The dust has hardly settled on the victorious Carling Currie Cup campaign and it is already time for the Hollywoodbets Sharks to shift focus from their title-winning effort onto the Vodacom United Rugby Championship, which begins for the South African teams this weekend.
The Durban side begins their tournament in Ireland on Saturday when they take on Connacht before heading east to Wales to play the Dragons and then Italy for a clash with Benetton that concludes their early overseas commitments.
Although the Currie Cup is now behind them, there are valuable lessons to have taken out, learnings that stand the team in good stead as they embark on the intercontinental competition.
“I’m just really proud of the boys,” head coach John Plumtree admits.
“Winning right at the end of the game is one of the moments that gives us confidence. The never-give-up attitude is something we’re trying to instil in the boys so I’m really proud of them for the way they never gave up, even when it looked like the Lions had done enough to win.”
He adds that winning two trophies in a short space is good for the group’s confidence.
“To have come to Joburg for the final lost and then hopped on a plane for Ireland wouldn’t have been great, fortunately, that’s not the case. So, we will all cherish the memory, of everyone who had a hand in getting us to the end.
“We’ve found belief but it’s going to be tough emotionally and physically getting off this high.
“The other job for me now is getting the players back down to earth because we know what a tough game we have in Galway.
“Connacht will be waiting for us, they’ll be excited about playing at home.”
Plumtree has named a 27-man touring squad that departs today (Monday), with 15 forwards and 12 backs selected. The Hollywoodbets tour squad will be captained by loose-forward Vincent Tshituka for this three-match tour to Europe.
FORWARDS
Corne’ Rahl
Dylan Richardson
Emmanuel Tshituka
Ethan Bester
Fez Mbatha
Gerbrandt Grobler
Hanro Jacobs
James Venter
Jason Jenkins
Mawande Mdande
Ntuthuko Mchunu
Ruan Dreyer
Tino Mavesere
Trevor Nyakane
Vincent Tshituka (c)
BACKS
Andre Esterhuizen
Bradley Davids
Cameron Wright
Eduan Keyter
Ethan Hooker
Francois Venter
Gershwin Wehr
Jordan Hendrikse
Jurenzo Julius
Lionel Cronje
Siya Masuku
Tian Meyer