Vodacom Bulls hooker Johan Grobbelaar returned to the squad last weekend against Connachts following four weeks in the Springbok squad for the Castle Lager Outgoing Tour in November. Grobbelaar said the experience he gained at the Springboks is extremely valuable.
“The biggest thing that I learned with the Boks is studying opposition and preparing for games. Looking at things in a different way, to see how they are thinking and what they are doing."
“When you move into the Springbok environment you get to speak to and work with a lot of senior players that have played all over the world, everyone brings something different to the team, so there are a lot of things to pick up.”
Grobbelaar said the Bulls' line-out "problems" will get special attention this week before their Investec Champions Cup clash against Saracens. He said they miss injured Springbok lock Ruan Nortje and Reinhard Ludwig."
“At the Bulls, we always pride ourselves on a good line-out performance.
“Against Connacht, all of us got thrown into the deep end, especially the youngsters with nasty weather, and ugly winds. It was nice and wet with some rain coming down.
“It is something we will look at this week and work on to get a better line-out performance on Saturday."
He added that Saracens is a well-balanced team, very physical, and good at the breakdown, while they also have a good setpiece.
“Saracens have a good reputation for winning trophies, it makes us even more excited and keen for the game. We should use that to our advantage."
“They are a well-balanced team with a good kicking game, and they are physical, good at the breakdown and great at the set piece. We are looking forward to the challenge.”
“They are going to have the home-ground advantage and for most of us it’s going to be the first time on their artificial pitch,”
"We will have to be smart in adjusting in the scrums and the service underfoot.
“They have a lot of experience in the line-outs.
“We will see what their team looks like but we added a few plans and options this week to manage them so I believe we will be ready for Saturday.”