Corniel van Zyl insists Cardiff Rugby are ready to face the physical challenge of back-to-back matches in South Africa as the race for BKT United Rugby Championship play-off places intensifies. 

The Blue & Blacks have travelled to Pretoria sat fifth in the table and right in the race for the eight. 

Onn the back of a bruising Six Nations, Cardiff face Vodacom Bulls on Friday before travelling south to Durban. Availability for the tour has been decided on a player-by-player basis, with Alex Mann and Josh Adams left in Cardiff for this weekend at least. 

But Van Zyl is confident his side have prepared as well as possible and while he concedes any trip to South Africa is a daunting challenge, he insists Cardiff will fight with all they have got. 

He said: “It’s obviously a challenging time to play away from home, especially in South Africa, straight off the Six Nations. Basically, from Saturday to Friday, there’s a lot of logistics and planning, and also sessions that energy needs to go into.

“Factors like we’re flying in, we’re playing away from home come into play.  But ultimately, we’ve done our prep really well and we know exactly what the game will look like. 

“We’ve trained according to that and ultimately it boils down to there will be a lot of transition in the game.  We need to be really physical because that’s basically the Bulls’ USP. If we can manage that well, then I think we’ll have a good shot.  

“It’s a bit of pressure on the squad, but ultimately that’s why we have a squad. So we back the other players to step in and do their job.  

“The players who played the high minutes (in the Six Nations), we’ll have to manage them smartly. There’s a rest period for a few boys and then also others coming through and joining the squad. We’ll just manage it appropriately according to the playing numbers and minutes.  

“Josh Adams and Alex Mann stayed back home, so they’ll be on standby for next week. But at the minute, if we don’t pick up injuries, they’ll probably just take a two-week break. 

“Jim Botham, obviously playing the last three games, he joined the squad, so he will be available for selection for both games and tour.”  

Cardiff face a Bulls side licking their wounds 32-19 defeat to DHL Stormers at Loftus Versfeld and Van Zyl, who came through the ranks in Pretoria, expects a backlash.

He said: “I’d expect the very best of the Bulls. I think they will be shattered by the way they played, the discipline, unforced errors and stuff like that, which I can’t envision to see again Friday night. 

“We can expect the very best of the Bulls and it will be a total turnaround from that game against the Stormers.

“It’s a tough place to come. You walk into the Loftus and you just feel like today I need to be very physical, today I need to be fighting for every last bit of air you get. 

“Out of previous years and the way the Bulls culture is, they back themselves on a very physical game. They back themselves to dominate set-piece and then obviously they’ve got flyers outside. They are a well-balanced team.

“Ultimately the goal for us is to go and put our game on the pitch, the boys fight for each other and then it’s how much we can enjoy it because it will be challenging with altitude and all that stuff. 

“It’s just about how we can enjoy it, embrace it and then ultimately grow as a team. It will be tough, but we will have a good go. We know our game. We know What we are strong at and very good at so we’ll try and put that on the pitch.”