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The Sharks have historically been South Africa’s second best team in Super Rugby stretching back to their inaugural 1996 season.
They have competed in nine play-off games in their history including the 2007 final that they hosted and are clear favourites to top the South African conference in 2015.
Their home stadium, Growthpoint Kings Park, more commonly known as “The Shark Tank” in South Africa is situated in the coastal city of Durban in the Kwa-Zulu Natal province.
The impressive Durban stadium seats a total of 52,000 and boasts the second best average attendances in South Africa since 1996 to 2014. Their average stands at 37,888 spectators per game during this period.
The Natal Sharks also compete in the ABSA Currie Cup and stack up as the fourth best team in the history of the competition by virtue of their seven premiership titles.
They are only outmatched by the 10 titles of the Golden Lions, the 23 titles of the Blue Bulls and the 33 titles of Western Province.
They are also historically the most consistent South African side in Super Rugby having appeared in nine play-off games, one game more than the Bulls and four games more than the Stormers.
Despite their consistency however they have suffered the same fate as the Stormers and have never won the title despite their best efforts.
Their 2014 season was rather impressive overall, having appeared in both the Super Rugby and Currie Cup play-offs.
The Super Rugby season under Jake White saw them finish third on the overall log having won 12 games and losing just six – one of those wins being the legendary 13-man performance that shut down the Crusaders at Christchurch.
Unfortunately they couldn’t reproduce those efforts in the semi-final and ended up with an embarrassing loss.
The Natal Sharks did well in the Currie Cup as well by winning seven of their league games, drawing one and losing two. This saw them feature in the Currie Cup semi-final against the second placed Golden Lions in Johannesburg.
The game started at a good pace with the Lions and Sharks trading blows during the first 20 minutes. After this, however, it became a day the Natal Sharks would want to forget as an impressive Lions resurgence saw the men from Gauteng dish up the Natal Sharks’ biggest ever loss in a play-off game – losing the game 50-20.
After the Sharks’ disappointing loss to the Crusaders, director of rugby and head coach Jake White announced that he would be leaving the franchise due to family reasons.
It was later mentioned that White had alienated several players during his tenure and that it had caused dispute among the team.
The biggest example being his influence in moving junior Springbok centre Andre Esterhuizen to blindside flanker in the age group teams.
Esterhuizen, an enormous unit at 194cm and around 108kg, had the attributes to be flanker but refused to convert stating that he is either a centre or a fullback and that if he was to be forced into the forwards at the Sharks, he would sign a long term contract with Western Province.
During the closing of the 2014 rugby season it was revealed that former Springboks assistant coach Gary Gold had signed a contract with the Sharks as head coach for the following three years.
Successful 2013 mastermind Brendan Venter was also reinstated as director of rugby in White’s place. The combination of Gold and Venter looks set to be the best coaching staff of all the South African Super Rugby sides.
2015 season preview
The Sharks open their campaign with a balanced two home games and two away games. Their opening games will be against the Cheetahs followed by the Lions at Growthpoint Kings Park. After that they will travel to Loftus Versfeld to face the Bulls and then to DHL Newlands to tackle the Stormers.
The Cheetahs game should open their account with a win (and quite possibly a bonus point) seeing that the Cheetahs are a very young, depleted team.
After that I expect them to exact revenge for the humiliation suffered against the Lions the last time the teams met.
The Sharks will dominate up front with a pack that’s almost a 100kg heavier than their feline counterparts. Their speed out wide will also outdo the Lions.
Their toughest game of the opening rounds comes against the Bulls at Loftus. The Sharks have had a very tough time winning in Pretoria, however their pack should be enough to push the side to a win away from home.
The Stormers game is just too hard to call. For the past five years the Sharks and Stormers have found each other’s venues to be more beneficial than their own. In 2012 the Stormers beat them at Kings Park but lost at Newlands.
The Sharks won’t find the second round of games easy in any stretch of the imagination. Strangely enough when you look at their entire schedule you would see that their tour of Australia might not be all that bad, but the following three games after the Stormers will certainly be different.
They face the Cheetahs and two time champion Chiefs first up at Growthpoint Kings Park in the first of three home games against Australasian opposition. After that it will be a bit of a breather against the Western Force before they face the personification of dread in the Crusaders.
As in Round 1 they will beat the Cheetahs. The Chiefs have been a great team since 2012 and will be every bit as good in 2015 as they have been in that time.
The return of Sonny Bill Williams will change the whole dynamic of this game coupled with the fact that All Black stars like Aaron Cruden, Brodie Retallick and Liam Messam accompany him.
It will be a tough battle but I see this as a first loss for the Durbanites. The Force are a bit of a let off, no disrespect intended, and will provide the Sharks with a perfect preparation for the big one against the Crusaders.
The Crusaders have the ability to find weak links in any team and have the physicality to challenge the Sharks. Loss number two in my view giving them six wins from eight.
After this they will face the Lions at Ellis Park and the Bulls back at home. I see no reason why the return results will differ and if I am right that will give the Sharks a very handy eight wins from ten scenario.
Let’s hope they don’t screw up that opportunity like last year. That will also signal their very first bye of the season and a late overseas departure.
Their four games on tour, like with the Bulls will shape their destiny.
Should they win even just two of those games they will find themselves in an even stronger position than last year with a legitimate shot at first place.
They face the Highlanders first in Dunedin before travelling to the Hurricanes who have endless potential in Wellington. The trip to Australia will be a tough one. The first game will be against the champion Waratahs followed by an exciting encounter with the Reds at Suncorp.
With two wins being absolutely necessary for a home final I see them beating the Highlanders and Hurricanes first up and losing their stride against the Waratahs and Reds.
Both the Highlanders and the ‘Canes should never be taken lightly but I believe that the Sharks will have the confidence and the players to win. If the Tahs manage to emulate their form of 2014 then they will be near impossible to beat while the Reds look set to be on their way to something special.
After the tour they will have a game against the Rebels as their second last home game followed by a poor placed bye and then an end fixture against the Stormers for their last game in Durban.
I expect the Sharks to beat the Rebels convincingly only to lose their second bout against the Stormers. This leaves them with a realistic eleven wins from sixteen.
Overall the draw is good with a balanced start, a reasonable middle and a difficult end. They should do well against their South African compatriots with only the Bulls and Stormers really being able to sneak one up against them.
The Sharks can and really should end up on top of the South African conference – they have a good draw, Springboks galore and the best coaches in the country.
They have claimed that they will also be playing attacking rugby this year and that they aim to please their supporters and draw back the crowd to their stadium.
It seems that the Sharks might be South Africa’s only hope for a title in 2015.
My Sharks starting VX for 2015:
1. Tendai Mtawarira (186cm, 116kg)
2. Bismarck du Plessis (189cm, 114kg)
3. Lourens Adriaanse (180cm, 115kg)
4. Stephan Lewies (200cm, 110kg)
5. Pieter-Steph du Toit (201cm, 115kg)
6. Marcell Coetzee (191cm, 109kg)
7. Willem Alberts (193cm, 120kg)
8. Ryan Kankowski (195cm, 108kg)
9. Cobus Reinach (175cm, 78kg)
10. Patrick Lambie (177cm, 87kg)
11. Lwazi Mvovo (180cm, 90kg)
12. Francois Steyn (191cm, 110kg)
13. Andre Esterhuizen (194cm, 108kg)
14. Tonderai Chavhanga (185cm, 85kg)
15. SP Marais (185cm, 87kg)
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.