Joey Mongalo admitted that he tinkered too much with his starting lineup as the Sharks crashed out in the Currie Cup semi-finals in Durban.
The Sharks were stunned by a brave Pumas side at Kings Park, falling to a 26-20 loss after going 12-0 down early in the first half.
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It was a disappointing end to a campaign that saw the Sharks as favourites to finish on top of a log after a run of seven consecutive wins.
With a home semi-final already in the bag, Mongalo opted to field almost an entirely new starting lineup in the final-round clash against Western Province in Cape Town, where the Sharks were decisively beaten.
Veteran looshead prop Khwezi Mona was the only player to retain his starting role in the team that faced the Pumas in the semi-final. The number of changes took its toll, as the Sharks lacked intensity at the start and struggled to find any continuity on attack, relying on the power of their pack to get over the tryline.
“It’s all my fault, and I mean that,” said Mongalo after the match. “I’m the one who decided to tinker with the squad that went to Western Province, and I didn’t have to do that. I could have chosen the same team that would have gained momentum going into the semi-final.
“I took a risk, and that risk didn’t work. You saw how long it took to get going in the game, and that’s purely because the guys were disrupted the week before because I chose to play a completely different team against WP.
“It’s not on the guys; it’s 100% on me.”
Despite his disappointment with the result, Mongalo said there were valuable lessons to take away from his first campaign as a senior head coach.
“I’m proud of how the team was able to galvanise around a purpose and how the guys played and offered themselves. There are many games this year where other teams might have gone away, but this team stayed in the fight,” he said.
“I know now how I want to run a rugby team, I know that I want to run rugby teams going forward and I want to compliment the playing group and the staff for the way they galvanised. I think people who watched us play would have seen that these guys have been desperate and they’ve represented the Sharks very well.
“I want to thank the people of Durban and the Sharks supporters who aren’t in Durban for the way they’ve rallied behind this team. It’s one thing for players to go out and give their all, but it’s another to do it in a way that brings people back to the stadium.
“As upsetting as this loss is for us, we know it is for them as well. I’d love for them to know that we hurt just as much, if not more.
“It’s painful. Losing is not ‘lekker’ and it’s not something this team or brand should become accustomed to or normalise. It’s not right.”
Photo: Samuel Shivambu/BackpagePix
