he tried to tackle some huge guy and broke his shoulder blade. How? Stuffed if I know. I’ve never heard of it before. One of their other gun imports, James O’Connor, has a calf injury and isn’t available. James Horwill smacked a prop around a head and was red carded and suspended for stupidity. The prop was unaffected. Trying to balance these large losses is Rob Simmons who returns from an injury picked up on last years Wallaby tour. Karmichael Hunt returns from his run in with the Queensland police. To me, despite two very good players coming back, it look like the ledger is very much in the negative.

The Bulls have sneaked into the top three on the Super Rugby ladder despite their narrow loss to the Lions last week. There is a real fight for the top spot in the South African conference but so far the Bulls have managed to hold the other sides off. The Bulls have chosen to rest Handre Pollard and Jan Serfontein for this game. They are two key player in the Bulls line up. They can clearly see the trouble this Reds outfit is in and have decided they can get the win without risking all they’ve got.

The battle of the breakdown:

The Reds are starting their best available back row. Thomson has moved to eight to replace the injured Jake Schatz and Curtis Browning moves to blindside flanker. They’re up against Deon Stegmann, Arno Botha, and Pierre Spies. Both groups are talented and well balanced with a mixture of old heads and youthful exuberance. But I think the Bulls backrow will have the edge playing at altitude in front of a home crowd.

The Flyhalves: Jacques-Louis Potgieter v Nick Frisby

Potgieter has been around for a long time. he has never set the world on fire but he knows his stuff. He will steer the bulls around and play to their strengths. Nick Frisby is a young talented halfback playing out of position. He’s doing the best he can and to be honest hasn’t let the Reds down. But he’s not a flyhalf. He will give everything he’s got but he’s not a flyhalf. This battle can only go one way. Potgieter to take the money in this one.

My Prediction

The Reds by 15. Is what I’d like to say. But unfortunately I can’t see anything but a Bulls win coming out of this game. I was reminiscing with a friend today about the 2011 match at Suncorp stadium. That game was the turning point for me. After that win I really started to believe we could go all the way. How could things have turned around so much in the few short years since the match? My actually prediction I here you ask.

Bulls by 19

Bulls v Reds