While Jake White and his Bulls charges view Saturday's URC meeting with Cardiff with the utmost importance, they're simply too meticulous not to realise that it forms part of a greater bloc of fixtures that will "ask questions we've never been asked before".Indeed, South African teams will, for the first time, not only fulfil matches during the Christmas and New Year's period, but juggle European Champions and Challenge Cup duties along with its travel requirements over a hectic six-week period.At least the Bulls have the luxury of boasting an experienced director of rugby who, as a former coach of French giants Montpellier, has a fair idea of what they're getting themselves into.Not that White denies the magnitude of the task."From experience coaching in France, I can tell you there's a six-week period where you're thinking: 'What the hell is happening?
How am I going to get through this glut of fixtures?'," he said on Friday. "You lose a couple of fixtures, you play away, you travel on a bus on Christmas day, have to leave on New Year, whatever the story is, it's about adapting.
It's not something we're used to as a group."15 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 14 David Kriel, 13 Cornal Hendricks, 12 Harold Vorster, 11 Canan Moodie, 10 Johan Goosen, 9 Zak Burger, 8 Elrigh Louw, 7 Cyle Brink, 6 Marco van Staden, 5 Ruan Nortje (captain), 4 Ruan Vermaak, 3 Mornay Smith, 2 Johan Grobbelaar, 1 Gerhard SteenekampSubstitutes: 16 Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 17 Simphiwe Matanzima, 18 Francois Klopper, 19 Janko Swanepoel, 20 Nizaam Carr, 21 Embrose Papier, 22 Chris Smith, 23 Lionel MapoeIn addition to the relative weirdness of playing over the festive season, the men from Loftus will also experience the extreme conditions that define this taxing period.