Bulls (rugby union)

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Bulls

Union	SA Rugby
Founded	1997; 24 years ago (1997)
Location	Pretoria, South Africa
Region	Gauteng
Ground(s)	Loftus Versfeld Stadium (Capacity: 51,762)
Director of Rugby	Jake White
Coach(es)	Jake White
Captain(s)	Duane Vermeulen
League(s)	United Rugby Championship
2021	1st (Overall Runners-up)
Team kit 2nd kit
Official website
bullsrugby.co.za

The Bulls, for sponsorship reasons known as the Vodacom Bulls, is a South African professional rugby union team based in Pretoria and they play their home matches at Loftus Versfeld. They compete in the United Rugby Championship, having competed in the Super Rugby competition until 2020. Prior to 1998, the Bulls competed in the then-Super 12 as Northern Transvaal, as in those years South Africa was represented in the competition by its top four Currie Cup sides from the previous season, instead of the modern Super Rugby teams.

The side won the Super 14 in 2007, 2009 and 2010, placing them among the most successful teams in Super Rugby history with three titles. They were the most successful team of the Super 14 era (2006–10), winning three out of the five titles. They are the most successful South African team, and the only South African team to win a Super Rugby title.

History[]

Early history[]

Prior to the professional Super Rugby competition, Northern Transvaal competed in the Super 10, which was a tournament featuring ten teams from Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Tonga and Western Samoa, which ran from 1993 to 1995. The top three teams from the previous Currie Cup season qualified for each of the Super 10 tournaments.

Northern Transvaal competed in the 1993 season, where they were grouped in Pool B alongside Transvaal, New South Wales, North Harbour and Waikato. Transvaal finished at the top of the pool, with Northern Transvaal finishing third, behind New South Wales. Northern Transvaal did not qualify for the Super 10 (Southern Hemisphere competition)#1994 Super 10 or 1995 seasons.

Early Professional Era (1996–2005)[]

After rugby union went professional, the Super 10 tournament was restructured. The Super 12 was created, and was to be competed by teams from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. Both Australia and New Zealand adopted new franchise models for their teams, whereas South Africa chose to use the Currie Cup to decide what teams were to be promoted in the Super 12 each season.

Competing in the inaugural Super 12 season of 1996, Northern Transvaal were one of the 12 teams. The side won eight of their 11 games and finished third on the table – behind only Auckland and Queensland. Jannie Kruger finished the season in the top three leading point-scorers, behind only Matthew Burke and John Eales. The side was however soundly defeated in a semi-final by the Auckland Blues, with the final score being 48 points to 11. The game was played at Eden Park in Auckland.

After their fairly successful performance in the opening competition, the subsequent competition of 1997 saw them with three wins and three draws from 11 games. They finished at eighth. Following the 1997 season, South Africa adopted a similar franchise system to that of Australia and New Zealand's, abolishing the Currie Cup promotion system in favour of creating new franchises. The Bulls were formed as one of the four new teams. They did not make the semis in the 1998 season. The Bulls were considered one of the worst teams in the Super 12 competition, finishing last or second to last for five consecutive seasons from 1998–2003. In 2002, they became the first team ever to go through an entire Super Rugby season without winning a single game. This record remained until the Lions repeated the feat during the 2010 season. After finishing fourth in the inaugural competition, they did not make the semis again until the years 2003.

The Bulls finished in 6th place in both 2003 and 2004, though still missing out on a finals position. They equalled there 1996 performance in 2005, although there was a very poor start to the season, it was followed by six straight wins to earn them a semi-final berth, where they were defeated by the New South Wales Waratahs. Bryan Habana finished in the top three try-scorers by the end of the season, and was short-listed for IRB player of the year.

Super 14 Era (2006–10)[]

In 2006, the Super 12 became the Super 14, with the addition of two new franchises, the Cheetahs and the Western Force. By the last round of the 2006 season, the Bulls, along with the Brumbies and Sharks were all in contention to take the fourth and final position on the ladder to make the semi-finals. After the Brumbies were defeated 33 to 3 by the Crusaders, the Bulls or Sharks could mathematically take the fourth spot. The Bulls defeated the Stormers at Newlands in Cape Town 43 points to 10, which ensured they went through to the semi-finals. The Bulls travelled to Christchurch where they were defeated 35 to 15 at Jade Stadium and knocked out of the finals.

