Any sporting team that harbours desires to succeed and win trophies must not only develop a winning culture but build a world-class team that embraces a culture of hard work that leads to success.
Culture is something that must be embraced; like respect that has to be earned rather than forced.
For The Sharks to succeed, they must build a team around a common goal that everyone buys into. And building a team sometimes means venturing outside the borders. Even that is not a recipe for success, because there has to be an attraction for those being courted. Attracting the Springbok captain, Siya Kolisi, is one such example.
But no team can exist without a central and critical body of playing talent and this is where the pipeline from schoolboy to age group representativity becomes crucial. Identifying talent is one thing, developing it is quite another and The Sharks are extremely proud of the pipeline that has been structured around turning schoolboy success stories into future stars.
Retaining locally-produced talent is a vital component of The Sharks Next Gen structure and recruiting the best players in the province and keeping them in KZN has brought excellent results.
In 2017, The Sharks CEO Dr Eduard Coetzee took the Cell C Sharks Craven Week team out to dinner and in less than five years, eight of the players from that squad have become senior contracted players.
Of the eight, seven are still with the Cell C Sharks (JJ van der Mescht is now playing his rugby in France) and have all featured for the team in various competitions, with some even representing the Springboks.
Eighthman Phepsi Buthelezi has captained the Cell C Sharks, with fellow DHS old boy Sanele Nohamba also featuring regularly in the last couple of seasons. Maritzburg College old boy Ntuthuko Mchunu is quickly developing his reputation while Jaden Hendrikse has already had a taste of international honours. Dylan Richardson is a capped Scottish international while Fez Mbatha and Celimphilo Gumede are also getting their opportunities at a senior level.
Outside of that group, other proudly KZN talent that has represented the Cell C Sharks include Glenwood’s Kerron van Vuuren and James Venter and Cameron Wright from Hilton, who have become regular fixtures in the team while Maritzburg College’s Jeandre Labuschagne has burst onto the scene to become a starter in the Vodacom United Rugby Championship, having come through the age group pipeline in KZN.
The success of these local players within junior competitions and now their involvement at a senior levels speaks volumes about The Sharks’ vision and commitment for success through the investment in local talent and the dividends this investment produces.