Sharks have the ammo to make this season different
OPINION: The Sharks have the ammunition to lay a solid foundation for their 2026/27 United Rugby Championship season and bank maximum points to ease pressure off them going forward.
JP Pietersen’s team secured a 41-24 victory over the Ospreys at Kings Park in Round One, and a win against Leinster on Saturday night will see them already achieve a better record than they did in the whole opening third of last season’s league stage.
The Sharks got off to an atrocious start last term, winning just one of their first six matches, drawing another, and losing four.
While things picked up as the season progressed and they managed to put up several dominant performances, there was just too much catching up to do, and they ended the regular season in 10th position on the log after eight wins, one draw, and nine losses.
They are equipped much differently this time around, with a host of Springboks mixed with devastating young talent.
At the start of the 2025/26 edition, the Sharks kicked off their opening tour without their Boks. So, going into Round Two stacked with them, including their six returning internationals, gives the Durbanites artillery they did not have this time last year.
While the Sharks are home to a large contingent of Boks, it also means that they are one of the teams most affected when those stars report for international duty.
But their revamped recruitment strategy might allow them to use their Boks as welcomed additions rather than having to hit the reset button every time they arrive or depart.
The fact that the Sharks have their first two matches at home, for once, is another factor that can help load their bank before they hit the road.
They built an impressive seven-two record at home last season, while they lost seven and drew one on the road, with their only positive result outside of Durban coming in the form of a first-ever URC win against the Stormers in Cape Town.
And those numbers weren’t by chance; the difference between their home and away performances was staggering.
When playing at Kings Park, the Sharks scored 40 of their total 70 season tries and 300 of the 467 points amassed throughout the season.
And then, of course, there’s the coaching influence.
The Sharks have shown some promise under Pietersen, and the question of how the team will go in his first full season in charge will be answered week by week.
Will they finally look like a cohesive unit, consistently, rather than a collection of stars? Will their set-piece dominance see them clock more victories as opposed to losing in spite of it? Will we finally see some real consistency from them?
Only time will tell.
The Sharks are already off to a better start than last season, and a win against defending champions Leinster would not only be massive for their confidence after a couple of hugely disappointing seasons, but it would also relieve them of the pressure of having to string together a spotless record deeper into the league phase to reach the knockouts.
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