His final act before joining the squad however, was helping the Blues to victory over the Sharks in the Heineken Cup - a first of this year's competition - having lost their previous five matches.
In the RaboDirect PRO12 meanwhile, Pretorius also leaves a team in much-better shape than a few months ago, thanks in part to an impressive away win in Munster last time out.
And Pretorius is convinced it was important to temporarily leave his side on a winning note.
"It was good to come in and leave the Blues with a victory under our belts," Pretorius, who also praised those who helped clear the pitch of snow before the Sale match, told Wales Online.
"We expected to win because we felt we owed Sale one after losing the opening match.
"We also felt during the Heineken Cup we performed quite consistently well but we needed that result and that was very important.
"We are happy the people who came out before to make sure the game was on.
"We hopefully repaid them with that victory."
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