At the age of 34, Cornal Hendricks has almost seen and done it all on a rugby field.
But despite the Bulls going all the way to the United Rugby Championship (URC) final last season, a loss to Edinburgh in Scotland is still being felt by the utility back.
“Looking forward to Edinburgh, because the last time we played them, it wasn’t a good outing for us as we lost that game. But looking forward to that, playing them at two ’o clock, so it’s going to be lekker hot … I think we owe them one!” the veteran wing said after practice at Loftus Versfeld yesterday ahead of Saturday’s rematch with the Scottish outfit (2.30pm kick-off).
“It’s a different game in Europe to South Africa. We’ve got physical and big players, and also skills as well. They are physical as well, but in the technical (aspects) they are very good, and aerial (skills) too.
“I think their international players make a difference in their team, so we can bring the South African physicality, we will be Okay.
The last time they faced Edinburgh, the Bulls bore the brunt of Welsh referee Ben Whitehouse’s whistle in a 17-10 defeat at the DAM Heath Stadium last October.
A late disallowed try by Madosh Tambwe could have secured a 17-17 draw, but it was not to be as Whitehouse felt the Bulls wing had made a double movement in stretching over, while he also penalised the South African side heavily at the breakdowns.
So, the Pretoria side would want to avoid any controversy by dominating with the forwards to allow the backs like Hendricks to shine on Saturday following an error-ridden display on attack in the 31-15 win over the Lions last week.
“We always want to chase tempo, and we always say we will control the game at our pace. We want to chase tempo this weekend as well,” said Hendricks, who scored a try at Ellis Park last Saturday.
“There is a lot of positivity in the team, and the energy is good. We want to bring it alive every week, and we are getting players back from the national team as well. We are building a strong squad, and players want to be picked on the weekends.
“Johan (Goosen, who may be considered for selection at flyhalf this week) brings a different flavour to the team, has a lot of energy and makes players like myself and David (Kriel, inside centre) look good.
“It’s always good to start the season with a win. The guys had a good preseason, and we worked on a lot of stuff to make us better. We also learnt from last season.
“It’s always tough to play at the Lions, but we kept the ball alive. There are a lot of things we do at training that the guys actually apply during the games.
“So, we are very happy that we are doing stuff that we worked in the week.”
@AshfakMohamed