Over the past few years, I’ve used (or abused) every possible opportunity to remark on the amazing coincidence that saw two players in the Sharks team – who couldn’t possibly be more different in terms of background and playing style – born on exactly the same day. Keegan Daniel and Jean Deysel, the one a fleet-footed Englishman from the Eastern Cape and the other a hard-as-nails Afrikaner from the Free State, were both born on 5 March 1985. It turns out, though, that they aren’t the only “twins” in the team.
I just worked out today that another pair of players share a birthday – which just happens to be today. These two also hail from disparate parts of the country, but would have met each other on at least a few occasions before ending up Sharks team mates; hooker Monde Hadebe (Durban and Westville) and loose forward Lubabalo Mtembu (East London and Dale College) played together for South Africa at both under 18 and under 20 level before becoming provincial team mates and would surely have shared a joke about sharing a common date of birth.
We’d like to take this opportunity to wish a very happy birthday to Monde and Tera, both of whom turn 23 today.

Happy birthday guys!
Happy birthday!
Happy birthday to 2 of our future stars!!! 😆