Even though some pundits felt that the Bulls produced one of their best performances of the season in overpowering Western Province (45-30) in the semi-final last week, Rossouw felt there is plenty of room for improvement - both for him personally and by the Bulls as a team.

"I do feel happy with my game at the moment, but to be honest last week wasn't one of my best games," Rossouw told this website in an interview.

"The previous few weeks I played better than last week, but I hope to improve on last week," he added.

He also suggested that the Bulls will lift their game even more against the Cheetahs in the Final.

"The Bulls as a team did play a good game [in the semi-final against WP], but we know there are many aspects that we can improve on. I don't think that was our best game.

"You always leave your best for last and that is what we want to do Saturday, deliver our best performance," he added.

The 28-year-old Rossouw, one of the most feared ball carriers in South Africa, is a "veteran" of three of the Bulls' last four Currie Cup Final appearances.

Equally at home on the flank and lock, where he often rotated for the Bulls and Boks, he played in the 2002 Final, missed 2003 when he was with the Boks at the World Cup, and then played the last two years again.

He has certainly tasted victory and defeat in the country's domestic showpiece, having had to watch the Cheetahs snatch the Cup from the Bulls in dramatic fashion at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria last year.

He certainly knows what it will take to get the trophy back to Pretoria, but feels there is no need for any special tricks or tactics ahead of the Final.

"Any player will lift himself for a Final, you don't need the coach or anybody to charge you up, you will be motivated," he said.

"It [the Final] is the last game of the season and you know you have to give it your all, this is what you worked for all year."

He said the big turning point for the Bulls, in a season in which they at one staged almost looked like missing out on the play-offs, came with the return of some of their Springboks - like himself, Pierre Spies, Wynand Olivier and Akona Ndungane.

"The return of some of the Springboks certainly made a difference," he said. "And the players just realised they had to step up. We lost some important games at Loftus and that is not part of our culture. It [those defeats against the Sharks, Western Province and the Lions] was a good wake-up call.

"Heyneke [Meyer, who stepped back this year to concentrate on the team's Super 14 preparations] also started getting more involved and that also made a difference," he added.

Rossouw is under no illusion as to the enormity of the task awaiting them on Saturday.

"It will be very tough in Bloemfontein. But even if it was at Loftus [in Pretoria] it would still have been tough. A Final is very different from any other game, every guy is up for it.

"There are fewer opportunities and gaps, that is what makes it so much tougher."

By Jan de Koning