Although Leinster’s coach Jaques Nienaber said they are looking forward to playing the Vodacom Bulls at Loftus on Saturday at 17:00 (SA Time), they will have to do so without 20-odd internationals, however, he said they believe they still have enough quality players to beat a powerful Vodacom Bulls.
He confirmed that none of their Ireland internationals are in Pretoria at the start of their build-up towards the Round 13 encounter.
"In the two years I’ve been with the club we’ve always got our South African tour in this slot, between the end of the Six Nations and European knockout games."
"It makes it tough, especially if you’ve got some of your squad playing a large chunk of the Six Nations. But this group that’s here, they relish the challenge. They are selected because we believe they’re good enough and can get a result for us."
"And how exciting is it to come to Loftus and face the Bulls, who’ve got international threats all over the ball? Mentally and physically we’re going to have to be at our best when presented with opportunities, and we’re going to have to take those opportunities."
"We want to test ourselves against the best and that is what we will do on Saturday. We know mentally and physically we will have to be at our best on Saturday."
"There’s good momentum within the squad if you look at performance, but the key thing for us is just focusing on the Bulls," Nienaber said.
"It’s about not looking back and what happened in the past, because it’s in the past. But also not looking up and too far into the future, and think about European games."
"We’ve got matches against two in-form South African teams. We’ve spoken about it, not worrying about the past or the future and literally just staying focused on today and tomorrow’s training session."
"The majority of the squad we used in the wins against Cardiff [42-24] and Ospreys [22-19] are here, and we are hopeful that some of the lads who participated in the Six Nations can join us later."
"Unfortunately with Ireland playing in Rome and us travelling, there are also those logistics at the front end of the week and some will only filter in when they become available."
"We are getting feedback from the Irish staff and medics regarding injuries and management protocols – if there are any to fulfil."
"Possibly week two, we will get a few. However, we wait and see. It’s all about individual management."