Just one victory on the Bulls' four-match Super 12 journey through Australasia would make their supporters "believe" again, says scrumhalf and team captain Joost van der Westhuizen.

The once-famous rugby area around Pretoria has had a horror three years, and the franchise has won just four of their last 50 Super 12 matches. They play the Hurricanes in a Super 12 game at WestpacTrust Stadium in Wellington on Saturday.

Loftus, once considered one of the most intimidating places for a visiting team to play at, has lost its aura. But there's been a constant right through the deterioration of that side.

Sure, the coaches have been changed every year, the game plans have changed, and the players have changed - in fact there are just nine players back from last year's squad. The constant is this: Joost van der Westhuizen has been missing.

The man with the startling scrum break, the icy-blue eyes and the burning desire to win has had to watch just about all of the past four seasons of Super 12 from the sideline. Including 1996, he's played only 15-20 matches.

His series of knee injuries would have caused many a lesser man to hobble away in disgust, but instead this year Van der Westhuizen - for the first time in four seasons - is in supreme order. At 30, he scoffs at a suggestion that retirement can't be far away, and he bristles when he's asked if the motivation is still there.

"I live and die for rugby," he said. But he can still manage a joke about the length and severity of new Bulls coach Phil Pretorius' training sessions.

On Tuesday the Bulls had two long training sessions, for about five hours. On Wednesday, Van der Westhuizen was asked if that morning's session had been shorter. "Yes, and it needed to be," he said. "It is better to have the training in the bank than to need it every Saturday."

Van der Westhuizen said it had been frustrating to spend so much time sidelined while his team struggled. "This is the first time in three years I've started Super 12. But even so, it's been sad to see the Bulls struggle every year. So it's nice to play the Super 12 again."

The bad patch has had an effect in Pretoria and around the Bulls area. "They've become negative. South African supporters only support winners, especially if you look at where the Blue Bulls come from. For years they dominated the Currie Cup. But since 1996 (they were Super 12 semifinalists), everything's been downwards."

All their home games are scheduled at Loftus, where it is hoped theywill build up support. Van der Westhuizen is hoping for two wins on the four-match trip but said: "Let's be realistic, I will be happy with one". - Sapa-NZPA