Tera sinks teeth into Sharks career

IT was during the Kearsney Easter Rugby Festival in 2009 that doors opened for Lubabalo ‘Tera’ Mtembu’s professional rugby career.

He displayed his talent at the inaugural festival the previous year and returned in 2009 as the captain of the Eastern Cape’s Dale College team. Lubabalo, or Tera as he is affectionately known, was offered a bursary to the Sharks Academy, which exposed him to the game at a higher level.

The solid 106kg loose forward went through the Sharks Academy ranks before he made his Super Rugby and Currie Cup debuts in 2012.

He became the Sharks first black captain under Jake White, with the franchise’s then director of rugby saying he had the potential to become a consistent Super Rugby player and was capable of claiming international honours.

“Tera is a talented player and I have great faith in his ability,” said White. “My hope is that he embraces this leadership role and gains valuable experience as the tournament progresses.”

While he’s sadly struggled with injuries throughout his career, the charming and humble 1.87m flanker and eighthman has proved to be a softly spoken, polite, yet assertive skipper of the Sharks.

Last year, the Sharks Currie Cup coach, Sean Everitt, re-affirmed Mtembu’s leadership qualities and made him co-captain of the team, together with Jeremy Ward. Both players had formerly filled leadership roles and were no strangers to captaincy.

With Mtembu having previously captained the Sharks in both Super Rugby and Currie Cup tournaments, Ward had led the SAU20 team at the World Championship in 2016.

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Mtembu was born in East London in 1990 and represented the Border Bulldogs (2008 and 2009) and Sharks before making his senior debut in 2011 for the Sharks.

In 2010 he was selected for South Africa’s U20 team and played for the SA Sevens in 2010 and 2011.

The Kearsney Easter Rugby Festival has been praised for providing talented players with an ideal platform to display their ability and hopefully springboard to the next level of the game, while also providing talent scouts with three days of focused play from which to discover talent.

Since the inaugural festival 13 years ago, following the final game, three talented players have been awarded bursaries valued at R100 000 each. This has included a contract with the Sharks Academy, accommodation and a tuition bursary with one of its education partners.

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