Hereby receive my report as President of the Blue Bulls Rugby Union.
During the past year, the BBRU has accomplished tremendous successes which exceeded a few disappointments along the way.
AMATEUR RUGBY
Club rugby has seen yet another outstanding season as we continue the trend of the past five years by developing rugby at club level to make it relevant, and to be part of the Blue Bulls pipeline.
Here are a few highlights of the season:
The year 2023 will be remembered as the year in which the Blue Bulls club rugby confirmed their status as the best in the country when Naka Bulle Rugby Club, winners of the Carlton League, convincingly beat College Rovers from the Sharks in the African Rainbow Gold Cup Final.
Furthermore, three of the top eight teams from the Carlton League competed in the African Rainbow Gold Cup, which also confirms that our local Carlton League is the best of its kind in South Africa. Once again, I would like to take the opportunity to express my gratitude towards Dr Johan van Zyl and Dr Patrice Motsepe for making this sponsorship possible.
Eugene Hare, Ruan Venter and Juan van der Westhuizen represented the Vodacom Bulls in the Currie Cup competition, as well as Namibia in a pre-world-cup match.
The Loftus 200 team, that was selected from the Carlton League, and coached by Dr Phil Pretorius, scored a remarkable victory against the Currie Cup Premier team, The Griffons.
However, the U20 team from UP Tuks delivered outstanding results by winning the U20 League. This U20 competition, which serves as a feeder system for the Carlton clubs, was established in 2019. The UP Tuks U20 team also won the UXI Crossborder U20 Competition when they beat Hamiltons from Western Province in the final.
This competition consists of the top club U20 teams from seven provinces.
Additionally, several club players from the successful U20 League formed part of the professional Vodacom Bulls Under 20 squad this year.
The President’s League was won by TUT Rugby Club, the Carlton Reserve League was won by Northam Rhinos’ Rugby Club, who also won the Lucas Strachan Shield, and Harlequin Rugby Club won the Women’s League for the third consecutive year.
Further away, Platteland teams from the BBRU and Limpopo participated in several matches, thereby acknowledging the talented players and coaches from the President, Reserve and Platteland Leagues. The Blue Bulls recorded a satisfactory victory over their counterparts from the Leopards and Limpopo.
A Blue Bulls Tens team, which was selected from the Carlton League, will be participating in the Tens
Competition in Cape Town in November.
Thanks to the contributions of our shareholders, SARU and additional funds generated, we were able to support every club in Tshwane and Limpopo financially. The financial contributions provided to our clubs, has been more than other unions in South Africa have been able to allocate to their clubs for a third consecutive year.
And lastly, I would like to extend my congratulations to Garsfontein Hoërskool for winning the SDC Northvaal Competition.
Going forward, we will continue our mission to keep our club rugby relevant and part of the value system. We will be exploring more opportunities to strengthen our pipeline and create exposure for our valuable club players.
PROVINCIAL RUGBY
Although the Vodacom Bulls had a disappointing season in terms of their match expectations, they still qualified for the play-offs in the Vodacom URC, the Heineken Champions Cup, and the Currie Cup. Factors such as Jake White’s illness, strenuous travel logistics and Marcell Coetzee’s sabbatical in Japan were all contributing factors that led to a disheartening season.
However, four Vodacom Bulls (Willie le Roux, Canan Moodie, Kurt-Lee Arendse and Marco van Staden) proudly presented the Springboks during the World Cup in France and formed part of the back-to-back champion team that unified the country.
Going forward, positive prospects for the 2023/2024 season are on the horizon, as new talent and depth were added to the Vodacom Bulls player and coaching squad . The Bulls started their campaign on a high note and were top of the URC log, by the time of printing.
Satisfying results were achieved by the U19 and U20 Vodacom Bulls teams, who won the national competitions. The significance of successful junior teams is that they produce players for the senior squad. Similarly, Edgar Marutlulle as well as Wessel du Plessis and company created a pathway for Canan Moodie, Cameron Hanekom and Rynard Ludwig to the senior squad.