The Bulls lost their first game of the 2007 Super 14 season, going down to the Sharks in Durban 17 points to 3. Entering week 14, the last round of the regular season, the Bulls were chasing an unlikely 72-point win over the Queensland Reds in order to move into second place and get a home semi-final.^[1] At Loftus, the Bulls defeated the Reds 92 points to 3, with the 89-point margin of victory setting a new Super rugby record.^[1] The Bulls ran in 13 tries with four players getting doubles and Derick Hougaard kicking 11 conversions. The Sharks finished first, so it became the first time that both home venues in the semi-finals was in South Africa.

The Bulls defeated the Crusaders in their semi-final by 27 points to 12, with Derick Hougaard kicking eight penalties and a drop-goal. The Sharks ensured a home-final in the 2007 Super 14-competition by defeating the Blues with a scoreline of 34–18.

When the Bulls met the Sharks in the Super 14 final at the Absa Stadium in Durban the match turned out to be a tight, nervous affair with the Bulls initially being guilty of indiscipline and making a lot of mistakes. The Sharks carried a 14–10 advantage into half-time after a JP Pietersen try cancelled out one from Pierre Spies. The second half of the match was just as nail-biting, with the Bulls gaining the ascendancy in the match, but failing to turn their rising amount of possession into points. A Derick Hougaard penalty closed the gap to 14–13, after which the Bulls made several onslaughts on the Sharks line, only to lose the ball at critical stages. Their match looked to be all but over for the Bulls when Albert van den Berg barged over the line for a Sharks try two minutes from full-time to stretch their lead to six points. However, Francois Steyn failed with the conversion attempt, and the Bulls restarted with barely seconds on the clock. After regaining the ball from the kick-off, play went through several phases before Bryan Habana received the ball on the right wing. He cut infield and scored the most dramatic of match winning tries, more than a minute after official play. The try was converted by Derick Hougaard and the Bulls won the match by 20 points to 19. In 2009 the Bulls again won the super 14, defeating the Chiefs 61 – 17 in the final in Pretoria.

In 2010 the Bulls again finished top of the log by beating the Crusaders in a home semi final to secure a home final. Because the Fifa World cup was being hosted by South-Africa that year and Loftus was included as a venue, they had to play the Semi and Final in Soweto, A first in Super rugby history. The Stormers had beaten the Waratahs at home and would face off with the Bulls in the Final. The Bulls won the final once again in dramatic style when Francois Hougaard side stepped the Stormers Fullback Joe Petersen to score an impressive try.

Super Rugby Era (2011–present)[]

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Location[]

The team is centred around the Blue Bulls Rugby Union, whose catchment covers Pretoria as well as Limpopo, but also draws players from the Falcons Rugby Union, who represent the East Rand. Through 2005, the Bulls also drew players from the Pumas Rugby Union and Leopards Rugby Union, but in the realignment of franchise areas that came from the expansion of Super 12 to Super 14, these unions were moved into the Lions.

Stadium[]

The Bulls play all their home matches at the Loftus Versfeld stadium in Pretoria, which is also the home of the Blue Bulls during the Currie Cup season. The stadium is also a regular host for Springboks Test matches, and was a venue during the 1995 Rugby World Cup which South Africa hosted. Loftus was a venue for Pool D matches including France v Tonga, Scotland v Tonga and France v Scotland. Loftus was also used twice during the finals stages – for the New Zealand v Scotland quarter-final and the England v France third place play-off.

The ground has been used for rugby since 1908, and in 1932 the stadium was renamed to Loftus Versfeld in honor of Robert Owen Loftus Versfeld, the founder of organized rugby in Pretoria.^[2][3] The stadium has undergone numerous renovations over the years, and is currently capable of holding 51,762 spectators.

Current squad[]

The squad for the Pro14 Rainbow Cup SA is:^[4][5]

Bulls Rainbow Cup squad[a]
Props Mhleli Dlamini Lizo Gqoboka Robert Hunt Simphiwe Matanzima Trevor Nyakane Mornay Smith Gerhard Steenekamp Jacques van Rooyen Jan-Hendrik Wessels Hookers Schalk Erasmus Johan Grobbelaar Sidney Tobias Janco Uys Joe van Zyl Locks Reinhardt Ludwig Sintu Manjezi Ruan Nortjé Raynard Roets Walt Steenkamp Janko Swanepoel Jan Uys	Loose forwards Tim Agaba Henco Beukes Arno Botha Nizaam Carr Marcell Coetzee Werner Gouws Jaco Labuschagne Elrigh Louw WJ Steenkamp Muller Uys Marco van Staden Duane Vermeulen (c) Scrum-halves Zak Burger Keagan Johannes Embrose Papier Ivan van Zyl Fly-halves Jandre Burger Chris Smith Morné Steyn Clinton Swart	Centres Diego Appollis Stedman Gans Cornal Hendricks Marco Jansen van Vuren Dawid Kellerman Jay-Cee Nel Marnus Potgieter Harold Vorster Wings Kurt-Lee Arendse Travis Ismaiel Stravino Jacobs Madosh Tambwe James Verity-Amm Fullbacks Gio Aplon David Kriel Richard Kriel
(c) Denotes team captain, Bold denotes internationally capped, ST denotes a short-term signing. ^ Taking into account signings and departures head of 2020–21 season as listed on List of 2020–21 Pro14 transfers.

