Italian side Benetton’s confidence will be a key aspect in Saturday’s Rainbow Cup final with the Bulls, and one man that knows that more than any other is their lock Irne Herbst.
Herbst played as a junior for the Bulls before heading to Italy and the bearded lock is excited to see his former club.
“It’s going to be exciting to face the Bulls,” Herbst said, “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.”
While some may see the Bulls as favourites, Herbst knows Benetton have a trick or two up their sleeves and are confident to face the South Africans.
“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 and we must 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 of who are in the matchday 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 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 1500 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.”