Coach Justin Collins reflects on SA u17’s Dato Mirnawan Cup performances
The South African u17 boys’ hockey team will, unfortunately, feel a sense of let-down after a fifth-place finish at the Dato Mirnawan Cup, which concluded on Sunday in Kuala Lumpur.
Malaysia claimed gold in the boys’ section, beating South Korea 3-2 in the final, while Japan defeated Australia, also by a 3-2 margin, to win the girls’ title.
While results didn’t go the way the South African team would have hoped, they will, nonetheless, take away valuable lessons from the experience.
In last year’s tournament, South Africa finished as the runner-up after losing 3-4 to India in the title decider. In 2024, only Reece Theunis, the captain, remained from the 2023 side.
It all began swimmingly for Theunis and company, who got their challenge off to a scorching start by overwhelming Canada 9-1 in their opening match.
The competition stiffened quickly, though, with the Malaysia Tigers beating South Africa 3-1 in their second outing. Then, after a tremendous tussle and a gutsy fightback, the South Africans went down 3-4 against South Korea.
In the playoffs, for fifth to eighth places, South Africa played some smart hockey to claim a sweet 3-2 victory over Australia.
That win put Justin Collins’ charges into the playoff for fifth against Canada, the team they had so handsomely beaten in their first match of the tournament.
Once more, it was South Africa’s day. They slotted five goals, kept a clean sheet, and ended their tournament on a high.
Reflecting on the event, head coach Justin Collins said he was pleased with his team’s fighting spirit, which never faltered despite the side losing two of their three group matches, both of which came against the eventual finalists.
“I am very proud of the boys and the character they showed. We were never out of the contest in any game during the week,” he told SuperSport Schools Plus.
“We just had small moments that we slipped up, and this has created even more of a learning environment for our boys.
“We always knew we had to fight, but the two losses in the pool stages created an inner drive for the team and the staff.”
In both of their group losses, the margin between winning and losing was razor-thin. Slight lapses of concentration cost South Africa victory. Collins lamented those moments and said he believes his side could’ve done better.
“It was disappointing sitting and watching the final,” he admitted, “especially because both these teams were in our pool.
“We were so close against South Korea, losing 3-4 after showing lots of character and fighting back from 1-3 down to go 3-3, then to lose in the dying moments.
“Malaysia won the tournament after we ran them close. We weren’t good in the first half of that game, but showed fight, again.”
For the majority of the South African players, it was a case of one, and done. They’ll be moving on to older age groups, but several players, who are currently 16 years old, will be keen to stake a claim to a seat on the plane to next year’s Dato Mirnawan Cup.
“There were, definitely, some players that put up their hands up this week and stood up when needed,” Collins said.
“It’s always great winning games, and I truly believe our school structure is creating an incredible base for players to develop,” he added.
“We have top coaches around the country based at different schools. We just need to play better hockey for longer phases and be braver in difficult situations.
“Our defensive systems need some care and more work needs to be done across the board in terms of our angles of engagement and tracking of runners,” he concluded.
