Durban - Its Currie Cup time at Kings Park on Saturday (1.30pm start) and a difficult opening round match await the Sharks in the form of last year’s first division champions, the Griffons.
It is a big occasion for one of the country’s top up-and-coming coaches in Joey Mongalo, who is making his debut as a head coach for the Sharks.
Mongalo built a sound reputation as a defence coach with the Lions and Bulls and now he is moving up a notch in his career as the man in charge.
Mongalo has an interesting mix of players at his disposal. He has a handful of players with United Rugby Championship experience as well as a host of talented juniors, and it will be experienced centre Murray Koster who leads the team.
“We have quite a combination of players in our team, there are some players with URC experience, some Under-21 players and some from the club system,” Mongalo said.
“We have a wide array of players who haven’t played together and have only trained three or four times together because of the dynamic nature of the Currie Cup set-up — always different, always changing,” explains Mongalo.
“The biggest challenge for us is to see how quickly the group finds cohesion. We’ve been working hard off the field to connect because we haven’t had the opportunity on the field and hopefully that’s an outcome that comes sooner rather than later.
“We have a few experienced guys in the backline and we will rely on them to give us direction and structure.
” The backline includes Koster’s centre partner Marnus Potgieter, wing Yaw Penxe, flyhalf Lionel Cronje while the pack boasts lock Thembelani Bholi and front rowers Carlu Sadie and Fez Mbatha.
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Otherwise, the Sharks have a youthful look to them, with 22-year-old Celimpilo Gumede forming the back row with former Junior Springbok Siya Ningiza and 24-year-old Zimbabwean international Tino Mavesere.
Props Dian Bleuler and Khutha Mchunu add experience to the bench.
Sharks team – 15 Nevaldo Fleurs, 14 Yaw Penxe, 13 Marnus Potgieter, 12 Murray Koster (c), 11 Anthony Volmink, 10 Lionel Cronje, 9 Zee Mkhabela, 8 Celimpilo Gumede, 7 Siya Ningiza, 6 Tino Mavesere, 5 Ockie Barnard, 4 Thembelani Bholi, 3 Carlu Sadie, 2 Fez Mbatha, 1 Khwezi Mona.
Replacements: 16 Masikane Mazwi, 17 Dian Bleuler, 18 Khutha Mchunu, 19 Athenkosi Khetahani, 20 Marco de Wit, 21 Damon Royal, 22 Bradley Davids, 23 Alwayno Visagie.
IOL Sport