Skipper Furbank knows Saints must be at their best to beat the Bulls

The black, green and gold will be up against a star-studded Vodacom Bulls side in the second match of the Investec Champions Cup pool stages.

The Bulls were beaten 27-5 at Saracens last weekend but are a totally different proposition at home.

And Furbank said: "You don't really get to play South African teams very often and it's a new challenge.

"The Bulls have obviously got an incredible home record so they're very tough to beat there and we're going to have to be at our best to do that.

"The fact we get to be here for a week and hopefully put in a performance on a Saturday is exciting.

"You're playing against a team who have got multiple double World Cup winners in their team and it's definitely a step up from that Premiership level.

"It's a good experience and one where you've got to take your game to the next level."

Furbank was given last week off as he got some time to relax following his Autumn Nations Series exploits with England.

"I was in on the Monday, had a bit of an injection on the Tuesday and then had the rest of the week off so it was nice to rest the body," the Saints skipper said.

"Now we're just looking forward to the challenge this week.

"I don't think any of us have experienced playing away to the Bulls so we're incredibly excited about that.

"Europe last season, that really boosted our season so we're hoping we're going to get some good energy off the back of that."

Saints will have to deal with the altitude factor this week.

But Furbank said: "There's not really much you can do about it apart from suck it up, take as much oxygen as you can in and crack on really!"