Coaches[]

• 1996: Dr John Williams
• 1997: Kitch Christie
• 1998–1999: Eugene van Wyk
• 2000: Heyneke Meyer
• 2001: Phil Pretorius
• 2002: Heyneke Meyer
• 2003: Rudi Joubert
• 2004–2007: Heyneke Meyer
• 2008–2015: Frans Ludeke
• 2016–2017: Nollis Marais
• 2018–2019: John Mitchell
• 2019–2020: Pote Human
• 2020–present: Jake White

Captains[]

• 1996–97: Ruben Kruger
• 1998: Adriaan Richter
• 1999: Schutte Bekker
• 2000: Ruben Kruger
• 2001: Joost van der Westhuizen
• 2002:
• 2003: Joost van der Westhuizen
• 2004: Victor Matfield
• 2005: Anton Leonard
• 2006–07: Victor Matfield
• 2008: Fourie du Preez
• 2009–11: Victor Matfield
• 2012–13: Pierre Spies
• 2014: Flip van der Merwe & Victor Matfield
• 2015: Victor Matfield
• 2016: Adriaan Strauss
• 2017: Handré Pollard
• 2018: Burger Odendaal
• 2019: Lood de Jager
• 2020: Burger Odendaal and Trevor Nyakane

Ten highest Super Rugby scores for the Bulls since 1996[]

hideSuper Rugby
Number	Score	Opponent	Date	Reference
1	92 – 3	Reds	5 May 2007	[6]
2	75 – 14	Stormers	28 April 2005	[7]
3	62 – 52	Cats	8 May 2004	[8]
4	61 – 8	Reds	24 March 2012	[9]
5	61 – 17	Chiefs	30 May 2009	[10]
6	60 – 20	Cheetahs	17 May 2008	[11]
7	59 – 26	Blues	21 February 2009	[12]
8	59 – 29	Highlanders	20 March 1996	[13]
9	51 – 11	Lions	24 April 2010	[14]
10	51 – 19	Cheetahs	3 March 2012	[15]

Results per opposition[]

Bulls Pro14 results vs different opponents

hideSuper Rugby
Opposition	Span	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Win%	Points for	Average PF	Points against	Best score	Worst score	40–49 points	50+ points
Lions	2021–2021	2	1	0	1	50.00%	55	27.50	43	33–34 (2021)	34–33 (2021)	0	0
Stormers	2021–2021	2	2	0	0	100.00%	51	25.50	43	31–27 (2010)	27–31 (2021)	0	0
Sharks	2021–2021	2	2	0	0	100.00%	77	38.50	31	43–9 (2021)	22–34 (2021)	1	0
Benetton	2021–2021	1	0	0	1	0.00%	8	8.00	35	8–35 (2021)	35–8 (2021)	0	0
Overall	2021-2021	7	5	0	2	71.43	191	27.29	152	43-9 vs Sharks - (2021)	35–8 vs Benetton (2021)	1	0

• All these stats include playoff matches (qualifiers, semi-finals and finals)
• All fixtures added 2021

Bulls Super Rugby results vs different opponents 1996–2016:^{[16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33]}

