Forwards coach Dewald Senekal wants Connacht to play with much more physicality against the Vodacom Bulls when the teams clash at Loftus Versfeld on Friday.

The SA-born assistant believes that for Andy Friend’s men to bounce back from a 38-15 hammering to the DHL Stormers in the Vodacom United Rugby Championship on Saturday, they must front up to the “bullies” from Pretoria.

“We’re in the land of physicality. We need to be present. It’s not always a size thing, it’s intent. We need to stop being the nice Connacht Irish boys that are fair play,” Senekal told The42.ie.

“We need to really try and impose ourselves – have that intent to clean someone to the floor, hit them hard when they’re giving us open ribs or something, within the laws of the game, obviously.

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“I definitely believe it’s a mindset and that’s where we’ve challenged ourselves. I felt that in stages in the Stormers performances, there were hints of it and we’re getting there. It doesn’t come naturally to our boys but I definitely believe there was a step up there. I did thank them for that this week.”

The former Cheetahs and Lions No 8 added: “Now we’re going to Loftus [to play the Bulls]. Even within South African terms, they’re known as a side who want to impose themselves and as bullies. They haven’t forgotten what happened last year at The Sportsground [Connacht won 34-7], so they know what’s coming. Now it’s really around us flying through the storm and meeting it head on.

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“We can’t shy away from it because for me that’s the real part of taking the next step as a team. Even against a tough side, we need to be present on Friday night again and not choose our battles.”

Photo: @connachtrugby/Twitter