Sharks stars visit memory lane
THE ninth annual Kearsney Easter Rugby Festival was held this weekend and for Sharks duo S’bura Sithole and Tera Mtembu it was significant.
Both were seen catching up with their high school coaches and watching the young talent showcase their skills.
The rugby festival, known as KERF, is considered to be one of the most competitive in the country and, in past years, the Sharks have used it to snap up the best rugby talent on offer for their academy.
Sithole couldn’t be reached for comment but his rugby coach from his time at Queen’s College in the Eastern Cape, Clinton Loest, spoke highly of the centre-cum-winger.
“He was very good, even at the under-15 level, where he used to play centre, but we decided to convert him to the wing, where he played three seasons with the first team and captained our first team during the school’s 150th anniversary,” said Loest.
“He was different from the other players – his work ethic was incredible, he was dedicated. His work ethic got him where he is today.”
This week, player and coach were reunited at Kearsney where they watched a few matches together.
Loest said the quality and the level of competition was “very high”.
Like Sithole, Mtembu was a recipient of the first KERF Sharks Academy bursary, awarded in 2008.
He was moved to No 8 from centre in Grade 11 and joked that he only found out much later why the decision was made.
“I was too slow for centre and I only found out the truth four years later. It was definitely a good move,” he said.
“I’m a big family man. I had to pack up and leave my family to come to Durban. The day I left, my mother said to me: ‘Don’t let me down. You are going there for a purpose, give 100% percent’.”
14 die, 15 hurt as bus crashes into tree
FOURTEEN people were killed when the bus in which they were travelling crashed on the Nkandla Road, near Kranskop, yesterday.
The bus, which had Durban registration plates, hit a tree and overturned.
Fifteen passengers injured in the crash.
Police spokesperson Colonel Thembeka Mbhele said the passengers on the bus were believed to be travelling to a traditional ceremony in Hluhluwe. – Staff Reporter were
Asked if he had spotted any promising players, Mtembu said his old school, Dale College in the Eastern Cape, had a talented fullback in Aphelele Fassi.
Fassi will be joining the Sharks Academy.