When it was suggested Durban was being considered by the United Rugby Championship (URC) organisers as a likely venue for a final were it to be played on SA soil, more likely than Pretoria, a quizzical eyebrow was raised. It won’t be raised again after the Sharks beat the Bulls for the second time this season.
In fact, you might even make it a third or fourth time if you add in the two Currie Cup games that were played at the end of the domestic season and, because they were being used as a buildup to the start of the URC, thus featured relatively full strength teams. I am referring to the most recent league game in Durban and the semifinal at Loftus a week later.
The Sharks came from behind to win at Kings Park and in the semifinal they survived being down to 12 men at one stage to get the draw they needed after extra time to advance to the decider on superior try tally. The Sharks duly went on to win a close final against a fully loaded Lions side, winning it with a monster Jordan Hendrikse penalty at the death.
Where am I going with all this regurgitation of what happened in a Currie Cup that really has no relevance to the URC? Just to underline that something has switched in the power balance between the Sharks and Bulls. And for that matter between the Sharks and the other local teams. They’ve lost only once to a SA team since August 2024, and that was to a late Stormers try in Cape Town just before New Year.
The Sharks were long criticised for their poor recruitment and there may also have been teething problems in the partnership with the new equity partners that has made the Sharks the richest local franchise and drove up the expectation. The Sharks were expected to become the top local team but couldn’t get it right because the recruitment was wrong and the culture wrong.
We knew it already, with the Challenge Cup semifinal win over Clermont in London in 2024 being the real turning point, but the way the Sharks have dug deep in their recent games with the Bulls has provided further confirmation that the culture is now right.
Regarding the two URC defeats the Bulls suffered to the Durbanites it stuck to the narrative of the Sharks being mentally stronger and having the wood on their rivals.
When the Sharks won in Durban before Christmas too much was made of the achievement. In the sense that some pundits were talking about it being a heroic performance and against all the odds. It was true the Sharks were understrength then, but not quite as much as in the most recent game, and it was at home.
The Sharks had to hang on at Kings Park but their winning margin was more clear-cut at Loftus. It was 29-12 to the Sharks heading into the last five minutes and the last Bulls try that cut the end deficit to just 10 was no more than a consolation effort.
Significantly, though the margin was wider, the narrative of the game was similar enough to the previous few between the sides to justify a strong sense of déjà vu. Again the Sharks were down at one point to 12 men, again they had to withstand a ferocious Bulls forward onslaught. Again they stood firm, were the more composed team, and won.
And that with what wasn’t far off being the Sharks second string team. There was no Eben Etzebeth, no André Esterhuizen, no Ox Nche, no Vincent Koch, no Siya Kolisi, no Jaden Hendrikse, no Makazole Mapimpi, no Aphelele Fassi … and not even James Venter, who is also injured. You can add in many others such as Dylan Richardson and Emile van Heerden.
Mention of Venter cues a point. Tino Masevere was the player who played in Venter’s flank position at Loftus and he ended up being man of the match. Not that Masivere was the only nonfrontline player to excel. That the Sharks won such a big away derby shows they are finally closing the divide between their first and second string teams.
The gap between the two has long been a concern. With so many URC games being played understrength, it is necessary for a team loaded with international players to be like Leinster, meaning have two competitive teams. We don’t see much of the Sharks when they are at full strength and now there are injuries on top of that, but they are moving away from the position in which you felt that going understrength was akin to sacrificing the game.
My gut tells me the Sharks now have the best chance among SA teams of beating champions Glasgow Warriors to second spot on the URC log. They have finally started to become what the money available to them should demand of them — the top SA challenger.
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