PRETORIA - Bulls eighthman Hanro Liebenberg knows all about playing against New Zealand teams in Super Rugby after making his debut against the Hurricanes as a replacement two years ago.
That was a game the Bulls narrowly lost 17-13 at Loftus Versfeld, but it was followed by a starting debut against the Crusaders. The Bulls won that game convincingly and the likes of Liebenberg and centre Burger Odendaal emphatically announced their arrival on the big stage.
For the 21-year-old Liebenberg that win against the Crusaders would have stood out as he outplayed now retired All Black captain Richie McCaw and his successor Kieran Read.
“That game was a good outcome and it is one of the highlights of my career thus far,” said Liebenberg.
“I’m really looking forward to playing in New Zealand and to test myself against some of the best players in the world, including Jerome Kaino with the Blues. I’m really motivated and excited about playing against a guy like him (Kaino). I want to be the best number eight in the world and in order to achieve that dream I must compare myself with the best out there.”
It will be with the same enthusiasm and confidence that a relatively young Bulls side will take on the Blues and Chiefs, and Liebenberg believes there is nothing for them to fear.
Instead Liebenberg wants the Bulls to turn the tables on both the Blues and Chiefs and hit them with a dose of their own medicine by playing the brand of rugby that has made all of the New Zealand franchises feared.
The men from Pretoria last won in New Zealand four years ago against the Blues.
“The tour itself is going to be a challenge, New Zealand is not easy.
"But we are going there with a mentality to win all our matches and one can’t come to New Zealand with a mentality where you pick the games you want to win, or you are going to end up short.
"Our mentality is to attack every game, we are going to attack the Blues and our preparation is already done. We are just going to go out there enjoy it and play our game,” said Liebenberg.
And the Bulls showed in their pre-season friendly against the Chiefs in Brisbane that they are more than equipped to play and beat the best New Zealand rugby has to throw at them, it just comes down to how they go about executing their game-plan especially after the let-downs of their first two matches of the season which led to defeats against the Stormers and Cheetahs.
At the same time there is also the realisation that the Bulls have been far from their best since the beginning of the season and even though their win against the Sunwolves was a convincing one, it still exposed familiar frailties.
Former Junior Springbok skipper Liebenberg hope the Bulls can finally hit their straps while on tour and return home on the front foot to secure themselves a place in the playoffs.
“We played against the Chiefs in a warm-up game and that was a good result for us. It wasn’t their full-strength team but a lot of the guys that played that day are now playing in their side. That motivates us a little bit and even though we haven’t played good rugby in our last three games that is what excites us, that we can still reach our full potential... and that can actually happen while we are in New Zealand,” Liebenberg said.