Serfontein confident of Pietersen partnership

Vodacom Bulls centre Jan Serfontein says he is looking forward to playing alongside Sharks’ winger JP Pietersen in the Springbok midfield against Wales on Saturday.

Serfontein has been selected at inside centre following the withdrawal of Frans Steyn from the squad while Pietersen will line-up at outside centre.

It is a new combination, but one that Serfontein says he is looking forward to and one that he admits to learning a lot from.

“JP’s a good player and can adapt to outside centre quite easily (from wing),” said Serfontein.

“He’s a guy that has pace and strength, which are important aspects if you want to do well in the midfield.

“I’m very comfortable at No.12. So I don’t expect any problems. We’ve done well together at training.

“JP’s a senior guy and talks a lot of sense. That helps with things I can improve and I think he has the attributes for a great 13. I’m looking forward to the combination.”

Serfontein and Pietersen will be coming up against one of the best centre-pairings in Wales’ Jamie Roberts and Jonathan Davies, but the Bulls man believes they are well-equipped to deal with them.

“Jamie Roberts is a big centre, he’s over 100 kilograms, so they’re obviously going to use him to get front foot ball from the first phase,” added Serfontein.

“But I think we’re well prepared, we went through our defence this week and it went pretty well.”