Play outside the box

One of my many idiotic theories about life is that to unlock your full potential you have to understand your limitations.

It is an ideology that does not buy into the American assertion that we can all be whatever we want to be.

But being on a first-name basis with my shortcomings has seen me swindle more out of life than it was willing to give.

I am not sure why that is. It could be reward for taking the trouble to be introspective, it could be life responding to the eternal pessimist double daring it to surprise him.

Looking at Bulls coach Frans Ludeke's career, I cannot help but feel he shares my approach.

Having replaced Heyneke Meyer from the woeful Cats in 2008, Ludeke decided not to rock the boat by imposing his own philosophy on proceedings in 2008.

He kept the same support staff, the players remained the same, and the Bulls carried on playing the same rugby.

And when the Bulls kept winning, he did not allow his ego to be dented by suggestions he was winning because of a foundation laid by Meyer's work.

Two years later he, and not the more talented Meyer, was South Africa's most successful Super rugby coach after winning two of the three titles the Pretoria side has won in the competition.

Ludeke was the poster child for the expression "if it ain't broke..." Fast forward to 2014, things have changed, but Ludeke appears not to have.

Meyer's support staff has moved with him to the Springboks; the core of the players on whose efforts the union's dynasty was built are gone, but Ludeke seems to be carrying on as if nothing has changed.

A great example of that is in their playing style.

Fourie du Preez has been gone for three years yet every halfback at Loftus is still expected to be the team's default flyhalf.

The Bulls still like their flyhalf to kick the ball first and ask questions later, while their current flyhalves prefer to run it.

At inside centre Burger Odendaal, who looks a lively prospect for a team keen on running the ball, is being encouraged to step back into the traffic à la Wynand Olivier and die with the ball - instead of trying to set it up.

The selection policy also appears to have remained from the Meyer days, where hierarchy, rather than form, could decide who was in the starting line-up.

Where in the past it was hard to argue with Victor Matfield, Du Preez, Akona Ndungane et al being given that leeway, a new culture of protectionism has developed.

How does one justify Callie Visagie playing ahead of the Western Province-bound Bongi Mbonambi? The Mbonambi question also raises the issue of the apparent glass ceiling for junior black players at the union.

Ludeke was raving about utility forward Marvin Orie's mental strength just a few weeks ago. Yet when push came to shove he opted for SA Under-20 lock Nico Janse van Rensburg to be on the bench.

With all the leading teams' Springboks excluded from this year's Currie Cup, the Bulls can't make the excuse that they are inexperienced, because they buy most of the young talent in the country.

The fact that they play the most brain-dead rugby (think Jan Serfontein going to crash-ball ruin) suggests they are not being encouraged to think for themselves, which is code for they're not being coached.

Ludeke has milked a lot out of keeping things the same at the Bulls.

The time has come for him to get his mind out of that box and not to allow his limitations to define him.