Luan Giliomee has been in Pretoria for just over a week, but is already tapping into the experience of Springbok veterans Handré Pollard and Willie le Roux.
The 20-year-old utility back spoke to the media on Tuesday ahead of Saturday’s Investec Champions Cup clash against Stade Français at Loftus Versfeld.
“I try to learn every day,” he said. “When I don’t know something, or maybe I know something about a topic, I still ask them.
“I just realise every day that it’s a privilege to play among legends, and I’m just trying to learn everything from them, to ask and to be like a sponge and take everything in.”
He says he is ready to play for the Bulls as soon as he is picked, after an early-season switch from the Sharks that he admits was never part of his childhood plan.
Giliomee, who can cover flyhalf and fullback and has been tipped to handle scrumhalf, arrived last Sunday and was in training a day later.
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Giliomee comes to the Bulls on the back of two standout games for the Sharks, performances he says were driven by gratitude rather than a point to prove.
“I realised that no matter the fact that I’m going to the Bulls, I still get the chance to perform, and they’re backing me.”
At the Bulls, Giliomee is still learning a new set of calls, having done the same at the Sharks only a week earlier. He admits the timing is demanding.
“It’s definitely an experience to join another team in the middle of a season,” he said.
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Giliomee is working to understand the Bulls’ systems and earn his new teammates’ trust, but believes he has settled in “quite nicely”.
His first days were spent with the Springbok contingent, as the rest of the squad was still on tour. He did his medicals and walkthroughs with them.
“They were accepting me with open arms,” he said. “It was a surreal experience.”
The Bulls are chasing European success, and Giliomee made it clear he wants to be part of it.
He called the Champions Cup “an amazing competition” and said the squad is excited to face different opposition from the weekly URC grind. French clubs, in his view, are a standard to be measured against.
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Giliomee grew up a Western Province and Stormers fan and says so plainly, but adds that he has become “quite fond” of the Bulls in a short time. He rates the culture and playing style as the biggest draws.
On the coaching staff’s message to new arrivals, he said the instruction was to be himself and not feel pressured.
Asked what he must improve, he offered no single weakness.
“I just want to become a better player in all aspects.”
Photo: Vodacom Bulls
The post Giliomee learning from the best appeared first on SA Rugby magazine.
Luan Giliomee has been in Pretoria for just over a week, but is already tapping into the experience of Springbok veterans Handré Pollard and Willie le Roux.
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