Bulls wary of former team-mate

2008-07-17 22:02

Morris Gilbert

Pretoria - The Blue Bulls will, for a good reason, keep an eye on a former team-mate when they play Boland in a Currie Cup rugby match in Wellington on Friday.

Cavaliers wing Stefan Basson has a knack of making something out of nothing. His unpredictability alone should make the Bulls wary of the home team's ability to attack from broken play.

Basson never established himself as a member of the starting lineup when he played for the Blue Bulls but his unconventional approach often made him a trump card.

He was one of South Africa's stars in the International Rugby Board's Sevens series for several years but he has never reached the same heights in the 15-man code.

In addition to his unpredictability and his enterprising, adventurous approach, he is also a versatile player who can operate in any position in the backline.

The Bulls will therefore keep on eye on the elusive opportunist because they know how dangerous he can be when he has enough time and space.

However, the tries that the Cavaliers have scored from broken play this season are not the only reason that the Blue Bulls will be cautious.

Closer to the perfect 80 minutes

Bulls coach Frans Ludeke said this week Boland's log position (seventh out of eight) was no reflection of the way the Cavaliers had given their best right to the end in every match.

"They don't give up," Ludeke said. "They are constantly watching to see when their opponents lose focus.

"To us, it is important to get closer to the perfect 80 minutes in every match we play. This means we have to exert pressure throughout."

Ludeke said the Cavaliers were also strong in the tight phases. This would be a challenge to the Bulls, who had not scrummed well against the Cheetahs.

The Bulls were pushed back in two scrums near their own try-line late in the match against the Currie Cup champions.

The Bulls' first priority is to beat the Cavaliers but captain Wikus van Heerden has made it clear that they also want to earn a bonus points for scoring four tries.

"We cannot let that point slip as we did against the Cheetahs when we had more than enough opportunities to score a fourth try," Van Heerden said.

- Beeld