New Springbok captain Dewald Potgieter feels South Africa will face the same kind of intensity and physical brutality against Saracens on Tuesday, than that which saw an under-prepared Bok team walk into an 'ambush' against Leicester Tigers in the opening match of their year-end tour.

It is history now that the Boks were not just shunted around the park by the well-prepared Leicester outfit, but also lost 17-22 to the English club giants.

And Saracens, Tuesday's opponents at the imposing Wembley Stadium in London, may well be even more formidable - having gone unbeaten through the first two months of the Premiership season.

"They have had a great season thus far [having won all seven their Premiership matches]," Potgieter, who took over the midweek captaincy from the injured Chiliboy Ralepelle, told this website as his team stepped up preparations for the trip to Wembley.

The Bok skipper said they had worked through some videos of Saracens' games this season and hope to be better prepared than the opening tour match.

"We feel it will be very much the same as what we faced against Leicester Tigers," Potgieter said, adding: "They will try and neutralise us up front.

"No doubt there will be a lot of emphasis on the set pieces, the scrums and line-outs, as well as at the breakdown.

"You know that when you play against these Northern Hemisphere teams you have to be up for it physically.

"Mentally we have to be prepared for much of the same that we encountered against Leicester and we certainly wasn't up to the challenge against the Tigers.

"We were beaten by a more physical team and we will be determined not to fall into the same trap."

Potgieter felt that the extra week afforded to the midweek Boks - a team that shows four changes, a new front row and a change at flank, from the opening tour match - could help them avoid another 'ambush'.

"You just have to look at how we progressed at the training sessions," he said, when asked by this website how important the extra week on tour was.

"You can see from the sideline that the combinations are already gelling better and the players are beginning to understand each other better.

"We are reading each other's running lines so much better.

"If you have just one week to prepare, the focus is simply to get everybody on the same page - to understand what the team is trying to achieve. [In the first week] you pay very little attention to detail, as there is simply not enough time.

"This past week we could sit back and start working a bit more on the detail, polish the game plan a bit.

"That is usually what makes a big difference.

"It is not the big things, but the small things that fall into place that make a big difference.

"I certainly feel that the extra sessions this week will be a big difference for us."