At just 22 years of age, Nick Hatton is young to be playing Carling Currie Cup rugby, never mind the fact that he’s also the captain of the Hollywoodbets Sharks XV team.
What makes this even more of an achievement is the fact that he held the same role last year, in a season where the team also had to face up to early trials and failures, but pulled through into a run of success and the title at the end of the campaign.
The former Hilton College 1st XV captain and head of school made his Hollywoodbets Sharks debut a year after matriculating as a 19 year old, already earmarked for greater achievements as an age group loose forward.
Similar in stature and presence to another Hilton old boy and Sharks and Springbok eighthman and legend Gary Teichmann, he appears to be destined for a big role in rugby.
For Hollywoodbets Sharks XV head coach JP Pietersen, the choice of Hatton as his campaign leader was an easy one to make.
“He was a leader and captain in both cricket and rugby at schoolboy level, and there’s a calmness in how he approaches the game and how he handles himself.
“His rugby knowledge is also exceptional, how he understands the game and pressure moments, and how to react.”
For Pietersen, it’s not only what Hatton brings as a player, but as a leader who commands respect from his team-mates.
“He also gets the best out of the group, everyone knows they can come and talk to him, he’s accessible and I can learn from him as well. He knows how to get the most out of the players, he’s calm and he can also pressure them to be better.
“We’re expecting a big campaign out of him, not just as a player but as a leader as well.”
Hatton has had a tough campaign this season, but it isn’t anything he’s not seen before.
The Hollywoodbets Sharks lost their first three matches in last year’s Carling Currie Cup and went on to defeat the Fidelity ADT Lions in the final – at Emirates Airline Park – and Hatton will bring his lead-by-example performances in every game he plays, as he exhorts his team-mates to follow in his footsteps.
