Limpopo Blue Bulls (known as the Assupol Limpopo Blue Bulls for sponsorship reasons) are a South African rugby union team that are a sub-union of the Blue Bulls Rugby Union and are therefore represented by the Blue Bulls in the annual Currie Cup and Vodacom Cup tournaments. They play out of Polokwane at the Peter Mokaba Stadium and draw players from the entire Limpopo province in South Africa. Between 2013 and 2015, the Limpopo Blue Bulls played as a separate team in the Vodacom Cup competition. Despite their first team not participating in first class rugby since 2015, they still have youth teams that participate in competitions such as the Under-21 and Under-19 Provincial Championships and in the Craven Week and Grant Khomo Week tournaments. They also have a women's team who compete in the South African Rugby Women's First Division.
| Union | Blue Bulls Rugby Union |
|---|---|
| Region | Limpopo, South Africa |
| Ground(s) | Peter Mokaba Stadium, Polokwane (Capacity: 45,500) |
| Coach(es) | André Eloff |
| League(s) | Vodacom Cup |
| 2015 | 8th (North Section) |
History
editFar North (1968–1995)
editIn 1967, the Far North Rugby Union was formed. They were based in Pietersburg (now Polokwane) and participated in domestic South African competitions between 1968 and 1995, when the advent of professionalism in South African rugby union saw the number of provincial unions reduced to 14. Far North merged with Northern Transvaal to become the Blue Bulls.
Vodacom Cup (2013–2015)
editThey played as an independent team in the Vodacom Cup, starting in the 2013 season.[1]
It was a very disappointing season, with the Limpopo Blue Bulls breaking several unwanted records, including the biggest ever first class loss recorded in South African rugby history, when they lost 161–3 to the Golden Lions on 27 April 2013.[2]
They also conceded 100 points or more in their matches against the Leopards (113–3),[3] Griquas (124–5),[4] Pumas (154–0)[5] and Blue Bulls (110–0).[6]
They slightly improved in their second season in the competition, conceding nearly 200 points less in their seven matches. However, they still lost all of their matches and conceded 100 points or more in two of their matches — against the Golden Lions[7] and against their parent union side, the Blue Bulls.[8]
The Limpopo Blue Bulls took a different approach in the build-up to the 2015 Vodacom Cup. In 2013 and 2014, they selected the best players from across the Limpopo province – excluding the players of the best club in the region, Noordelikes, who competed in the SARU Community Cup at the same time as the Vodacom Cup competition – for 2015, they decided to train in Pretoria and also employ the help of some club players from the Blue Bulls region, most notably Oostelike Eagles, who contributed 17 players to their 2015 training squad.[9] Their record in 2015 was once again much-improved; they only conceded 50 points or more in two matches – a 52–0 defeat to the Pumas[10] and an 83–13 defeat to the Blue Bulls.[11] They scored more than twice the number of points they scored in 2014 and conceded half the number of points. They also earned their first log points when they lost their match against the Welwitschias by less than seven points – going down 17–24 in Windhoek[12] – and gained their first log point for scoring four tries in a match in their final game of the season, a 27–38 defeat to the Falcons.[13]
Records
editLimpopo Blue Bulls records:
| Team Match Records | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Record | Opposition | Venue | Season | |
| Biggest win: | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Heaviest defeat: | Golden Lions | Alberton Rugby Club | 2013 | 3–161 |
| Highest score: | Griffons | North West Stadium, Welkom | 2015 | 28 |
| Most points conceded: | Golden Lions | Alberton Rugby Club | 2013 | 161 |
| Most tries: | Falcons | Peter Mokaba Stadium, Polokwane | 2015 | 4 |
| Player Match Records | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Record | Player | Opposition | Venue | Season | |
| Most points by a player: | Anton Beswick | Griffons | North West Stadium, Welkom | 2015 | 13 |
| Most tries by a player: | Various | Various | Various | Various | 1 |
| Team Season Records | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Record | Matches | Season | |
| Most team points: | in 7 matches | 2015 | 115 |
| Most team tries: | in 7 matches | 2015 | 12 |
| Player Season Records | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Record | Player | Season | |
| Most points by a player: | Anton Beswick | 2015 | 55 |
| Most tries by a player: | Niyaas Johnson | 2014 | 2 |
| Dwayne Pienaar | 2015 | 2 | |
| Fanie Raseroka | 2015 | 2 | |
| Player Career Records | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Record | Player | Seasons | |
| Most appearances: | Barnie Boonzaaier | 2014–2015 | 13 |
| Johan Coetzer | 2013–2014 | 13 | |
| Most points: | Anton Beswick | 2015 | 55 |
| Most tries: | Niyaas Johnson | 2014 | 2 |
| Dwayne Pienaar | 2015 | 2 | |
| Fanie Raseroka | 2015 | 2 | |
Vodacom Cup
editThe Limpopo Blue Bulls' all-time record in the Vodacom Cup since their entry into the competition in 2013 is:
| Limpopo Blue Bulls' Vodacom Cup record | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Pts For | Pts Ag | Pts Diff | Tries For | Tries Ag | Log Pts |
| 2013 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 32 | 781 | −749 | 3 | 119 | 0 |
| 2014 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 47 | 580 | −533 | 6 | 90 | 0 |
| 2015 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 115 | 290 | −175 | 12 | 43 | 2 |
| Overall | 21 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 194 | 1651 | −1457 | 21 | 252 | 2 |
References
edit- ^ "Limpopo to play in Vodacom Cup". South African Rugby Union. 8 January 2013. Archived from the original on 7 June 2016. Retrieved 6 June 2016.
- ^ "Volmink sets SA record". 28 April 2013. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
- ^ "SA Rugby Match Centre – Leopards XV 113–3 Assupol Limpopo Blue Bulls". South African Rugby Union. 15 March 2013. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
- ^ "SA Rugby Match Centre – Assupol Limpopo Blue Bulls 5–124 GWK Griquas". South African Rugby Union. 23 March 2013. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
- ^ "SA Rugby Match Centre – Steval Pumas 154–0 Assupol Limpopo Blue Bulls". South African Rugby Union. 13 April 2013. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
- ^ "SA Rugby Match Centre – Assupol Limpopo Blue Bulls 0–110 Vodacom Blue Bulls". South African Rugby Union. 20 April 2013. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
- ^ "SA Rugby Match Centre – Assupol Limpopo Blue Bulls 0–110 Golden Lions". South African Rugby Union. 12 April 2014. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
- ^ "SA Rugby Match Centre – Vodacom Blue Bulls 116–0 Assupol Limpopo Blue Bulls". South African Rugby Union. 25 April 2014. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
- ^ "Oostelikes-Eagles hersturktureer" (in Afrikaans). Pretoria East Rekord. 19 January 2015. Retrieved 10 February 2015.
- ^ "SA Rugby Match Centre – Steval Pumas 52–0 Assupol Limpopo Blue Bulls". South African Rugby Union. 21 March 2015. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
- ^ "SA Rugby Match Centre – Vodacom Blue Bulls 83–13 Assupol Limpopo Blue Bulls". South African Rugby Union. 2 May 2015. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
- ^ "SA Rugby Match Centre – FNB Welwitschias 24–17 Assupol Limpopo Blue Bulls". South African Rugby Union. 18 April 2015. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
- ^ "SA Rugby Match Centre – Assupol Limpopo Blue Bulls 27–38 Hino Valke". South African Rugby Union. 9 May 2015. Retrieved 27 July 2016.