Currie Cup head coach Joey Mongalo is keen to follow in the footsteps of former boss Jake White and take charge of a Vodacom United Rugby Championship team.

Mongalo will have a URC post with the Durbanites next season as defence coach, a role he previously held under White at the Vodacom Bulls.

With Mongalo as defence coach, the Bulls won back-to-back Currie Cup titles in 2020 and 2021 and progressed to the Rainbow Cup final in 2021 and the URC final in 2022.

Currie Cup head coach Joey Mongalo is keen to follow in the footsteps of former boss Jake White and take charge of a @Vodacom #URC team. https://t.co/ZlVc5FOHOZ

— SA Rugby magazine (@SARugbymag) June 8, 2023

Quoted in a report on SuperSport, the former Lions assistant spoke proudly as one of “a new generation of coaches coming through” in South African rugby, and shared his ambitions of calling the shots at the highest levels.

“This is the third rugby environment I’ve been in in South Africa and you learn from every single one. I’m privileged to have served under many head coaches such as Johan Ackermann, Swys de Bruin, Jake White and Bafana Nhleko.

“All of these coaches have wonderful aspects about them, so to sit at their feet and learn and now take forward what I wanted when I finally held a head coach position myself is a great blessing for me.

“Having been privileged to win the Currie Cup twice with the Bulls as an assistant coach, it would be extremely special to do it with the Sharks as the man leading a team at the senior level for the first time.

“There could’ve been many opportunities in my own life to quit at any time, and it would’ve been understandable because the circumstances weren’t easy. But I hope I can show that if you use that adversity, you can look forward to more that can be done.”