Finishing third on the log but defeating the Vodacom Bulls in the semi-final before a quite surreal final saw the Hollywoodbets Sharks claim the SA Rugby Under 21 Cup when they beat the Fidelity ADT Lions 63-31 at Hollywoodbets Kings Park on Saturday.
“Saturday was really, really special, I don’t think it’s truly sunk in to be honest,” says head coach Mike Vowles.
“It was quite emotional during and after the game, but it wasn’t until I watched the review video that I realised just how good we were; we played some unbelievably good rugby in that 80-minutes, so I’m very proud of the group.”
Their journey started a year ago in October last year with the existing Under 19 group that were transitioning into Under 21s and from the outset, they worked hard on creating a culture of high performance, with high levels of accountability, for a real connection between the players.
“In hindsight that’s probably our biggest success,” Vowles admits. “There’s been rugby success on the field, but I think the real success of this programme has been the environment that we’ve created and the culture that’s been left behind now for the next crop of players to continue.”
Ultimately what was his secret to success?
“It was about creating genuine connections amongst the players, understanding the importance of playing for one another and educating them on what it’s like to be a professional and what that means.
“I also had a management group that was absolutely unbelievable, we all had the same vision and spoke off the same page. The messaging to the group was always very clear and we all took ownership of our various areas of expertise, driving standards incredibly high.
“But at the same time, we were fully engaged with the players and creating special connections with them.”
Look back at the journey, he admits that it wasn’t easy.
“We had a really good first round and then as we went into Carling Currie Cup, the coaching staff split, some of the players went up and then we had to regroup at the back end of Currie Cup with literally a week to train and find our feet in the second round.
“And running an under 19 competition at the same time meant our depth was really challenged as we had to service both age groups, so the second round wasn’t easy for us.”
Second round losses to DHL Western Province, the Toyota Cheetahs and Fidelity ADT Lions meant they had a huge job in their final pool match against the Leopards to get a home semi, but despite the 40-12 victory, unfortunately fell short on points difference.
“It’s never easy to travel to the Bulls, what the close result [35-33] did show us was how good we can be if we put the complete performance together and that’s what we did in the final. We certainly didn’t expect the score to be that good, but three quick tries from the second half kick-off with some really positive play, when we didn’t put a foot wrong, put the game out of question.
“It was a balanced, clinical performance, probably the best performance I’ve seen from a junior team in a very long time. It had everything: everyone understood their roles, we had set-piece dominance, great defence, an accurate kicking game, some unbelievable moments on attack. It had it all.
“It was a fantastic indictment of the hard work they put in and it was so well-deserved.
“I’m so proud of the group and grateful to have been a part of this journey with them, along with my management group that was so driven and supportive.”
For Vowles, the future is indeed very bright if this is the kind of maturity, ambition and ability his team showed to go all the way, along with fortitude of character to fight through the tough times.
“A lot credit must go to these boys, and especially Tom Dyer our captain and leadership group, they were awesome!
“There are so many things to be positive about and if I have to be honest, the future of the Hollywoodbets Sharks looks really bright. A lot of these young men will go on to play top tier rugby one day.
“These are exciting times!”
