Joey Mongalo's steep learning curve

SPOTLIGHT: Sharks coach Joey Mongalo says the 2023 Currie Cup campaign provided him with some valuable lessons going forward in his coaching career.

The Sharks' campaign came to a disappointing end when they fell to a 20-26 defeat to the Pumas in their semifinal at Kings Park.

Mongalo, who will be the defence coach for the United Rugby Championship side next season, guided his team to 10 wins out of their 14 games in the Currie Cup's league phase, which showed a lot of promise.

"A lot of the stuff when you are coaching is theoretical, but when you get a chance to lead a team it becomes practical," Mongalo said.

"We have only been together for about four or five months maximum, without a pre-season, so I am just proud of how the team was able to galvanise around a purpose.

"I am proud of how the guys played and offered themselves. There were many games this year where other teams might have gone away and even previous Sharks teams would have gone away.

"It was 17-19 at half-time, but at a stage, it was even worse than that and these guys came back."

Although he admitted that he got things wrong by resting key players ahead of the semifinal, Mongalo said the campaign has given him more confidence as a coach

"I would say in short, I know now how I want to run a rugby team; I know I want to run rugby teams going forward and I want to compliment the playing group and the staff for the way that they galvanised and backed me and backed the system.

"I think people who watched us play, and people who understand the game, would have seen that these guys have been desperate. They have represented the Sharks incredibly well.

"I feel that we’ve put pride in the Sharks jersey, which is something I want to be synonymous with the teams that I coach."

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