Hard work, not reputation, wins titles, says Downs' Rulani Mokwena

Mamelodi Sundowns co-coach Rulani Mokwena says his side claimed the DStv Premiership trophy though hard work and getting the right results and not through their reputation.

On Wednesday, Downs were crowned league champions for a fifth year in a row after the 0-0 draw with Cape Town City FC. On Saturday night, they progressed to the Nedbank Cup final after beating Royal AM 2-1 at the Chatsworth Stadium.

Mokwena admitted their priority this season had been to win the CAF Champions League above all else as the club had won the league title four times in a row.

"The reality is that we wanted to win the CAF Champions League first and that's where we should start, but it's important to understand that you don't win a league title merely because you've already won it four times or merely because you've won the previous one," Mokwena told the club's website.

"You win it because you earn it over 30 games in the season, there is no league title where a team plays and for some strange reason they win the league title because of their reputation and their names, there's work that needs to be done, there's a lot of consistency that is needed."

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Their win against Royal AM, set up by goals from Aubrey Modiba and Pavol Safranko, has put them on course for a treble, having already claimed the league title and MTN8 Cup.

"Sometimes with a cup game you've got four or five games and you may not play as well as you possibly can but you go for the result and you need a bit of luck sometimes to do that. In the league title you won't win too many matches if you don't perform consistently to your best," Mokwena added.