Having spent months on the sidelines with a knee injury, Sharks loose forward Tera Mtembu is eager to take to the field.
|||Durban - Having spent months on the sidelines with a knee injury, Sharks loose forward Tera Mtembu is eager to take to the field as his team prepares for the new Super Rugby season.
Mtembu missed most of his team's matches this year, but by following the advice of Biokineticist, Jimmy Wright, he has remained motivated and is eager to make his mark.
“It (sitting on the sidelines) is very tough but so good to be back,” said Mtembu.
“Not much has changed as far as pre-season training is going; like previous years, it's really hard although, with the new coaches and new structures, there are different dynamics.”
Staying positive and motivated during that difficult time is one of the most difficult periods a player must endure, but in Mtembu's case, when he was injured, he was able to work on other areas.
“Although I couldn't train to play, I never stopped; Jimmy Wright was a great motivator,” he said. “Although I injured my knee, he assured me that the other parts of me were fine! And from there I just got stuck into the gym.
“It's obviously hard being away for a long time and you have to find something within you to stay motivated, and Jimmy suggested that before or after I went in for my op that I visit the ICU to give me some perspective. It worked, it kept me motivated and now I'm raring to go.”
He joined the squad in the second week of pre-season training and expressed his excitement to be working with assistant coach Robert du Preez again.
“He (Du Preez) coached me at Rovers and I enjoy his style and I think he's a really good acquisition for us. He has great ideas, is very strict and has strong attention to detail.
“Omar Mouneimne, our defence coach, has been involved at the highest level of rugby and he's also a good addition to our coaching staff. The two of them together with tighten up on our defence as well as attack.”
With the stated aim of playing more attacking rugby in the quest to score more tries as a mobile player, Mtembu admits that this is encouraging for him personally as it suits his style of play.
“One year when the Chiefs won the tournament, they scored the most tries, but also conceded the second highest number - but it was scoring so many tries that helped them win the competition.
“So it's all about scoring tries and something that we are driving, working hard on our skills. We've been saying that for a while now, but hopefully, all the hard work we're putting in now pays off next season.” - African News Agency (ANA)
