On the journey to South Africa…
It’s been great. The journey has been relatively uneventful, if long, but the lads get on with it. The sun is shining, we’ve been out and we’ve been training really hard. Things are going well.
On Vodacom Bulls…
It’s going to be really difficult. We’re expecting really stiff competition. The game will be really physical and fast in the sense that if the game breaks up, The Bulls have the speed on the edge to be able to punish you. We’ll have to adapt to the heat and the style of play that they use. I genuinely believe we’ll have to give our best to have a chance of winning out here.
On the prospect of facing Marcell Coetzee…
It’s an exciting prospect going up against the Bulls. They’re stacked – not just Marcell – they’ve got tremendous power athletes up-front and play a very physical game. I look forward to catching up with Marcell. We’re all aware of what he’s capable of doing on the pitch. We faced some good players last week as well, and we’ll face some good ones this week, not just Marcell. He’ll come to see us in the hotel, and we’ll have a coffee and see how he's getting on, which will be really nice to catch-up.
On the difference in game preparations in South Africa…
There are pluses and minuses. One of the pluses is that we’re all together in a hotel, so there are no other life important distractions in the sense that when you’re at home, we’ve all got families who have day-to-day requirements in the normal running of your life. Over here, that has to extend to conversing by phone. There are advantages in that and also while we’ve been here, the weather hasn’t disrupted our training. There’s a feel-good factor around that. The disadvantages come from the conditions. Those are the biggest disadvantages but it’s all part of it. The South African teams have to come to us and face challenges in a similar way. I wouldn’t change anything as far as the league is concerned. I think it’s a great experience for our guys. Some have been here before and some are young and haven’t experienced it before. We’ll take a great deal from this.
On Alan O’Connor’s 150th appearance last week and Andrew Warwick making his 150th appearance this week in South Africa…
It’s terrific. Al and Andrew have been huge servants of the club over the last number of years. Both guys bleed for their jersey, literally and metaphorically. I’ve got the utmost respect for them and it’s a testament to their abilities and effort they put in that they’ve managed to reach this milestone. Fair play to them, it’s a brilliant achievement.
On down time…
In the downtime we have, I’ll definitely make use of it. It’s a fantastic spot and a fantastic country. I’ve been here a few times and I love coming here. We’ll make the most of the time off-field and when it’s business, it’s business.