The Bulls will be hoping to make it three in a row in 2011. They are coached by Frans Ludeke, who, after a less than glorious start in 2008, has coached his team to successive titles in 2009 and 2010. He has taken on the mantle from Heyneke Meyer and done a really impressive job.

In Victor Matfield they have an experienced campaigner who has seen it all and lived to tell the tale.  He is respected worldwide as a player and captain and one of the major contributors to the Bulls success.  Gathered around Matfield is a veritable round-table of leaders who all bring something different to the game.  Gary Botha, Derrek Kuun, Dewald Potgieter and the general Fourie du Preez have all captained the Bulls in one guise or another and each is as capable as the next of taking over should Matfield have to leave the field for whatever reason.

Up front they have the mighty Gurthro Steenkamp, Werner Kruger and the aforementioned Gary Botha and Chiliboy Ralapelle.  Joining Matfield at lock are Bakkie Botha and Danie Russouw.  I waxed lyrical about the toughness of Schalk Burger when I previewed the Stormers, but if Chuck Norris hides from Schalk, then he pisses himself when Bakkies and Danie come looking for him.  They’re hard as nails and just uncompromising, which, as we saw last year, sometimes gets them into a bit of trouble.  Flip van der Merwe and Juandre Kruger are two very able players covering for them on the bench.

The Bulls have a fairly settled loose forward trio with Spies, Potgieter and Deon Stegman.  Spies is a monster of a man and is possibly reaching the stage of his career where all that promise and potential will be unleashed, and I pity the fools who find themselves in his way if he stays present for 80 minutes instead of the sporadic bits and starts to which we’ve become accustomed.

Fourie du Preez and Morne Steyn form the halfback combination.  Du Preez’s understanding of the game and tactical nous combined with Steyn’s huge and accurate boot can be soul destroying for their opponents.  The best way to counter that is to pressure Fourie if you can and allow Steyn as little time and space on the ball as possible.  Of course that is easier said than done.

At centre they have Meisiekind Oliver and either Jaco Pretorius or one of the Stefans at 13.  Akona Ndungane returns from his two broken legs, and he joins new recruit and try scoring machine Bjorn Basson, Gerhard van den Heefer, Francois Hougaard, Sideshow Bob and Jaco van der Westhuizen as the most likely back unit.

I’ve said a lot of positive things about the Bulls so far but I think it only fair that I also express the warning bells banging around in the back of my mind.  Last year the Crusaders and the Sharks in the Currie Cup semi-final set the blueprint for beating the Bulls.  They did it in much the same way the Wallabies beat the Springboks in Bloemfontein. The other sides in Superugby will have taken note and will be really motivated to stop the Bulls march to dominance.

Will they do the threepeat?  Only time will tell, the South African sides are so closely matched this year, the Sharks are full of confindence after a great Currie Cup, The Stormers are eager to go one better than in 2010.  The Lions have a full piggy bank and a new team, and the Cheetahs are always a handful playing in South Africa, so the new format suits them to the ground.

I expect the Bulls will make the playoffs, from there on in its anyones game!

May the best team win, and if not, then the most entertaining one!