Pierre Spies (File)

Much is expected from the defending champions as they return from a weekend off to face the New Zealand side, especially after the Highlanders lost 33-0 to the Stormers last weekend, but Spies, now fit again after injury kept him out of the Waratahs game, was erring on the cautious side.

The reason is simple. Last year, in Dunedin, the Bulls arrived full of confidence after dismantling the Hurricanes in Wellington a week earlier, and met a physical and intense Highlanders side that hit them hard. The Bulls lost 36-12 that day, and Spies remembers it well.

So much so that much of the team talk this week is about not letting the standards slip, and making sure a repeat of last year’s performance doesn’t happen again, especially with the Highlanders sure to come out firing to make up for their poor performance in Cape Town.

“We have to make up for last year,” Spies said, “In Dunedin; they really came at us last year and gave us a good beating. This year we will take some aspects out of the Stormers game and their other two games and concentrate on making sure we play our best rugby this week.

“The Stormers played really well against them, but we expect the Highlanders to be a lot better this week once they get to Loftus.” Spies admits while it is nice to be on top of the log after four rounds, there are still a number of weeks ahead in the competition, with the Bulls still not close to where they want to be in this competition.

“We’ve had a good three weeks, but technically we can improve a lot, especially in the standards we want to reach as a team. We set very high standards for ourselves and while the results have been good for us so far, we want to attain the standards we set for ourselves,” he explained.

“The fact that we are conceding so many points is not a good sign for us; luckily we have scored a lot as well. It is definitely something we’re working on - it doesn’t help to score fifty but to let in so many on the other side. It is a focus point for us, to tighten up the defence but to continue scoring on attack.”

As for the injury, Spies smiles when he says he is “itching to play again” but concedes there is a bigger picture at play.

“Any rest is always good in a tough competition like this and for me the break came at a very good time. I’m really itching to get onto the field again and can’t wait,” he adds.

“It’s nice that we’re still on top, but it can change so quickly, so we need to keep out momentum and ensure we win our home games while we are here to give ourselves that advantage. Anything we can do to make the team win is all that matters.”