The proposed new Currie Cup format, that will be implemented at the end of the URC, will prevent confusion between the abovementioned competitions amongst fans. The players are challenged by squad management, Springbok rest periods and by playing in the Southern Hemisphere and the franchises up North. The global season should go a long way in solving many of these matters of concern.
The decision to convert the women’s team to professional status was a spectacular success. The Blue Bulls Daisies created their own brand, dominated the season and proceeded to convincingly win the final 69 – 8 against
Western Province. I really hope that other provinces will follow suite as it can only be of major benefit to our national women’s team. We need a winning national team with role models to promote women’s rugby. The BBRU will focus on expanding the base for women’s rugby, as well as create and support pathways for the professional team.
Our U18 Craven Week team excelled and played in the final of the Craven Week for the third consecutive time. All our other representing teams, including the primary schools, were very competitive. Finally, I’m happy to confirm that the U13 Craven Week Tournament will be hosted at Loftus Versfeld in 2024!!
BLUE BULLS COMPANY
I would like to thank Edgar Rathbone and his staff for the remarkable job done by the Blue Bulls Company. Edgar is a brilliant CEO, who has made tremendous impact on the Blue Bulls Company and even SA Rugby.
The BLUE BULLS COMPANY and BBRU are inseparable from one another. I am proud to announce that there is an extremely healthy relationship between the BBRU and the other shareholders. We are in a very fortunate position to have shareholders such as Remgro and ARC.
My thanks and appreciation to Dr Johan van Zyl. The contributions of our shareholders, outside their responsibilities, are absolutely remarkable.
I would like to express my gratitude towards my co-director Mr Jacob Modiba, who served on the Board of Directors. His contributions were most valuable.
SA RUGBY
Mr. Mark Alexander (President) and Mr. Rian Oberholzer (Acting CEO) are congratulated for their support and leadership, as well as the tremendous work they do on a daily basis.
FINANCIALS
The Blue Bulls Company and BBRU are in a good financial position, thanks to our brilliant shareholders and commercial partners.
BBRU MANAGEMENT AND ADMINISTRATION
I would like to thank Dr E Hare and his staff for their dedication to rugby and their high level of administrative support during another highly successful year for amateur rugby. Eugene’s experience is invaluable to the performance of the Union.
The BBRU is well-managed on and off the field. The strong support provided by management and staff ensures that the BBRU operates in a well-structured manner.
I want to thank both Deputies, Ben Eybers and Henri van Aswegen, and the Vice-Presidents from both regions for their support and sterling jobs done. The Manco and Executive Committees functioned very well and there was a genuine willingness to work in the interest of rugby and the Blue Bulls. The success reached by the BBRU is thanks to their expertise inputs and efforts. Having their support as a Management Team is appreciated and the time they spend and sacrifices they make do not go unnoticed.
Also, a huge word of thanks and appreciation to the Chairpersons of our associations for their contributions in this extremely challenging year. We will hit the ground running in 2024 and I am looking forward to our combined efforts.
Like all other associations and committees, the referees also grew and excelled. Membership was increased by 12%, the number of female referees doubled, as well as our appointments on national panels.
We fulfilled our objective of gaining development status for the Limpopo region. Limpopo, who adheres to the criteria of the other fourteen amateur regions, will stay connected to the BBRU via co-operation agreements and constitutional amendments.
CONCLUSION
Next season we will continue to build on our achievements and successes of the past few seasons. Stability, growth, and excellence at every level on and off the field remain our strategy and objective.
Transformation remains a high priority for Blue Bulls rugby at every level. It is an important tool to grow our beautiful game and to keep rugby relevant.
Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality. I’m extremely proud of what we have achieved in this Union, and look forward to reaching new heights next year.
I wish you all a happy festive season and look forward to a splendid 2024!
WJA STRAUSS
PRESIDENT BLUE BULLS RUGBY UNION
