Ludeke: A lot to think about
2008-06-29 22:03
Morris Gilbert
Pretoria - The Blue Bulls will have to take a good look at their performance against Western Province before they start preparing for this week's Currie Cup rugby match against the Sharks.
The Bulls wasted an opportunity to win at Newlands last Saturday. Now they take on a team that opened their campaign by beating WP and Boland in their first two matches.
The Bulls play the Sharks at Loftus Versfeld here on Saturday and coach Frans Ludeke emphasised on Sunday that they had "a lot to think about".
Ludeke said, "It was our own fault that we had so little good possession against WP. We simply made too many errors.
"In the first half, we gave away possession eight times in different facets, made six handling errors and conceded five penalties.
"The Sharks have had much success at Loftus in recent years," Ludeke added. "This, and the momentum of two successive wins, will give them confidence.
"I must concede that our lineout work against WP was even poorer than against the Lions. Drastic improvement will be needed in this department for us to beat the Sharks.
"But victory in our first home match of the season is non-negotiable."
Lineout problems
Ludeke said the team's lineout problems were partly the result of the experimental laws. One of these is that the team throwing in the ball no longer determine the number of players in the lineout.
"Fortunately, we are not the only team with lineout problems but this is no excuse. We will have to try harder this week to improve our support play and communication in the lineout."
Ludeke was hesitant to blame flank Hilton Lobberts for the defeat at Newlands. WP scored 17 points while Lobberts was in the sin bin.
"Hilton's yellow card (in the 69th minute) certainly played a role in our defeat but I'll talk more about that in the change-room," Ludeke said.
It will be a surprise if Lobberts does not lose his place in the squad of 22 because Ludeke is strong on discipline.
The decision will be a an easy one to make if Wikus van Heerden has recovered from his rib injury but team doctor Org Strauss is not overly optimistic.
Flyhalf Derick Hougaard and fullback Zane Kirchner will certainly be available to play against the Sharks but Strauss will see Van Heerden again on Monday morning.
"He will have only an even chance of playing against the Sharks," the doctor said on Sunday.
The Bulls may have another problem. Lock forward Francois van Schouwenburg has a calf-muscle injury.