Veteran wing Odwa Ndungane is unfazed by the challenge he faces weekly to retain his place in the Sharks lineup with talented youngsters pushing the ‘old man’ for his place.
Ndungane‚ 35‚ has played 131 Super Rugby matches and is closing in on a century of Currie Cup caps since making his provincial debut in 2005 and has been so impressive he has kept Sbura Sithole on the sidelines.
An 11-year first-class career is impressive for a wing‚ but the nine-Test Springbok is not ready to follow twin brother Akona into retirement just yet.
He is happy to be a mentor but also a teammate willing to fight for his place.
“I don’t want to hold the youngsters’ hands too much‚ I want them to express themselves and if things get out of hand‚ you have to say something ‚” Ndungane said.
“But they are a special bunch of players who bring so much x-factor and excitement into the team. Maybe I can learn from them not to worry too much.”
Ndungane has seen the rise of players such as Pat Lambie and Frans Steyn at the Sharks and in the prodigiously talented Curwin Bosch and the exciting Inny Radebe he sees similar potential.
“Curwin Bosch was at school last year and with the other youngsters such as Innocent Radebe‚ brings a lot of excitement‚” Ndungane said.
“They play what’s in front of them because they haven’t been programmed to play a certain way. Most flyhalves who have been in the system too long‚ they play to a particular style.
“These are special players‚ we’ve seen that. It’s exciting to see what’s in store and I’m looking forward to see them grow from strength to strength.”
The Sharks lost their first game of the Currie Cup campaign last weekend‚ going down 34-27 to Western Province at Newlands.
But despite the setback the quietly spoken veteran believes that the Sharks have the potential to win the title again in 2016 and also carry that momentum into the 2017 Super Rugby tournament.
“We’ve had a good start‚ besides the disappointing result from last weekend‚ but we have the same bunch of guys from Super Rugby‚ the same management and continuity plays a big part. Having the same systems in place gives us a lot of confidence.
“We took a look at what worked and what didn’t work and felt that we could have used the ball a bit more; we didn’t play what was in front of us‚ so there was a mind shift for this campaign.
“You can’t compare the two competitions‚ the intensity is different‚ but in the Currie Cup you have just that little more time to make decisions and we’ve started off quite nicely playing with more ball in hand.
“But we can take momentum from one competition to another and we have momentum at the moment because we have only lost a few players to the Springboks.
“If we have a good Currie Cup tournament it will be a massive boost for next season as well.”
Veteran Ndungane stands his ground in the face of weekly challenge from younger players
Ndungane‚ 35‚ has played 131 Super Rugby matches and is closing in on a century of Currie Cup caps since making his provincial debut in 2005 and has been so impressive he has kept Sbura Sithole on the sidelines.
An 11-year first-class career is impressive for a wing‚ but the nine-Test Springbok is not ready to follow twin brother Akona into retirement just yet.
He is happy to be a mentor but also a teammate willing to fight for his place.
“I don’t want to hold the youngsters’ hands too much‚ I want them to express themselves and if things get out of hand‚ you have to say something ‚” Ndungane said.
“But they are a special bunch of players who bring so much x-factor and excitement into the team. Maybe I can learn from them not to worry too much.”
Ndungane has seen the rise of players such as Pat Lambie and Frans Steyn at the Sharks and in the prodigiously talented Curwin Bosch and the exciting Inny Radebe he sees similar potential.
“Curwin Bosch was at school last year and with the other youngsters such as Innocent Radebe‚ brings a lot of excitement‚” Ndungane said.
“They play what’s in front of them because they haven’t been programmed to play a certain way. Most flyhalves who have been in the system too long‚ they play to a particular style.
“These are special players‚ we’ve seen that. It’s exciting to see what’s in store and I’m looking forward to see them grow from strength to strength.”
The Sharks lost their first game of the Currie Cup campaign last weekend‚ going down 34-27 to Western Province at Newlands.
But despite the setback the quietly spoken veteran believes that the Sharks have the potential to win the title again in 2016 and also carry that momentum into the 2017 Super Rugby tournament.
“We’ve had a good start‚ besides the disappointing result from last weekend‚ but we have the same bunch of guys from Super Rugby‚ the same management and continuity plays a big part. Having the same systems in place gives us a lot of confidence.
“We took a look at what worked and what didn’t work and felt that we could have used the ball a bit more; we didn’t play what was in front of us‚ so there was a mind shift for this campaign.
“You can’t compare the two competitions‚ the intensity is different‚ but in the Currie Cup you have just that little more time to make decisions and we’ve started off quite nicely playing with more ball in hand.
“But we can take momentum from one competition to another and we have momentum at the moment because we have only lost a few players to the Springboks.
“If we have a good Currie Cup tournament it will be a massive boost for next season as well.”
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