Lock Maro Itoje said Saracens will “step up” and back themselves to beat an in-form Vodacom Bulls outfit when the teams clash for the first time in Pretoria on Saturday.

Itoje starts at No 4 in a star-studded lineup for the Premiership title-holders in the Champions Cup round 1 match at Loftus Versfeld. He is joined by Hugh Tizard in a powerful second row as Owen Farrell returns from injury to captain a team featuring seven British & Irish Lions.

The Saracens squad arrived on the Highveld earlier this week and Itoje, who felt the sting of defeat with England against the world champion Springboks in France in October, can’t wait to tackle The Herd.

Speaking with former Scotland international Jim Hamilton on RugbyPass TV, the 29-year-old touched on the strengths of the South African teams while acknowledging the Bulls’ five wins in seven matches in the Vodacom URC this season.

ALSO: Bulls ‘honoured’ by Saracens stars

“Yeah, you know South African teams, they tend to be really physical,” Itoje said. “The set piece is obviously a big part of their game, they normally have a strong kicking game and all those aspects are what we expect from the Bulls.

“They’ve been going pretty well in the URC. They have a number of Springboks, they have a number of good players. They just had a big result on the weekend.

“So from my point of view it’s really exciting. If you take a step back, how lucky are we to be here in this environment in South Africa at the moment, playing rugby, travelling the world? It’s such a great opportunity. So from a Saracens point of view we just want to make the most of the opportunity.

“We’re looking to step up. We know the Bulls are going to be a tough game, but we have a good team. We have good players, we back ourselves.

“We love coming to arenas and beautiful stadiums like this to play. So yeah, we’re going to give our all.”

Photo: BackpagePix