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The Sharks are finding success in the URC where they didn't last season, but fans are still unhappy after a dismal EPCR campaign.
Sharks hooker Bongi Mbonambi said he was proud of how the forward pack dominated Ospreys but there is still work to do. Picture: Steve Haag Sports/Gallo Images
The Sharks have had mixed success this season and players have not shied from acknowledging the work to be done both in the immediate future and in the greater scheme of things.
The Durban union won the United Rugby Championship (URC) South African shield for the first time after a difficult season last year where they didn’t win a single local derby and finished last.
They are also guaranteed a home quarter-final in the URC thanks to their 12 wins after 17 games, reaching the security of at least a fourth-place finish with a game to spare. This, compared to finishing 14th last season with four wins and 14 losses, and not progressing to the play-offs.
They also won the Currie Cup this year.
However, the Sharks crashed out of this year’s Champions Cup with one win and finished with a discouraging accumulative points difference of -87 in their four pool games. They dropped into the Challenge Cup, but head coach John Plumtree fielded a second-string side that lost poorly to Lyon in the last 16, meaning they finished their EPCR campaign with one win from five games.
John Plumtree’s first year at the reins was bellow par in the URC but at least they won the Challenge Cup. This season seems to be going the opposite way.
Signings since 2023 (including Springboks Siya Kolisi, Trevor Nyakane, Jordan Hendrikse, André Esterhuizen and Ruan Dreyer) were expected to bring success, though players have always spoken of the building phase the Sharks are in, and how fans should trust the process.
However, fans have been very vocal on the Sharks’ social media platforms expressing their disappointment.
The Sharks are now on a three-game winning streak after their bonus-point 29–10 win over Ospreys in Durban on the weekend, where winger Ethan Hooker earned Man of the Match.
“For us as a team we are in a building phase… Building on wins like this helps us a lot. It helps confidence so it’s massive in the greater terms of things,” Hooker said.
Springbok hooker Bongi Mbonambi added that the win was important for the season especially.
“We’re very happy [with the win]. It wasn’t easy, it was very tough,” he said. “The bench came on and made a massive difference with their opportunity.”
He said while they have secured their top four spot “there is still improving to be done”.
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