Ken Borland

Ruan Pienaar is a highly experienced man when it comes to playing against European opposition and the scrumhalf said on Tuesday that the Sharks dare not give Cardiff Blues any weak points to exploit in their defence as they meet on the 4G pitch at the Arms Park on Saturday.

South African teams are starting to come to terms with playing on artificial turf in the UK, and the Cardiff Blues are known for their attacking style on their fast-paced home surface. Plus, having lost to the Bulls last weekend via a dramatic second-half comeback, they will be taking nothing for granted on Saturday.

“Cardiff will be disappointed to have two losses on the bounce,” Pienaar said, “and I think they felt in control in the first half of their match against the Bulls. They are a good team, so they will be desperate to bounce back.

“They have a lot of dangerous players and if we give them time on the ball and let them dictate the tempo, then it will be a really tough challenge against them.

“You’ve got to be clinical and really accurate on those pitches because the game is a lot faster and the tempo much higher. We’ve got to be on-point defensively or their dangerous back three will hurt us.

“Rhys Priestland pulls the strings really well for them at flyhalf and it’s tough on a 4G pitch to defend breaches if they get through your line,” Pienaar said.

The former Ulster stalwart said the Sharks’ performance on Saturday will need to have the same properties they showed in convincingly beating the Ospreys last weekend, also with a brilliant second-half display.

“Against the Ospreys we played in the right areas, our discipline was good and we took our chances. We responded very well to our first two losses and you have to adapt to how the referees blow over here.

“Playing first up against Munster was always going to be a tough introduction, a massive learning curve because they are a very good team and especially difficult at Thomond Park.

“Our discipline let us down against them and there were costly errors, but against Glasgow Warriors, if we had done one or two things differently, then it could have been a different story.

“It’s a completely different way of playing over here, but we have been fortunate to have really good weather, normally it is quite miserable already at this time of year. I played here for a long time, you know the opposition is going to be really well coached and our key decision-makers are crucial,” Pienaar said.

Bulls coach Jake White wants physicality and an ability to exploit space from his inside centre and Springbok wing Cornal Hendricks looks a good fit to continue in the number 12 jersey when they open their Super Rugby Unlocked campaign against Griquas at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.

White sprang a surprise two weekends ago when he chose Hendricks at inside centre in their SuperFan Saturday match against the Sharks, but he was outstanding as the Bulls backline ripped their opponents apart in the first half. Without wanting to give away their selection at the start of the week, Hendricks said on Monday that his focus would now be on playing in midfield.

“It was a good experience against the Sharks although I started my career at number 13 for Boland and also played centre for the Blitzbokke. Coach Jake said he wanted to try lots of combinations and if it works, then it works, so my focus is there now. I’ll play anywhere in the backline, except scrumhalf or flyhalf. But I took a lot of confidence out of that game.

“The coach wants us to express ourselves in our positions. All teams want a big, physical No.12, but coach Jake also wanted me to get momentum and play some rugby. He said if I can find space then I must get it, be confident and just play if there’s space. We have incredible outside backs and we just want to get the ball in their hands,” Hendricks said.

It’s difficult to know what to expect from lowly Griquas on Saturday, but the men from Kimberley did reach the Currie Cup semi-finals last year and hammered the Bulls 37-15 at Loftus Versfeld in one of the lowest points of the season for Hendricks and his team. They competed well against the Free State Cheetahs in a warm-up game at the weekend, only fading at the death to lose 31-21.

“Griquas will be coming to Pretoria to make a point again, I have no doubt, but we prepare the same very week whether we are playing the Sharks, Lions, Cheetahs or Griquas. We’re quite happy with the way we played against the Sharks, we learnt a lot from that game and we did a lot of things right. We wanted to throw the ball around and we showed that the whole backline has pace.

“Coach Jake is a very intelligent and smart coach and it’s an honour and privilege to work with him. He has a different coaching style and he wants you to feel comfortable in the team. He has a winning mindset, which we need after the tough times we’ve been through, but now we have that mindset when we train as well. And he really backs the individuals in the team,” Hendricks said.