Dolphins gearing up for big season

The Ballito Dolphins rugby club are getting pumped for a tough season ahead as they tackle 2018 with renewed vigor.

The Dolphins closed off a difficult 2017, fighting relegation until the final match of the season. Fortunately, a last minute surge of effort saw them avoid relegation.

“This season the league will be far tougher with two sides from the Premier League having been relegated, South Coast Warriors and Jags, and a rejuvenated UKZN side looking to regroup from last season,” said club chairman Kevin Murphy.

The Dolphins’ rugby season has got under way with the gruelling pre-season training being held every Monday, Tuesday and Thursday from 6pm at the Sugar Rush Fields.

“Last year was disappointing and we lost four games by less than seven points, had those games gone our way we would have finished a comfortable third in the log.”

Murphy said even a third place was not their goal for this season, as their director of rugby, Craig Dawson, was targeting the winners enclosure in 2018.

He is confident that with the assistance of Andrew Steel, ex Dolphins and Sharks Academy player, as backs and fitness coach and Jacque Visagie, ex Zululand Rhinos player/coach, as forwards coach that he now finally has the right mix of coaches he requires to compete at the highest level.

Steel joined up midway through last season and it was immediately evident the impact his coaching had on the line players as the Dolphins won three of their last four games, and all mainly due to the penetration the backs were able to create.

Visagie brings Premier League coaching and playing experience with him and he looks forward to the challenge of making the Dolphins scrums daunting for any opposition.

Now that Dawson has had one and half seasons to bed down with the Dolphins and recreate the spirit in the team, he looks forward to seeing the results on the field, which is where it counts.

“It was only three years ago when we were playing at school grounds, the team were taking constant heavy defeats (winning one game in two seasons) but with our own playing facilities and the coaching department now fully revamped, we expect to be extremely competitive this season.”

The Dolphins will play their first league game at home on Saturday, March 17 against the PMB Collegians and the following weekend they will take on the South Coast Warriors, recently relegated from Premier Division, also at home and then after that, a third home game on April 7 against Hillcrest.

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