The SA Rugby Under 21 Cup commences in early May, and for the Hollywoodbets Sharks Junior side, an opportunity to showcase their skills and abilities in SA’s premier age group competition.
Missing a number of top class individuals to the national cause is going to present some challenges, but also offers opportunities for the young guns to step up and show what they’re capable of, not only in the present time, but ahead of their future, senior careers.
The tournament kicks off on 3 May with the Hollywoodbets Sharks Junior Team traveling to Cape Town to take on the title-holders DHL Western Province in Round One, before hosting the Free State Cheetahs the following week at Hollywoodbets Kings Park.
They stay home the following week, entertaining the Vodacom Blue Bulls Under 21s in Durban in Round Three and then hit the road in Round Four when they take on 2024 losing finalists Fidelity ADT Lions.
They’re back at home in Round Five when the Leopards Under 21s come to town in the closing fixture before the tournament resumes in August again for the return leg fixtures.
Assessing his team’s state of preparedness and readiness, Hollywoodbets Sharks Under 21 coach Mike Vowles is happy with progress so far, but acknowledges the challenges that lie ahead for him as coach and the young side he has at his disposal.
“The prep has gone well, we have a young group, we only have four under 21s in our system and then 13 under 20s away with the SA under 20s [ahead of this year’s World Under 20 Championship which takes place in Italy between 29 June and 19 July] which is challenging from a depth point of view,” he explains.
“But, in saying that, I can’t fault the hard work and the effort the guys have put in. It’s been an incredibly good preseason, with a huge focus not only on rugby, but also on building the right type of culture and the right type of identity in terms of how we want to play and how we want to represent the union.
“So we’re excited to see where we’re at and I think we’re well-poised to compete in the tournament, although we will be a young side.”
Getting a sense of how the team is progressing is always best done in a competitive environment, and what better gauge than to play a warm-up game, and who better than against the Vodacom Bulls?
“We did ok in that game, particularly in the first half and we were up at half-time, having played some really good rugby. In the second half, the game got away from us a bit, but we took lots of positives out of the hit-out and I think we have the makings of a really good group.
“There are a lot of exciting young players in the mix and they put their hands up in that warm-up game, so it gave us a good gauge as to where we are in our prep and areas we need to work on, and certainly strengths we can build on.”
Nearly three weeks of preparation time lie between now and the trip to the Western Cape and this time will be used productively for this young Hollywoodbets Sharks Junior side.
