Nkosi a lifelong Sharks fan
Sbu Nkosi recently made his Vodacom Super Rugby debut for the Cell C Sharks.
Listen to the full interview here, or read our story below.
The 21-year-old winger joined the Sharks back in 2015.
Nkosi, a product of Jeppe High in Johannesburg, is delighted to be playing for a team he has supported all his life.
"Joining the Sharks was a very easy decision. I have supported the Sharks my whole life. I could have only dreamed of playing next to the people who were posters on my bedroom wall. So coming here was a very easy decision for me to make. I am loving it here," Nkosi said.
It is hardly a surprise then that Nkosi's heroes growing up were Sharks players.
"Odwa Ndungane is one of my heroes. I still remember watching him when I was in grade two. Lwazi Mvovo is another of my heroes. I tried to play like him when I played in high school. Odwa and Lwazi have definitely shaped the way I play. I also have perhaps a weirder hero in Shaun Johnson. He is a rugby league player. I just copied Shaun Johnson in all of his videos. I watched his stepping tutorials on Youtube. I watched his rugby league games just so I could learn to step like him. These three guys were my heroes growing up," Nkosi added.
Nkosi certainly has pace and a fine side-step. Yet he admits that he is not really persued sevens rugby.
"I haven't really considered sevens rugby. It probably would be a good route to go. However, I really do prefer the 15-man game," Nkosi said.
Sharks head coach, Robert du Preez, has slowly eased Nkosi into his Super Rugby team. Nkosi believes this was a good approach.
"I think that was a good move. I needed, as a youngster, to spend time around the team and get used to the intensity. I needed time to get used to the amount of time you spend concentrating, because you have to concentrate a lot more at this level in order to make the right decisions out on the field. So I think being eased in was the right option. It is better than being thrown in the deep end and not knowing how to swim," Nkosi said.
Nkosi took a blow to his head early in his first Super Rugby start and also had a try disallowed in that match. He feels it was an interesting way to get his Super Rugby career off the ground.
"It was a very eventful game for me. I took that knock to the head and had to go for a concussion test. I was nervous inside the doctor's room. I came back on and we conceded a try just after that. This made me even more nervous. We then broke the line and I was one-on-one with the full-back. I thought to myself that this was my chance. I did look outside for support and there was none. So I looked at the full-back and wrong-footed him. When I saw the open try-line it suddenly became so much brighter. It was quite a delightful feeling and I really don't have words to describe it," Nkosi added.
Nkosi has since scored two legitimate tries and yet he feels that his path is not necessarily straight up.
"I think the path is never straight. No matter how well you are doing at the moment. So the best thing for me is to take each day as it comes and to treat each training session like a game. So when it comes to game time I will know how to handle the pressure," Nkosi said.
The Sharks will host the Stormers in Super Rugby action this weekend. Nkosi believes the ingredients are there for an exciting and entertaining game.
"The Stormers have some quality players. I think they have good counter-attacking ability. You know the fans love watching running rugby. I think we also have the players to play exciting rugby. We certainly have exciting and experienced players in our back three. This could end up being a very exciting game," Nkosi said.
Nkosi feels he is learning much from rubbing shoulders with his heroes Ndungane and Mvovo.
"It is important to suck as much knowledge as you can from the elders. You can have talent, but players like Odwa and Lwazi have also developed an eye for the game and it is important to spend as much time around them as possible. This so you can also develop that eye for the game. I think at this stage it can do my game a lot of good," Nkosi concluded.
Nkosi, a product of Jeppe High in Johannesburg, is delighted to be playing for a team he has supported all his life.
"Joining the Sharks was a very easy decision. I have supported the Sharks my whole life. I could have only dreamed of playing next to the people who were posters on my bedroom wall. So coming here was a very easy decision for me to make. I am loving it here," Nkosi said.
It is hardly a surprise then that Nkosi's heroes growing up were Sharks players.
"Odwa Ndungane is one of my heroes. I still remember watching him when I was in grade two. Lwazi Mvovo is another of my heroes. I tried to play like him when I played in high school. Odwa and Lwazi have definitely shaped the way I play. I also have perhaps a weirder hero in Shaun Johnson. He is a rugby league player. I just copied Shaun Johnson in all of his videos. I watched his stepping tutorials on Youtube. I watched his rugby league games just so I could learn to step like him. These three guys were my heroes growing up," Nkosi added.
Nkosi certainly has pace and a fine side-step. Yet he admits that he is not really persued sevens rugby.
"I haven't really considered sevens rugby. It probably would be a good route to go. However, I really do prefer the 15-man game," Nkosi said.
Sharks head coach, Robert du Preez, has slowly eased Nkosi into his Super Rugby team. Nkosi believes this was a good approach.
"I think that was a good move. I needed, as a youngster, to spend time around the team and get used to the intensity. I needed time to get used to the amount of time you spend concentrating, because you have to concentrate a lot more at this level in order to make the right decisions out on the field. So I think being eased in was the right option. It is better than being thrown in the deep end and not knowing how to swim," Nkosi said.
Nkosi took a blow to his head early in his first Super Rugby start and also had a try disallowed in that match. He feels it was an interesting way to get his Super Rugby career off the ground.
"It was a very eventful game for me. I took that knock to the head and had to go for a concussion test. I was nervous inside the doctor's room. I came back on and we conceded a try just after that. This made me even more nervous. We then broke the line and I was one-on-one with the full-back. I thought to myself that this was my chance. I did look outside for support and there was none. So I looked at the full-back and wrong-footed him. When I saw the open try-line it suddenly became so much brighter. It was quite a delightful feeling and I really don't have words to describe it," Nkosi added.
Nkosi has since scored two legitimate tries and yet he feels that his path is not necessarily straight up.
"I think the path is never straight. No matter how well you are doing at the moment. So the best thing for me is to take each day as it comes and to treat each training session like a game. So when it comes to game time I will know how to handle the pressure," Nkosi said.
The Sharks will host the Stormers in Super Rugby action this weekend. Nkosi believes the ingredients are there for an exciting and entertaining game.
"The Stormers have some quality players. I think they have good counter-attacking ability. You know the fans love watching running rugby. I think we also have the players to play exciting rugby. We certainly have exciting and experienced players in our back three. This could end up being a very exciting game," Nkosi said.
Nkosi feels he is learning much from rubbing shoulders with his heroes Ndungane and Mvovo.
"It is important to suck as much knowledge as you can from the elders. You can have talent, but players like Odwa and Lwazi have also developed an eye for the game and it is important to spend as much time around them as possible. This so you can also develop that eye for the game. I think at this stage it can do my game a lot of good," Nkosi concluded.
Twitter - @SportswaveAndre