Lions’ Ferreira: It’s not personal
LOCK BATTLE: BIG MAN READY FOR MASSIVE CHALLENGE
Andries, Franco remember their time with the Bulls.
Big Lions lock Andries Ferreira (right) has an intimate knowledge of veteran Bulls captain Victor Matfield’s mindset after spending his Under-21 days in Pretoria, but he does not think this can be used as a weapon at Loftus Versfeld today.
The 25-year-old Ferreira, a former Bulls Under-21 lock who joined the Cheetahs in 2012 in search of game time at the highest level, said the Bulls lineout calls had evolved a lot since then.
“I think Victor is clever and Flip (van der Merwe) as well,” Ferreira said.
“They will go and change everything weekly, even from last Saturday, and we expect a much improved effort from them this weekend.”
Looking back, the 120kg forward recalled how he and Lions lock partner Franco Mostert were in awe when they first got invited to the senior Bulls training sessions in 2010.
“Five years ago I remember what an honour it was to be invited to go and train with the seniors, and since then I’ve played a couple of times against them during my days with the Cheetahs,” Ferreira said.
“It is a massive challenge but I don’t think we’ll get involved in any personal battles.
“We will just have to stick to what we know best for the team and then it should fall into place.”
Ferreira, who joined the Lions this year after spending some time with Italian club Zebre last season, was full of praise for his middle-row partner Mostert after walking a long road together.
“Me and ‘Sous’ (Mostert) have been together from the Bulls days. We played together at Under-21 level there.
“I think he is extremely unlucky not to have made the cut for the Bok camp.
“He is having an unbelievable season, and he has his own areas to focus on, as do I, but we are starting to form a nice combination,” he added.