Goliath slayed
Sunday October 23 2005
Duncan Damon takes an interesting and statistical look at the 2005 Currie Cup Final and tells us that Goliath was slayed! He also tells us who his best players were.
Against all the odds, things were actually looking ominous for the Free State at one stage trailing by 13 points with only 28 minutes left.
It took 29 years for the Cheetahs to win the title, and this only the second time that they have ever claimed the title.
Even though the Cheetahs never stood back for the Bulls, I believe it was more a case of the Bulls losing it than the Cheetahs winning it.
In the first half penalty kicks at goal were ignored by the Bulls, preferring to set up a line-out. JP Nel and Bryan Habana both dropped the ball with the try-line beckoning.
Free State's opening try came from a overlap created due to Habana serving time in the bin. In fact the Cheetahs in those 10 minutes of being one player more than the Bulls scored 17 points.
It was the most ill-tempered Currie Cup Final seen for many a year, and one of the biggest upsets seen for 29 years.
The most interesting statistic: Turnovers - BB 1, FS 7
Venue: Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
Crowd: 50,000
Conditions: Fine
Referee: Jonathan Kaplan
Blue Bulls 25 (12) v (9) 29 Cheetahs
Scoring sequence:
Pen: Morné Steyn (2nd); 3-0
Pen: Steyn (10th); 6-0
Pen: Willem de Waal (13th); 6-3
Pen: de Waal (22nd); 6-6
DG: Johan Roets (24th); 9-6
Pen: de Waal (26th); 9-9
Pen: Steyn (39th); 12-9
Try: Akona Ndungane (48th); 17-9
Con: Steyn (49th); 19-9
Pen: Steyn (52nd); 22-9
Pen: de Waal (56th); 22-12
Pen: Derick Hougaard (67th); 25-12
Pen: de Waal (69th); 25-15
Try: Bevin Fortuin (71st); 25-20
Con: de Waal (73rd); 25-22
Try: Meyer Bosman (74th); 25-27
Con: de Waal (75th); 25-29
Statistics:
Scrums - BB 3 feeds = 2 wins, FS 11 feeds = 11 wins
Line-outs - BB 19 feeds = 16 wins, FS 15 feeds = 12 wins
Rucks/Mauls - BB 65, FS 40
Turnovers - BB 1, FS 7
Handling errors - BB 9, FS 5
Penalties - BB 12, FS 16
Free kicks - BB 4, FS 3
Shots at Goal - BB (8/10), FS (7/11)
Yellow cards - Os du Rant (36th), Victor Matfield (36th), Bryan Habana (64th)
Player analysis:
Best Front-ranker: Naka Drotske (2)
Best Second-rower: Bakkies Botha (4)
Best Back-rower: Pedrie Wannenburg (7)
Best Half-back: Willem de Waal (10)
Best Mid-fielder: Wynand Olivier (12)
Best at the Back: Johan Roets (15)
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