The UCT PGDA programme is the devil’s work. Not only has it ruined my usually extremely sexy social life but it has also robbed me of my most beloved of pastimes, posting on this venerable website. But, with a 5 week study break ahead of me, I have managed to fend off the rigours of SAICA and the Income Tax Act to put up what will be my first post in yonks.
 

A lot has happened in my absence (unsurprisingly), and none of these happenings have provided more joy for the South African nation than the incredible romping that the Jacaranda boys meted out on the hapless men from the Waikato. As a born-and-bred Natalian, I have traditionally found it very difficult to find anything positive about the Pretorian unit. Their rugby was always boring, their players had the devil in their eyes (ahem, JP Nel) and the fact that they seemed to win almost everything, always, further fuelled the fires of abhorrence in my milky yet handsome colonial heart.
 

But something has happened up in Tshwane, and that something has resulted in the most incredible result in Super 14 history. The Bulls have played a brand of rugby this season that my beloved Banana Boys could only dream of. They’ve reached heights of rugby excellence that I thought were only reachable by the black-and-white-clad Sharks. While I certainly am not hopping on any bandwagons here, it would take a one-eyed fool to not applaud what Frans Ludeke and his men have achieved this year. A big part of their resurgence has been as a result of the adoption of a more flowing, open game that allows their extremely exciting backs the freedom they have desperately craved over the last decade or so. Gone is Divide By Three Hougaard and his penchant for playing channel one runners and kicking for anything. The man who has replaced him, and the man who I would like to see in the Bok 10 jersey this season, gives nothing away in terms of boot but instead uses this prodigious skill with far more tactical nous. Furthermore, his ability to elect to use the impressive pace and skill of the likes of Olivier, Pretorious, Habana, Kirchner and Ndungane outside him at just the right moment has meant that the Bulls have scored some truly beautiful tries this season. Ja, I did just say that the Bulls scored beautiful tries this season. It’s a little weird, I know.
 

Steyn was most certainly helped by that little genius linking him with that formidable forward pack. After the Bulls’ rather shaky start to the season, many were surprisingly calling for du Preez’s head. But as Bobby Skinstad tends to say a little too often, class will always shine through and it was du Preez’s management of that lumbering pack and his link with the backs outside of him that really got the Bulls playing the way they did in the last half of the season. He’s the best scrumhalf in the world by a country mile and sets an example of discipline and professionalism that the other halfbacks in the Republic will do well to follow.
 

And with Fourie du Preez out the way, I must now commend the 8 men who lay the platform for the aforementioned backs. The Bulls pack has always been big and physical. They’ve always dominated up front, and teams have always hated playing them. But to a certain extent, this dominance was also their downfall, as they tended to overdo it a little. Pushing the maul one step too far, making one too many pick and goes when the backs are open and more excited than me at a Heidi Klum Real Doll sale, stomping on people’s heads and getting yellow cards. This brute strength has now been tempered with a disciplined and accurate understanding of what it is that they are on the pitch to do.
 

Spies is there, like Megan Fox in Transformers, to set our pants on fire. Pretorius and Stegmann are his supporters, cutting down backs, carrying the ball with purpose and creating havoc at the breakdown. Matfield and Botha are at the pinnacle of their game, they steal lineout ball in tandem, run the show from the front and provide a physicality that is a hallmark of the South African game. And the front row, with strength and guile, provide the foundation off of which the other 5 work. It’s a wonderful thing to see, and in tandem with the equally impressive Sharks 8, the Bok pack should be one for the ages.
 

Alright, so there it is. My tribute to the Jacaranda-scented Bulletjies. While I will most certainly not be wearing any baby blue undies in the near future, the performances of the 2009 Super 14 champions have certainly instilled in me a respect for the game they play that has, justifiably up until now, been absent. And as a last tribute, may I give a massive high five to the Loftus crowd. The reception that Mils Muliaina got after his truly excellent speech (how brilliant is that man?) was one of respect and knowledge of the game. It showed that the Loftus faithful (with the exception of that prick with the Oranje Blanje Blou) are a learned and reverent bunch, and was heartwarming to see.
 

And so, from a rerige soutie, comes a congratulations that is most certainly deserved. Blue Bulls, Bulletjies en Bullettes, you have set a terrific tone for the Boks to take forward into this most important of international seasons and here’s to hoping (and knowing) that the boys from the other unions will bring the same sort of noise to the party that you guys have done.
 

See you in the Shark Tank (We’re still the Currie Cup Champions, after all).
As always,
Peace.