Mongalo reveals how Sharks restructured to gain long-term success

INTERVIEW: Joey Mongalo revealed how the Sharks altered their structures to ensure they have sustainable success.

The Sharks came into new ownership under Marco Masotti in January 2021 and underwent several structural changes, which included the contracting of several top Springboks without achieving the desired success.

The Durban-based outfit never made it past the semifinals of the United Rugby Championship, and missed out in the 2023/24 and 2025/26 seasons.

They did, however, win the EPCR Challenge Cup in 2024 after missing out on the URC play-offs that same season.

The Sharks underwent a whole structural change after former coach John Plumtree was replaced with JP Pietersen midway through the 2025/26 URC season after a run of poor results.

The change brought immediate impact after winning his first match in charge against Saracens in the Champions Cup.

Mongalo explained how the Sharks revised their structures and where they went wrong in the past.

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“I think to give it a good answer is to go back and say traditionally what the Sharks have gone through has been a heck of a lot of change.

“I think over the last five or 10 years there’s been something like 30 assistant coaches or five or six head coaches, so what happens is that a team can’t build an identity.

“So what’s happened now is that we’ve had a holistic look at the Sharks as a system, and they say in psychology, a system’s got a purpose, it’s got parts and how those parts are interconnected.

“So the main parts have finally been addressed, you know, so you’ve got an owner who’s appointed as CEO, and Dave Williams, who was the ex-attack coach, as the general manager.

“So suddenly our top layer has Rory Duncan as the chief of staff, so suddenly you’ve got an upper layer of ex-rugby players who can speak to the CEO about what the rugby needs in order to perform; that’s one part of the system that’s really good.

“Then after that you’ve got an ex-Springbok Currie Cup-winning head coach in JP Pietersen who comes in, and he’s allowed his assistant coaches to do their thing.

“You know, it’s almost like saying Joey [Mongalo], you can tell do the defence well, Scott [Mathie] do the attack, Warren [Whiteley] do your things well.

“And if you guys ever need anything, he’s got direct access to the people who are making decisions around the money, around the recruitment, so that system is working.”

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Mongalo elaborated on the Sharks’ player personnel and how they plan to integrate their upper level with their current playing roster to achieve sustainable success in the long run.

“Underneath that, you’ve got a player core that is probably more stable than we’ve had, such as Phepsi Buthelezi, who’s been here for a while.

“You have guys like Thomas du Toit and Stephan Lewies who came back, so you’ve got people who are Sharks men who’ve come back into the system.

“And also now there’s a young generation of Sharks guys who’ve learned their rugby at the Sharks, such as Lithelile Bester, Jaco Williams, and Vusi Moyo.

“So I think if you take those three systems together: good leadership, JP leading the coaches and young players who have come through the system and additions of top players who either are Sharks men or they’ve bought into the system.

“I think it bodes well for the Sharks as an organization where it’s going, and I think like all good things, is that they take time.

“I think we’ll definitely be better this year than what we were last year.

“But you’re probably going to see the fruits of the labour of this system now in three to five years; that’s when it’s actually going to peak and be at its highest point.”