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The Sharks are in dire straits, being 13th on the United Rugby Championship table and in the midst of a coaching shake-up, as well as having tough fixtures on the horizon.
Fans have been baying for change (and blood) for years, but John Plumtree stepping down as head coach “by mutual agreement” at the end of the season is only the start of what will likely be a lengthy recovery.
In the meantime, the board’s decision to employ a technical coach consultant, director of rugby Neil Powell’s refocusing on key operational areas, and the entire rugby programme remaining under critical review, is a welcome start, if it doesn’t interfere with quality coaching and working strategies.
But the Sharks couldn’t do much worse than they already are.
It may get worse before it gets better
Brimming with Springboks, the Durban franchise underperformed for two seasons and look nowhere near reaching their potential in Plumtree’s third year in charge.
They have just one URC win from five matches, beating the tournament’s whipping boys, Scarlets, 29-19 before their November break.
The Sharks return against Connacht in Galway on Saturday night, a side only one place above them on the table but showing far more promise.
The Irish side have only played four games, their easy home clash against Scarlets being postponed. They beat Benetton and narrowly lost to Cardiff in Wales, Bulls in South Africa and Munster at Thomond Park.
The Sharks must do without their Springboks playing against Wales on the day, but will hope their injured national players Vincent Koch and Aphelele Fassi, and former Boks Francois Venter, Jason Jenkins, Ruan Dreyer and Trevor Nyakane, recover so they can play for the franchise.
It doesn’t get any easier from there.
The Sharks return to the Champions Cup in a fortnight – a tournament where they only won one of four matches in their pool last year, crashing out of the tournament with a points difference of -87.
With a very difficult away clash against Stade Toulousain and then a tricky home fixture against Sale Sharks, the odds are against the Durban franchise starting the tournament well.
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