The Vodacom Bulls are set to face new challenges - including three artificial pitches - as they head out on a four week Vodacom United Rugby Championship tour in the second week of the competition.
And to overcome these obstacles, the Bulls will rely heavily on a number of new acquisitions in the off-season to help them get the most points out of a tour that will bring a number of new challenges to their hopes of winning the URC title.
Their first challenge comes in the form of Ulster’s new 3G pitch at Ravenhill in Belfast on Sunday night, where the home side are under some pressure following their failure to go past the quarterfinals last season and the big cash outlay for the new pitch.
While the jury is still out whether the artificial pitches bring more injuries in rugby, it certainly doesn’t harbour good memories for the Bulls after their flyhalf Johan Goosen did his knee in a rainy game in Cardiff two seasons ago, an injury that came after his boot got stuck in the pitch.
Cardiff is one of the games the Bulls face this season as they continue their path on the tour.
White said he had learned from the tours of the last two seasons and the Bulls feel they have a plan to maximise points from the games they play.
“We have had experience, this is the third year we’re playing in the URC and a lot of players have experienced the conditions before. And a lot of players who have joined us - the Jaco van der Walts, Wilco Louw - have played a lot in those conditions. They will be fully aware of what it is like to play in Europe.
“We’re going to play on three 4G pitches in these four games. Ulster have a new 4G pitch, Cardiff have a 4G pitch and Edinburgh have one as well. It is going to be a very different surface for us to adapt to as well.
“Hopefully it doesn’t take too long to adapt - last year in Edinburgh we got caught short in terms of the pace of the game, so hopefully a 32 degree altitude game will help us on those conditions.”
The last remark was referring to their 60 point demolition of Scarlets in the Pretoria heat last Saturday and underlined how important it was to get five points under the belt and confidence ahead of a long season.
But with the likes of Louw, who played with Harlequins, Van der Walt and Henry Immelmann, both who were at Edinburgh, Akker van der Merwe (Sale) and a host of others - including co-captain Marcell Coetzee, who was a favourite at Ulster, they will need the experience of conditions and winning away from home to aid them.
And White will be banking on that experience to see them home.