Cape Town – Joey Mongalo said it would be “extremely special” to win the Currie Cup in his first season as the Sharks head coach, but that the journey was far from complete to lift the golden trophy.
The former Junior Springbok flyhalf – who was also a keen cricketer and holds a Masters degree in industrial psychology – has walked a long road to get to this point.
Mongalo moved from the pitch to marketing at the Blue Bulls, and then later became a renowned coach at the Lions, firstly with the junior teams before he graduated to the Currie Cup side and Super Rugby in 2018, when they reached a third consecutive final, as well as a stint with the SA Under-20 team.
The 38-year-old mentor joined the Bulls in 2020 as a defence coach, and the Pretoria side won the Super Rugby Unlocked tournament and two Currie Cups in 2021, before reaching the United Rugby Championship final last year.
An opportunity to become the Sharks Currie Cup head coach was too good to overlook, and Mongalo moved to Durban and has taken them to the top of the log on 48 points, two ahead of the Cheetahs, ahead of Saturday’s last league game against Western Province at the Cape Town Stadium (5.05pm kickoff).
“Having been privileged to win the Currie Cup twice with the Bulls as an assistant coach, it would be extremely special to do it with the Sharks as the man leading a team at the senior level for the first time. But there is still plenty of work to be done, and the focus remains our next match,” Mongalo said in a URC press release on Thursday.
“There’s a new generation of coaches coming through – a new age group of coaches, which is exciting. You have Pieter Bergh at the Griquas, Bafana Nhleko with SA Under-20, Mziwakhe Nkosi with the Lions – all of those men represent the next batch of coaches who need to be able to take over from the Jake Whites and John Dobsons of our game, and continue the excellent work they have done.
“This is the third rugby environment I’ve been in in South Africa, and you learn from every single one. I’m privileged to have served under many head coaches such as Johan Ackermann, Swys de Bruin, Jake White and Bafana Nhleko.
“All of these coaches have wonderful aspects about them, so to sit at their feet and learn, and now take forward what I wanted when I finally held a head coach position myself, is a great blessing for me.”
The Sharks come off a hard-fought 29-21 victory over the Lions at Kings Park, which was their seventh win in a row – having last lost against the Bulls on April 14 in Durban.
After the disappointment of going down in the quarter-finals of both the URC and Champions Cup, they would be keen to go all the way in the Currie Cup.
So, having already secured a semi-final spot, getting a home final is vital in that regard.
They will know exactly what to do to achieve that goal as the Bulls face the second-placed Cheetahs on Saturday before their game against WP, with the Free Staters trailing by two log points.
“It’s all about keeping momentum and holding on (against WP). We understand how the group needs that as a stepping stone to the playoff,” Mongalo said.
“But a semi-final is not in our mind’s eye. We know that we have a job to do in Cape Town, and those guys will be desperate to get five points to give themselves a chance of making the playoffs.”
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