Bulls 39 (23)
Tries: Pierre Spies, Zane Kirchner, Fourie du Preez. Conversions: Morne Steyn (3). Penalties: Morne Steyn (6)
Crusaders 24 (10)
Tries: Richie McCaw, Sean Maitland, Sam Whitelock. Conversions: Dan Carter (3). Penalty: Dan Carter
What they said:
Richie McCaw:
“We weren’t allowed any space out wide and we didn’t adapt. When we did find some space we didn’t capitalise on our opportunities. It’s been symptomatic of our season, we just make too many errors, and against a side as good as the Bulls you can’t get away with that. I’m not going to use (travel) as an excuse. This is a really good Bulls side that deserved their victory. We were ready to go but we came up short and that’s entirely our fault. You can’t play catch-up against the Bulls.”
Todd Blackadder:
“Basic mistakes are the reason we finished fourth on the table. I was pleased with our performance in the last two weeks but tonight we just made too many mistakes.”
Victor Matfield:
“The break clearly freshened us up. The energy was there for everyone to see. There was a lot of criticism and pressure from the media and some of the public, but our decision proved to be the right one. We put in an 80-minute performance and I think that has a lot to do with the guys having a week off. It benefitted us against the Crusaders and we’re hoping it will give us an edge in the final. The atmosphere was amazing and it definitely lifted the guys. At times I couldn’t hear what the guy next to me was saying but luckily it seemed to settle down when the lineout calls were made. Boeremusiek and vuvuzelas. Brilliant. Loftus will always be home, but the atmosphere here is something special and it’ll be even better for the final. I can’t wait. The Stormers have played a good brand of rugby and have an outstanding defence, so we’ll have to be on top of our game on attack. Tonight illustrated the value of a good start and we’ll have to start well again in the final. The team who grabs the initiative early on will be hard to stop. It’s going to be a massive game.”
Frans Ludeke:
“It helped that we knew what their strategy would be. They didn’t offer any surprises but that didn’t make it any easier, we still had to defend well through 80 minutes and we did that. ‘The strategy worked well on the day. The kickers were really accurate and our chasers put them under huge pressure. When we forced turnovers we had numbers and were able to capitalise. It all worked out nicely tonight. We must not over-hype the final. It’s about having a clear picture of what we want to achieve this week and focusing on what has made us successful to date.”