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03/02/2008 22:02
Johannesburg - The one is quite happy, the other not. That, in short, is the views of Lions coach Eugene Eloff and Bulls' Frans Ludeke after their warm-up match in Windhoek, just two weeks before the official kick-off of the 2008 Super 14 competition.
The Bulls won the match 28-14 by virtue of two tries in the last five minutes in a match where Springbok centre Jaco Pretorius was outstanding and broke the opposition line four times.
But he wasn't alone. The Lions will obviously continue on their happy way of taking the ball wide this season, and the crispness of passing and also the lines run by the Lions backs will bring much pleasure to many over their 13 matches.
For them, the hero up front was probably Cobus Grobbelaar, who was very good on the ground and kept up the chase to the loose ball with his co-forwards to the bitter end.
For the Bulls, there was some good play by the pack as a whole, and Gurthro Steenkamp, back from injury, looked as if he wanted to make up for the lost time with a sterling performance.
Pedrie Wannenburg was also close to his best and a good season seemingly lies ahead for the man who played at No 8 in place of Pierre Spies.
"I'm pleased with our performance," Eloff said afterwards. "I'm excited about our back play, and although there is still much work ahead, I thought it a good performance for our first outing," he said.
Ludeke was a little more subdued. "I'm pleased that we performed better than against the Boland Cavaliers, and we also adapted better to the new laws. We were also improved in the tight phases, but we still have some work to do," the former Cats and Lions coach said.
Both teams had injury setbacks. Bryan Habana has a rib injury and Lions loose forward Wllem Alberts injured a knee. They will have scans done on Monday to determine the seriousness of their injuries.
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