While it may not be the season the Sharks would have hoped for, they did however finish with some significant silverware.
Finishing a disappointing 14th in the United Rugby Championship, the Sharks turned their season around finally winning their first major honour in Europe.
They became the first-ever South African team to ever win a European trophy, by defeating Gloucester Rugby in the final of the EPCR Challenge Cup.
Here is an in-depth interview with Sharks defence coach Joey Mongalo following their up-and-down season.
Submit your questions to our players and coaches ahead of the EPCR Final 🦈 Submit your qs below 👇 pic.twitter.com/P77hey9Gzz
— The Sharks (@SharksRugby) May 15, 2024
Navigating new dynamics: the Challenge of a fresh coaching team
“If you look at team dynamics, it’s quite a tough thing when you got a whole new coaching staff. You got John Plumtree who just come in, Dave Williams…so the coaching staff is in its infancy. We were entrusted to create a way of play that best suites this group but we can’t do that if we don’t know the group,” Mongalo told SportsBoom.com.
“The way we started with the season in the front end, was play in the style of rugby that John really wanted to bring in. Over time, that style of rugby has become more the style of rugby that is true to this group.”
Evolving play style: adapting to strengths and conditions
“The closer we got to the style of play that suites the group and conditions we were playing in, the better we played. Even though we lost games in the second half of the season, the types of losses we were within 2-3 points in winning the game. In a way you do require some luck and we didn’t have much luck in the second half of the season. We are not making excuses though.”
What an evening. Our boys delivered. Thank you to all our supporters. The trophy is coming home!#ChallengeCup #GLOvSHA #RoadToRedemption pic.twitter.com/R53Icc6WLd
— The Sharks (@SharksRugby) May 24, 2024
Resurgence of Siya Masuku
Sharks flyhalf Siya Masuku had to take the road less travelled, jumping from team to team and showing resilience, which later saw him being crowned the Breakthrough Player of the Year and announced in the Springboks squad for Wales.
A player in the beginning of the season was overlooked by Coach John Plumtree but later brought in when things weren’t looking good for the side. He has since been a breath of fresh air and flourished at 10.
“First of all I’m happy for him as an individual, he is one of those guys whose had to journey. He started with the Leopards, went to the Lions and then Covid happened. He then had to find himself in places such as Spain to play rugby, I think the perseverance of the man speaks volumes the type of character he is,” Mongalo added.
“He has a phenomenal understanding of the game, it feels like rugby comes naturally to him. Being able to be at the right places at the right time. It also helps when you have people left and right of you who are playing well.”
“I laugh…he always starts his talk on a Monday by thanking his pack, he plays good rugby when the pack is going forward. Even having the likes of Grant Williams and Cam Wright, guys outside of him you got Lukhanyo Am. He got into a position where he was surrounded by good leaders and players who were in good form.”
Lessons learned: preparing for a more cohesive 2024/25 season
“I think we would probably need to be better with the pre-season, getting to know the players, the accuracy of how we train in the pre-season needs to be more aligned to the type of game we want to play.”
Learning how to integrate 8 Springboks in the team, I think that’s a management lesson we learnt. Understanding how to tour was another big lesson, every tour was different. When we are away from game 2-4 next season [2024/25 season], we will tour better because we will understand what this group needs, we will understand the balance between training and playing time.”
Supplied