Cape Town - After working together over the past few seasons, Jake White and Joey Mongalo will go head-to-head in a battle of the coaches in Friday afternoon’s Currie Cup clash between the Sharks and Blue Bulls at Kings Park (3.30pm kickoff).
It will be an intriguing duel between the two mentors, with Mongalo leaving Loftus Versfeld – where he was the defence coach – at the end of last season to move to Durban to become the head coach of the Sharks Currie Cup side.
Many pundits have mentioned that part of the Bulls’ defence woes this season is due to Mongalo’s absence, but whenever White is questioned about that, he insists that the Pretoria franchise needed to change the way they defended – whether Mongalo remained at the franchise or not – as he felt that they were the worst side statistically in that regard among the eight URC quarter-final outfits.
White has said that Mongalo still had a contract with the Bulls, but wanted to pursue the opportunity of being a head coach at the Sharks – and now the former flyhalf will have an ideal opportunity to showcase his growth at Kings Park on Friday.
His team will be riding high on confidence after they toppled reigning champions the Pumas 19-12 in Durban last weekend, following a heroic second-half defensive display as lock Corné Rahl received a red card in the 49th minute, which came soon after prop Dian Bleuler was yellow-carded too.
The Bulls were also victorious last week after White took charge of the Currie Cup side and demoted Edgar Marutlulle back to the junior squads, although it was the full-strength URC side that trounced Griquas 40-3 at Loftus Versfeld.
White had to resort to a regular Currie Cup outfit when he named his team on Thursday – as the URC side prepared for Saturday’s clash against Zebre at Ellis Park – and he issued a challenge to the players to fight for their futures at the Bulls following the recent loss to the Griffons in Welkom.
“After the last performance against the Griffons, that’s why you’ll see two-thirds of that group are not playing anymore – it’s the desire to show whether they want to play provincial rugby and have a career in rugby,” the former Springbok coach said.
“The pressure is on them – they’ve got to show whether or not they are cut out to play professional rugby under pressure in big games.
“That’s it: it doesn’t matter how young or old you are. I remember and always tell them that one of the best players I’ve ever coached is Schalk Burger, who was the best player in the world when he was 21 years old.
“There’s no excuse for age, and if you’re good enough, you’ve got to show you’re good enough – and this is no different.”
Mongalo said on the Sharks website on Thursday that he was excited about the prospect of facing his former team after the Pumas win.
“We’re very proud of the group for the composure, character and fight they showed against the Pumas, especially when we were down to 13 men,” he said.
“That’s a good sign of a group that’s growing the cohesion and connection we’ve spoken about.
“The Currie Cup doesn’t get any easier… The Bulls come off a very good win. No-one is going to do you any favours, it’s not going to be easy and we’re expecting a tough encounter.
“In the same breath, we’ve done really well at home, and we want to keep performing in a way that the fans who come out to support us will be proud of us and see a Sharks brand where guys are willing to fight for the jersey; that’s a really, really big thing for us and something we pride ourselves in.
“There’s no greater opportunity than facing the Bulls at home, and we’re looking forward to the challenge.”
Sharks team: 15 Nevaldo Fleurs 14 Phikolomzi Sobahle 13 Josh Jonas 12 Murray Koster 11 Yaw Penxe 10 Fred Zeilinga 9 Bradley Davids 8 James Venter 7 Ockie Barnard 6 Tinotenda Mavesere 5 Reniel Hugo (captain) 4 Corné Rahl 3 Hanro Jacobs 2 Dan Jooste 1 Dian Bleuler.
Bench: 16 Fez Mbatha 17 Khwezi Mona 18 Khutha Mchunu 19 Athi Khethani 20 Mpilo Gumede 21 Tiaan Fourie 22 Lionel Cronjé 23 Zee Mkhabela.
Blue Bulls: 15 Franco Knoetze 14 Sibongile Novuka 13 Lionel Mapoe 12 Chris Barend Smit 11 Wandisile Simelane 10 Morné Steyn 9 Zak Burger 8 Nizaam Carr (captain) 7 Reinhardt Ludwig 6 Cameron Hanekom 5 Janko Swanepoel 4 Jacques du Plessis 3 Sebastian Lombard 2 Jan-Hendrik Wessels 1 Simphiwe Matanzima.
Bench: 16 Tiaan Lange 17 Jacques van Rooyen 18 Robert Hunt 19 Phumzile Maqondwana 20 WJ Steenkamp 21 Bernard van der Linde 22 Cornal Hendricks 23 Kabelo Mokoena.
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