hideSuper Rugby
Opposition	Span	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Win%	Points for	Average PF	Points against	Best score	Worst score	40–49 points	50+ points
Sharks	1996–2018	30	15	3	9	50.00%	646	21.53	632	43–35 (2015)	35–43 (2015)	2	0
Waratahs	1996–2016	21	11	0	10	52.38%	478	22.76	588	48–38 (2010)	53–7 (2001)	1	0
Highlanders	1996–2018	21	6	1	14	28.57%	506	24.10	607	59–29 (1996)	65–23 (1999)	2	2
Reds	1996–2018	21	9	0	12	42.85%	565	26.90	463	92–3 (2007)	48–12 (2002)	2	2
Crusaders	1996–2018	26	10	0	16	38.46%	613	23.58	864	40–35 (2010)	75–27 (2000)	1	0
Blues	1996–2017	21	7	1	13	33.33%	545	25.91	714	59–26 (2009)	65–24 (2002)	2	1
Chiefs	1996–2018	23	8	2	13	34.78%	644	28.00	730	61–17 (2009)	53–24 (2002)	1	1
Lions	1996–2018	27	15	1	11	55.56%	759	28.11	754	62–52 (2004)	57–24 (1999)	1	2
Hurricanes	1996–2018	21	9	0	12	42.86%	539	25.67	567	48–14 (2013)	64–32 (1997)	4	0
Brumbies	1996–2018	22	8	0	14	36.36%	558	25.36	650	50–32 (2010)	73–9 (1999)	1	1
Stormers	1996–2018	31	12	1	18	38.71%	700	21.96	703	75–14 (2005)	42–19 (1999)	2	1
Cheetahs	1997–2017	20	16	0	4	80.00%	638	31.90	460	60–20 (2008)	42–29 (2015)	2	3
Force	2006–2016	10	6	0	4	60.00%	264	26.40	221	42–20 (2016)	30–27 (2007)	1	0
Rebels	2011–2018	6	5	0	1	83.33%	221	36.83	108	47–10 (2011)	35–41 (2012)	4	0
Southern Kings	2013–2017	4	3	0	1	75.00%	150	37.50	55	48–18 (2013)	31–30 (2017)	1	0
Sunwolves	2016–2018	5	3	0	2	60.00%	171	34.20	114	50–3 (2016)	42–37 (2018)	0	1
Jaguares	2016–2018	4	2	0	2	50.00%	104	26.00	130	43–34 (2018)	54–25 (2018)	1	0
Overall	1996–2018	312	149	9	154	47.76%	8073	25.88	8319	92–3 vs Reds (2007)	75–27 vs Crusaders (2000)	28	14

• All these stats include playoff matches (qualifiers, semi-finals and finals)
• All fixtures added 1996 – 2018

Individual[]

Record	Held by
Most appearances	140 by Victor Matfield (2001–11) (2014–15)
Most consecutive appearances	99 by Pedrie Wannenburg (19 April 2003 – 31 May 2010)
Oldest player	37 years, 7 months, and 17 days. by Victor Matfield (27 December 2014)
Most points	1467 by Morné Steyn (2005 – 30 July 2013 – 124 games)
Most tries	37 by Bryan Habana (2005–09) 2nd Akona Ndungane 33 tries (2005–14)
Most conversions	234 by Morné Steyn (2005–2013 – 119 games)
Most penalty kicks	263 by Morné Steyn (2005–2013 – 119 games)
Most drop goals	25 by Morné Steyn (2005–13, 119 games)
Most appearances as captain	60 by Victor Matfield (2004–11)

Match[]

Record	Held by
Biggest victory and the biggest home victory.	92–3 (v. Queensland Reds, 2007)
Largest points for	92 (v Queensland Reds, 2007)
Biggest defeat	9–73 (v ACT Brumbies, 1999)
Most points conceded	75 (v Crusaders, 2000)
Most tries:	13 (v Queensland Reds, 2007)
Most tries conceded	11 (v Crusaders, 2000)
Most points by a player	35 by Morné Steyn (v Stormers, 2005, v Brumbies 2010)
Most tries by a player	3 by Fourie du Preez (v Cats, 2004)
Most conversions by a player	11 by Derick Hougaard (v Queensland Reds, 2007)
Most penalties by a player	8 by Jannie de Beer (versus Highlanders, 1996, then Northern Transvaal)
	8 by Derick Hougaard (versus Crusaders, 2007)
Most drop goals by a player	4 by Morné Steyn (v Crusaders, 2009)

Winning streaks[]

Record	Held by
Most consecutive victories	12 (25 April 2009 – 27 March 2010)
Most consecutive home victories	20 (19 April 2008 – 5 March 2011)

Season[]

Record	Held by
Most points	500 (2010)
Most points by a player	263 by Morné Steyn (2010 – Super Rugby record)
Most team tries	51 (2010)
Most tries by a player	11 by Bjorn Basson (2012)
Most conversions by a player	38 by Morné Steyn (2010)
Most penalty kicks by a player	51 Morné Steyn (2010 – Super Rugby Record)
Most drop goals by a player	11 by Morné Steyn (2009, Super Rugby Record)

Honors[]

Finals

Season	Result	Date
2007	Won the final 20 – 19 against the Sharks	19 May 2007
2009	Won the final 61 – 17 against the Chiefs	30 May 2009
2010	Won the final 25 – 17 against the Stormers	29 May 2010

