It may take a lot to get the Italians firing on all cylinders, but once they have confidence, teams better watch out.
That’s the sharp, short message from former Vodacom Bulls and current Benetton Treviso lock Irne Herbst, who can’t wait to get stuck into his former teammates in the Rainbow Cup final on Saturday.
Herbst, who played as a junior at the Bulls before heading to Treviso, is like a kid at Christmas, he can’t wait to face the South Africans.
“It’s going to be exciting to face the Bulls,” Herbst proclaimed, “Especially knowing what they are going to bring. I’ve been chatting to the boys the entire week, we know what they bring and it’s easy, it is like the Springboks - you know what they are going to bring, it is just the way they do it, they do it so well.
“That will be the big issue, but we’re really excited, especially playing against my old club.”
Herbst knows that there is an expectation the Bulls will be too strong, but he also knows that his team have momentum, will be in front of a home crowd and the Bulls had to travel. All of this could be a leveller in humid and sticky conditions.
And he knows while some people may point to their poor form in PRO14 this year, they are a different side right now.
“We had a tough year, it was a bit up and down, we didn’t have much luck and we did lose some games in the last minute. We had a lot of Italian internationals away a lot of the time and our depth wasn’t that good. But with them back we started building a lot of continuity and especially in the Challenge Cup, we started to build a bit of form,” he explains.
That form came to fruition in the Rainbow Cup where they are unbeaten.
“The first game we played Glasgow and we won convincingly, and they beat Leinster. We played Zebre twice, but it is a tough game because it is a derby. When we beat Connacht, who beat Munster in Limerick, that was a massive game for us for our confidence.
“We went into the Ospreys week knowing we need to get five points. As a squad we are really full of confidence right now, and it is a dangerous thing for these Italians to be confident.
“If they have confidence, it is good, but to get them there isn’t always the easiest.”
Herbst is looking forward to seeing two of his former teammates in Gerhard Steenekamp and Lizo Gqoboka, both who are in the match-day 23 for Saturday’s game.
“It’s going to be nice to see Lizo - what a great guy and Gerhard, the prop who has been playing awesome rugby. I’ve got a good relationship with Vollies (Andre Volschenk), the conditioning coach, so it will be good to see him,” he says.
“Me personally I watch every single game the Bulls play. I watch every game and these last few games, knowing we were going to play them. It’s going to be exciting to meet them on the field this weekend.
“We will have 1 500 supporters. It’s really hot as well, it’s sticky and they will have to adapt to it. I don’t want to say a lot, but we are going to run the ball and we picked a side that will run the ball well.”
And the confidence goes through the big beard as the smile widens.
The Bulls had better be ready.