The Blue Bulls beat the Cheetahs in the Currie Cup Final at Loftus on Saturday not because they have many stars, but because they are a great team said Bulls coach Heyneke Meyer after his team’s historic 42-33 victory over the Cheetahs in a 10-try thriller.

Meyer dedicated the win to the late Francois Swart, the young Bulls fly-half who died in a motor vehicle accident earlier this year. But once he put the emotion of the occasion aside, he could reflect on another fine team effort by a Blue Bulls machine that made history by becoming only the second team to record a three consecutive Currie Cup titles. Western Province still holds the record with five consecutive titles, but this outfit has the making of a team that can match and even better that.

"You don't win Currie Cup Finals with stars," Meyer said. "You win through a concerted team effort. You win with players who are prepared to die for each other and you saw that out there today from these Bulls," Meyer said.
He also paid tribute to two Cheetahs greats, coach Peet Kleynhans and captain Rassie Erasmus. The Final was Kleynhans' last game as a coach, while Erasmus hung up his boots to take over the coaching mantel from Kleynhans.

Bulls captain Anton Leonard also payed tribute to the opposition. "The Cheetahs are a good team," Leonard said. "But Finals are 50-50 games and on the day it is about the team that makes the least number of mistakes. We certainly made fewer mistakes. "But credit to Rassie [Erasmus] and his men. They had a good season and deserved to be in the Final."

Erasmus, obviously disappointed at not having ended his career on a winning note. "It was a really tough Final, but the Bulls deserved to win. They were better than us on the day. But I am really proud of my guys, for all the hard work they have put in and the good rugby they played throughout the
season." - www.rugby365.com