Sharks’ resurgence an EPCR Challenge Cup success story

The Hollywoodbets Sharks’ meteoric rise last season from a rocky start to title-winning glory not only reignited their own fortunes but also made a compelling case for the value of the EPCR Challenge Cup.

From a team plumbing the depths of mediocrity in the first half of the 2023-24 Vodacom United Rugby Championship (URC), to finding ballast in the Challenge Cup and breaching the surface to snap up the Challenge Cup and later the Carling Currie Cup trophy, the Sharks’ story is a case study in the transformative power of opportunity.

The 2023-24 season began bleakly for the Sharks, with just two wins in their first nine matches. Five consecutive losses marked their opening stretch, including defeats at relative minnows Ospreys and Zebre, which left fans questioning whether the Sharks could recover. But adversity often reveals character and, in the Sharks’ case, they found theirs in the Challenge Cup.

Competing in the EPCR’s second-tier cup competition gave the Sharks a reprieve from their disheartening run of results in the URC, the opportunity to reboot from a clean slate, and rebuild confidence against opponents with a similar backstory – having missed out on Investec Champions Cup qualification due to middling form in their domestic competition the previous season.

With every game, the Sharks visibly scrubbed off the lingering doubt and incrementally gained momentum.

They opened the season with a heavy-handed win against Pau and then recovered from a nail-biting reverse against the Toyota Cheetahs in Bloemfontein to beat Oyonnax and Dragons by an aggregate of 67-16.

Three pool wins secured home playoffs, and the Sharks made Hollywoodbets Kings Park roar with flyhalf Siya Masuku kicking 28 points to complement 10 tries from the hosts in the Round of 16 win against Zebre and the quarterfinal triumph over Edinburgh.

It was a Masuku conversion of Springbok winger Makazole Mapimpi’s late try that gave the Sharks the edge in a pulsating 32-31 semifinal victory against Clermont.

Gloucester, a week later, were never going to stop a rampaging Eben Etzebeth from leading the Sharks to glory in the Challenge Cup final at Tottenham Hostpur Stadium.

Winning the final was the turning point. Victory wasn’t just a trophy for the cabinet, it was a statement of intent. In recultivating their belief and unity, the Sharks had rediscovered their power.

Emerging from the shadow of defeat to the resplendent spotlight that beamed on South Africa’s first European Cup champions sent a message to their rivals in the Republic and showcased why the Challenge Cup is indeed so much more than a secondary tournament.

Buoyed by their Challenge Cup success, the Sharks stormed to the 2024 Currie Cup title and rather than this success defining a fairytale ending, it signalled a new dawn.

When the 2024-25 URC kicked off, the Sharks carried their form onto the European stage, winning four of their first six matches to solidify their status as contenders.

"We showed the team video messages from their wives and girlfriends the night before the Challenge Cup final, and that was amazing,” Sharks coach John Plumtree. “But we also showed a video with other South African captains around the country wishing us the best of luck. For me that was really great. It felt like this was a South African thing, not just a Sharks' thing."

Indeed, the Sharks’ journey will be used for inspiration by the Emirates Lions and Cheetahs as they race to emulate this success in the 2024-25 Challenge Cup with the hope that the Challenge Cup will do for them what it did for the Sharks in transforming opportunities into silverware.

The Sharks host former Investec Champions Cup winners Exeter in Durban on Saturday in the opening round of the Champions Cup.