Mona looking to bluff his way past familiar foes in SRC final

Tafel Lager Griquas prop Khwezi Mona will find himself firmly under the spotlight when his team fronts up against the Pumas for the second SuperSport Rugby Challenge final in a row in Saldanha Bay on Sunday.

As part of the Pumas side that beat Griquas by a last-minute drop-goal in last year's final, Mona will have to dig deep both physically and emotionally to get the better of opponents he called teammates and friends for four years before his recent move to Kimberley.

Thankfully, the usual banter one would expect from old teammates ahead of big games has subsided because Griquas played their semifinal in Nelspruit last weekend, meaning Mona had the opportunity to catch up over a beer.

FAMILIAR FOES

But coming up against Pumas tighthead Marne Coetzee, a man he says knows his game inside out, in the match should be a massive headache for Mona: "I often say to people I don't like playing against my friends because they know me and I know them. But in the same breath I enjoy the challenge of playing someone that knows me because it makes me prepare better.

"It makes me sharp and understand that I have to play above my norm to get one over them. Scrumming against Marne will probably make my life a lot more difficult because we go way back. I was at the Sharks and two years later he arrived there, then I went to the Pumas and he went to the Pumas.

"So we've got six years of friendship that we've built: he's watched me develop as a scrummager and I've done the same, we've helped each other pick each other up and pick each other’s games apart. So going up against him ... we know each other's tricks and tells – it'll be like a poker match where we'll be trying to keep our poker faces on."

GRIQUAS DEFECTION

The 27-year-old's defection to Griquas seems a mystery, given that he genuinely loved the people of Nelspruit and the city itself, until he explains that he left hoping to play Pro14 rugby with the Southern Kings, which ultimately didn't work out, with a call from his most recent Pumas coach – Brent Janse van Rensburg – giving him a soft landing in Kimberley.

"Coming to Griquas wasn't a hard choice for me, playing-wise," he says. "I knew I was joining a good team and not taking a step down from the Pumas, I was joining a squad that’s highly motivated and ambitious.

"I came here with the notion that I’m going to do whatever I can to contribute to the team, that if I’m not playing or starting I’ll do whatever I can to help the guys who are playing, be it by sharing my experience, knowledge or just being an extra pair of eyes. I told the management staff I didn’t want to be given anything, I wanted to earn my place in the team and the respect of the boys."

Judging by his having become the starting loose-head prop for the team, it would appear said respect has been earned. But the bigger respect he probably already has earned for the difficult transition he's made from a glory hogging loose-forward to a prop.

JOINING THE FRONT ROWERS UNION

Having started at lock at Gonubie Primary in East London and moved on to flank at Selborne College, Mona broke his ankle in matric and picked up a little weight before he joined the Sharks Academy.

"When I got there Swys de Bruin and Hans Scriba had this idea that I could pull a Beat (Mtawarira) and become a prop. They worked very hard with me with (former Springbok) Etienne Fynn, a great scrum coach at the Sharks, and they helped mould me into a prop.

"My first two years there were spent trying to be a prop. Coach Fynn never gave me any leeway by teaching me standards in how to become a prop. It was a tough period, that first two years: I had to lift more in the gym because my body had to change, work on a lot more squats for lower body strength.

"I got a lot more respect for the guys up front, coming from being a loosie who thought he was working hard."

It took a recently retired Ronnie Uys, who had moved back to Durban and was still playing club rugby when he encountered Mona, who got in touch with the Pumas to give him a trial, and the rest was history.

CHANGING HISTORY

Speaking of history, Griquas will be keen that it doesn't repeat itself in Sunday’s final, where they have been to two deciders and lost twice: "In the past that might have been a thing but we’ve got a new team and new management. I can't comment on past operations and how things were leading to the past two finals.

"But any time in those past finals they've had good showings. We've also played harder games this tournament than we did last year because the Griquas were in an easier section, where they weren't taken to those dark places – they have this year."