When experiencing rugby heartache in South Africa there's nothing like a trip to Soweto to add a little perspective to life as a professional sportsman.

Some of the downtrodden Chiefs absorbed that valuable lesson in life in the aftermath of their last-minute loss to the Bulls last weekend, shifting their focus to the sprawling township synonymous with poverty and racial conflict on the outskirts of Johannesburg.

Hawera-born prop Nathan White was among a handful of players that took the opportunity to give Soweto a once over and somehow Bryan Habana's try after the hooter at Loftus Versfeld didn't seem so bad after all.

"It's quite amazing how some people live there," said White, of his first visit to one of the Republic's edgier tourist attractions.

"It was a real eye-opener, something different to talk about other than rugby."

If any Super 14 team could be excused for wanting to discuss anything other than rugby it is the Chiefs, who have twice this season experienced the anguish of conceding a try in the dying seconds -- Paul Tito's enabled the Hurricanes to snatch a 39-32 victory in Hamilton, while Habana squeezed over to secure a 30-27 triumph in Pretoria.

However, while Soweto was a welcome diversion there has been no escaping the stark reality of two matches slipping through their fingers as they prepare for Saturday morning's (NZT) fifth round clash with the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein.

"Everyone was pretty distraught, there were 22 tired guys in the shed so there wasn't a lot said straight away but we've been talking about it during the week," said White, emphasising the team's positive mindset.

"To have two losses in the 80th minute -- it gets a little bit frustrating but we know the win is going to come. It's a matter of when, not if."

A lthough the Chiefs have little to show for their efforts, the 26-year-old has relished his first trip to the Republic.

He missed the Chiefs' tour last year due to a torn calf muscle though he did have an inkling of what was in store after taking on the Cheetahs, Stormers and Bulls in Hamilton last season.

"You hear stories from the old days ... and they're tough guys over here, they're a lot different when they play at home," he said.

The tighthead fronted up against Guthro Steenkamp last weekend, a Springbok on the comeback trail from injury and will likely find himself trying to negate Wian du Preez, said to be a future international, at Vodacom Park.

"I played against a few of them last year so I knew what to expect but playing at altitude is a shock to the system," said White, who still lasted 70 minutes at Pretoria.

"It was a fairly good battle (with Steenkamp). He's a massive unit, there's a lot of man to try and push around. Once you get a good one on him you've got to keep trying to do it."

White will be trying to do likewise to the 118kg Free State local ahead of what is likely to be another intimidating environment.

"Their scrums been going very well," said White, who noted the two tightheads taken off the Crusaders.

"You have a look at their size and it can be intimidating," White said, before detecting an upside.

"They might be good for 20 minutes and then they tend to drop off a little bit because they're big guys.

"You can wear them down in the scrums and move them round."