Latest news with #BongiMbonambi
The Citizen
15-05-2025
- Sport
- The Citizen
‘Still improving to be done': Mbonambi and Hooker say Sharks remain in building phase
The Sharks are finding success in the URC where they didn't last season, but fans are still unhappy after a dismal EPCR campaign. Sharks hooker Bongi Mbonambi said he was proud of how the forward pack dominated Ospreys but there is still work to do. Picture: Steve Haag Sports/Gallo Images The Sharks have had mixed success this season and players have not shied from acknowledging the work to be done both in the immediate future and in the greater scheme of things. The Durban union won the United Rugby Championship (URC) South African shield for the first time after a difficult season last year where they didn't win a single local derby and finished last. They are also guaranteed a home quarter-final in the URC thanks to their 12 wins after 17 games, reaching the security of at least a fourth-place finish with a game to spare. This, compared to finishing 14th last season with four wins and 14 losses, and not progressing to the play-offs. They also won the Currie Cup this year. Unhappy fans However, the Sharks crashed out of this year's Champions Cup with one win and finished with a discouraging accumulative points difference of -87 in their four pool games. They dropped into the Challenge Cup, but head coach John Plumtree fielded a second-string side that lost poorly to Lyon in the last 16, meaning they finished their EPCR campaign with one win from five games. John Plumtree's first year at the reins was bellow par in the URC but at least they won the Challenge Cup. This season seems to be going the opposite way. Signings since 2023 (including Springboks Siya Kolisi, Trevor Nyakane, Jordan Hendrikse, André Esterhuizen and Ruan Dreyer) were expected to bring success, though players have always spoken of the building phase the Sharks are in, and how fans should trust the process. However, fans have been very vocal on the Sharks' social media platforms expressing their disappointment. Sharks build on winning momentum after Ospreys The Sharks are now on a three-game winning streak after their bonus-point 29–10 win over Ospreys in Durban on the weekend, where winger Ethan Hooker earned Man of the Match. 'For us as a team we are in a building phase… Building on wins like this helps us a lot. It helps confidence so it's massive in the greater terms of things,' Hooker said. Springbok hooker Bongi Mbonambi added that the win was important for the season especially. 'We're very happy [with the win]. It wasn't easy, it was very tough,' he said. 'The bench came on and made a massive difference with their opportunity.' He said while they have secured their top four spot 'there is still improving to be done'.
The South African
07-05-2025
- Sport
- The South African
10 elite Springboks started the 2019 AND 2023 Rugby World Cup finals
The Springboks defended their Rugby World Cup crown in 2023. But do you know the 10 players who started the final in 2019 in Japan and the 2023 final in Paris? Bongi Mbonambi, Frans Malherbe, Eben Etzebeth, Siyamthanda Kolisi, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Duane Vermeulen, Faf de Klerk, Handre Pollard, Damian de Allende and Cheslin Kolbe are the men in question. It points to a seriously impressive level of continuity that 66.6% of those who started in Yokohama also started in the showpiece four years later in the French capital. Flanker Pieter-Steph du Toit completed 28 tackles against the All Blacks in the 2023 showpiece. To put that absurd number into some type of context, the previous record for tackles made by one player in a Rugby World Cup final was 18 by Richie McCaw back in 2011. To eclipse that mark by 10 is a monumental effort. Collectively, the Springboks made 208 tackles in the final, the most ever in a knockout match at the RWC World Cup. The tireless PSDT makes another tackle. (Photo by Anne-Christine POUJOULAT / AFP) The William Webb Ellis trophy isn't for everyone. Here's the honours roll of all champions and the team they vanquished that year. 1987: New Zealand beat France beat France 1991: Australia beat England beat England 1995: South Africa beat New Zealand beat New Zealand 1999: Australia beat France beat France 2003: England beat Australia beat Australia 2007: South Africa beat England beat England 2011: New Zealand beat France beat France 2015: New Zealand beat Australia beat Australia 2019: South Africa beat England beat England 2023: South Africa beat New Zealand Rassie took the Boks back from the brink Who is your favourite player ever to represent the Springboks? Let us know by leaving a comment below or sending a WhatsApp to 060 011 0211. Also, subscribe to The South African website's newsletters and follow us on WhatsApp, Facebook, X and Bluesky for the latest news.
Irish Times
25-04-2025
- Sport
- Irish Times
Tough shift ahead for Ulster coach Richie Murphy as Sharks bring nine World Cup winners
United Rugby Championship: Ulster v Sharks, Kingspan Stadium, Saturday, 7.35pm (Live on BBC Sport NI, Premier Sports, RTÉ2) It is not difficult to see why Ulster coach Richie Murphy has gone with six forwards on his bench as Sharks have named nine World Cup winners in their squad including a frontrow of Ox Nché, Bongi Mbonambi and Vincent Koch, a secondrow with team captain Eben Etzebeth and a backrow led by Springbok captain Siya Kolisi at number eight. Expecting a tough shift in Belfast, Murphy has opted for Kieran Treadwell, David McCann, Tom Stewart, Callum Reid, Scott Wilson and Matthew Dalton as the forwards replacements, with the 10th-placed team on the United Rugby Championship (URC) table hosting the fourth-placed South African franchise. The ever-lively Rio 2019 Olympic bronze medallist Werner Kok, who has not played since January, makes a welcome return on the right wing, no doubt among some friends, with Jacob Stockdale starting at fullback in the absence of the injured Michael Lowry and Zac Ward on the left wing. READ MORE Irish centre Stuart McCloskey also makes a well-timed return, his physical presence in the Ulster backline expected to be at a premium on an occasion where physical dominance will be the theme of the day. It is Ulster's final home game of the regular season, and several players will be playing in their last, bittersweet outing at Kingspan Stadium including captain Alan O'Connor, Andrew Warwick, Matty Rea and Treadwell. There is little doubt Sharks have opted to play a power-based game in the hope of finishing their overseas leg of the URC with two wins from two. Murphy, not entirely happy with the way Leinster played the breakdown last week, can expect more of the same in what will be a ferocious forwards battle. [ Injuries leave Ulster looking vulnerable ahead of must-win home game against Sharks Opens in new window ] Sharks also have plenty of gas out wide in fullback Aphelele Fassi and left wing Makazole Mapimpi, a gold medal winner at the World Cup in Japan 2013 and France 2023. After this weekend Ulster have a hard road to make the play-offs, with a journey to Munster and Edinburgh in their final two games. ULSTER: Jacob Stockdale; Werner Kok, Jude Postlethwaite, Stuart McCloskey, Zac Ward; Jack Murphy, Nathan Doak; Andrew Warwick, Rob Herring, Tom O'Toole, Alan O'Connor, Cormac Izuchukwu, Matty Rea, Nick Timoney, James McNabney. Replacements: Tom Stewart, Callum Reid, Scott Wilson, Matthew Dalton, Kieran Treadwell, Dave Shanahan, Aidan Morgan, David McCann. SHARKS: Aphelele Fassi; Ethan Hooker, Lukhanyo Am, André Esterhuizen, Makazole Mapimpi; Jordan Hendrikse, Jaden Hendrikse; Ox Nché, Bongi Mbonambi, Vincent Koch, Eben Etzebeth, Jason Jenkins, James Venter, Vincent Tshituka, Siya Kolisi. Replacements: Jurenzo Julius, Fez Mbatha, Ntuthuko Mchunu, Hanro Jacobs, Manu Tshituka, Phepsi Buthelezi, Bradley Davids, Siya Masuku. Referee: Ben Whitehouse (Wales).
