Inconsistency taboo due to tight log says Mongalo

REACTION: The Sharks could have dropped to seventh spot on the Currie Cup log had they lost their encounter with the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein on Friday.

Instead, the Sharks are currently sitting pretty in the third position with 19 points.

Joey Mongalo, the Sharks’ Currie Cup coach, was understandably buoyant after his side’s triumphant win over the Free State side.

“Every result has a bearing on where we go. For us, if we had lost today, we could’ve gone to seventh if the results happened in a certain way,” he said at the post-match press conference in Bloemfontein.

“So there’s no place for inconsistent performances. But I think tactically our nine and ten, as well as our captain James (Venter), were incredible. And we defended really well in the last 60 to 80 minutes,” Mongalo said.

Mongalo, widely regarded as an authority on defence, said his side needs to string together a series of wins in a row to stay in the hunt.

“At some point we have to stop making our lives difficult and get a few wins in a row. It will make a massive difference, because the log is so tight. “

Talking about having to change his starting team every weekend to accommodate the needs of the United Rugby Championship team, Mongalo said:” I will do this job again any day because it's probably the most challenging head coaching job around.

“Every week we make at least ten changes, whether it's positional or team, and it's not because I want to do it. Every Monday you’ve got two training sessions to get the cohesion and the connection together to try to help you on the weekend.

“So it's incredibly tough. But I must compliment James and the boys because every week they buy into what we are doing and those two days are often enough to be prepared for the weekend,” the coach said candidly.

The Sharks (158) were made to make double as many tackles as the Cheetahs (78) and while the home side dominated most of the statistics, the three line-breaks the Durbanites made all led to tries.

In the end it was the persistent defence that helped them pull this one out of the bag. “We knew the Cheetahs were going to come for us in the end to get the game back. We know we did well to win the first and second quarter and we knew we had to stick to winning the next two.

“I just told the players at half-time we will win the game, just believe the next step is the process. Win that next moment and the next and we will get the result.”