As the Vodacom Bulls prepare to face Cardiff in this weekend’s Round 4 of the Vodacom United Rugby Championships, their try-scoring debutant from the win over Zebre Parma believes that their tour is already a success.
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🐂 Vodacom Bulls Vs Cardiff
📍 Cardiff Arms Park
🗓️ 10 November
⏰ 21:35
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South African teams have struggled to tour without their Springboks and going from summer to winter and playing on artificial pitches has been a major factor in this. Coach Jake White has highlighted the differences and believes that, especially in the start of the season, it is difficult to win away from home when teams are stronger and haven’t been hit by injuries.
White’s team picked up the only victory overseas in the opening three rounds of the championship and while they still have two games left on tour, newbie Sergeal Petersen believes they are already in a good space.
Six points from two games has left the Bulls smiling and they believe if they can win in Cardiff, as they did two seasons ago, then the tour would leave them in a very good place going into their last game against Edinburgh next week.
Petersen emphasised the difference in conditions the teams are facing and how tough it makes it as well for them to win away from home.
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“It’s a massive difference from the heat in Pretoria to the cold, rainy weather this side,” Petersen told journalists on Monday afternoon from Cardiff.
“This weekend is going to be a tough one against Cardiff. We expect that and are prepared for that. We need to do what we can and stick to our guns.
“Even with just one win, this tour would be successful. I don’t think many of the teams in this competition tour very well. We are very happy with where we are at the moment. Hopefully, we can keep it going in our favour this weekend and in the last game against Edinburgh.”
Petersen was signed among a number of Bulls acquisitions in the off-season and while he left the DHL Stormers for a season in Japan, he said he had no hesitation when the offer from the Bulls came calling.
“Firstly, I just wanted to be in a competitive setup again. As I have alluded to, this is going to be very competitive, with the depth we have in the outside backs,” Petersen said.
“This is another opportunity for me to test myself against the best and play with the best. I think I am in good company here. That was one of the biggest factors behind coming back to South Africa and, specifically, the Bulls.”
With the Bulls getting World Cup winning Springboks such as Willie le Roux, Canan Moodie and Kurt-Lee Arendse back into their set-up, Petersen sees competition as healthy, and doesn’t see it as a dogfight for playing time.
“I don’t think it’s going to be a fight or anything like that. We all have our specific roles within the squad. We know they are world champions. A guy like Canan hasn’t played a lot of rugby recently, so I am sure he will be ready to go when he gets back into this side.
“We all have certain roles that we need to fulfill within the squad and when they come back, it’s for us as a squad to feed off their success. Hopefully, they can add that fire to our squad so we can go from strength to strength.”
The Bulls face Cardiff on Friday night and while the Bulls did have a narrow loss to Ulster in their first tour game, the enterprise and width against Cardiff did suggest that if the weather allows them to, they will be a handful in the Welsh capital.