Semi finals

Season	Result	Date	Notes
1996	Lost 11 – 48 to Blues	19 May 1996
2005	Lost 13 – 23 to Waratahs	21 May 2005
2006	Lost 15 – 35 to Crusaders	20 May 2006
2013	Lost 23 – 26 to Brumbies	27 July 2013	South African conference winners

Qualifiers

Season	Result	Date
2012	Lost 13 – 28 to Crusaders	21 July 2012

Trophies[]

hideHonours
Competition	No of titles	Runner-up	Years
Super Rugby	3	0	2007 2009 2010
Pro14 Rainbow Cup	0	1	Runners up 2021
Super Rugby Unlocked	1	0	2020
Gauteng Rugby Cup	1	0	2013
Lafarge Zimbabwe Champions Cup	0	1	Runners up 2016

Season-by-Season Standings[]

Pro14[]

Pro 14 Standings
Year	Place	Played	Win	Draw	Loss	PF	PA	Diff	TF	TA	Try Bonus	Losing Bonus	Playoffs
2021	1st	6	5	0	1	183	117	+66	22	12	4	1	Lost Final 35–8 to Benetton.	Runners up

Super Rugby[]

Super 10 (Amateur era)[]

Super 10 Results
Year	Place	Played	Win	Draw	Loss	PF	PA	Diff	BP	Points	Playoffs
	3rd	4	2	0	2	109	109	0	0	8	-
	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Super 12[]

Super 12 Results
Year	Place	Played	Win	Draw	Loss	PF	PA	Diff	BP	Points	Playoffs
1996	4th	11	8	0	3	329	208	+121	6	38	Lost semi-final 48–11 to Auckland Blues.
1997	8th	11	3	3	5	264	342	−78	4	22
1998	11th	11	3	0	8	249	306	−57	4	16
1999	12th	11	1	0	10	203	447	−244	3	7
2000	11th	11	1	2	8	231	395	−164	3	11
2001	12th	11	2	0	9	241	378	−137	3	11
2002	12th	11	0	0	11	232	500	−268	1	1
2003	6th	11	6	0	5	320	354	−34	5	30
2004	6th	11	5	1	5	302	320	−18	6	28
2005	3rd	11	7	0	4	301	229	+72	6	34	Lost semi-final 23–13 to Waratahs .

Super 14[]

Super 14 Results
Year	Place	Played	Win	Draw	Loss	PF	PA	Diff	BP	Points	Playoffs
2006	4th	13	7	1	5	355	290	+65	8	38	Lost semi-final 35–15 to Crusaders.
2007	1st	15	11	0	4	435	254	+181	6	42	Defeated the Sharks 19–20	Champions
2008	10th	13	6	0	7	324	347	−23	4	28
2009	1st	15	12	0	3	435	311	+124	6	46	Defeated the Chiefs 61–17	Champions
2010	1st	13	10	0	3	436	345	+91	7	47	Defeated the Stormers 25–17	Champions

Super Rugby[]

Super Rugby Results
Year	Place	Played	Win	Draw	Loss	PF	PA	Diff	BP	Points	Playoffs	South African conference
2011	7th	16	10	0	6	416	370	+46	6	54		3rd
2012	5th	16	10	0	6	472	369	+103	11	59	Lost qualifiers 28–13 to the Crusaders.	2nd
2013	2nd	16	12	0	4	448	330	+118	7	63	Lost semi final 23–26 to the Brumbies.	1st
2014	9th	16	7	1	8	365	335	+30	8	38		2nd
2015	9th	16	7	0	9	397	388	+9	10	38		3rd
2016	7th	15	9	1	5	339	459	-120	0	20		7th
2017	7th	15	4	0	11	339	459	-120	0	20		7th
2018	12th	16	6	0	10	441	502	-61	2	29		5th
2019	5th	16	8	2	6	410	369	+41	3	41	Lost Quarterfinals 35–28 to the Hurricanes.	2nd
2020	12th	6	1	0	5	115	152	-37	1	6	Season cancelled due to Covid-19	4th

References[]

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bulls (rugby).

Wikinews has News related to this article: Bulls clinch position in Super 14 rugby semi-finals

• Official website

Preceded by 2006 – Crusaders	Super 14 Champions 2007 (first title)	Succeeded by 2008 – Crusaders
Preceded by 2008 – Crusaders	Super 14 Champions 2009	Succeeded by 2010 – Bulls
Preceded by 2009 – Bulls	Super 14 Champions 2010	Succeeded by 2011 – Reds