Sharks: Just there for an indulgent killing?

Cape Town – Simply
playing crusaders, and in their own fortress Christchurch, is a
a pretty great gig … the worst you could have, really.

The fact
that the lowest team in the knockout phase of Super in conference format
Rugby has never continued to win the Super Rugby title only adds to the theme of
improbable, if you will, concerning tenuous sharks,
in the 2018 competition as they weigh Saturday's quarter-finals as the pronounced
outsiders.

Is this a
reward, or is it really more like purgatory, to sneak this eighth and last
place for the final series and you know you're gone on another
long-haul flight abroad, probably due to the historical weight of the evidence
have you had your last match anyway?

Certainly
he did not seem particularly lively whooping and dancing by the two sharks
players or fans at a sparsely populated and sodden Kings Park last Saturday after
they duly confirmed the need for the team to show their pbadports a day later
– courtesy of an industrial victory over the weakened Jaguares

the lingering controversy around the winners of the conference having sacked the first three
sowing – regardless of the overall situation in terms of log points – there is also the argument justifying whether, in a 15-team competition,
it is appropriate for more than half of them to advance to a sweltering climax
phase apparently designed more for additional live TV opportunities than a
Everything else.

Just compare
the respective performances in the ordinary season of the Saders and
Sharks eighth end and you have the right to ask if the visitors justify
to be in the same park at this advanced stage.

The crusaders, including a more difficult conference, won 14 victories and
63 points (77 tries, 39 against), as opposed to the Sharks' seven wins and 36
points (49 tries, 57 against).

Then again,
at least there is no doubt the credibility of the seeds of the Durban outfit
spot: they are really eighth, which is more than what you can say for one or the other
the Lions or Waratahs, reinforced in second and third respectively by
stipulation above the right to be there on a points basis.

There are
also some pretty compelling reasons for the Sharks under their hard master of the task
Robert du Preez, not to just brandish a white flag in mental terms before they
have even taken to the field in Christchurch.

One is that
most of their party should know, basically, that they should have provided a
better finish than eighth this year, considering what they've usually been able to
offer as a line-up on paper.

knockout phase – the possibility of a spirited race in this – does constitute a
possibility of expiation.

More than
that, however, the Sharks were also comfortably the best South African side
in terms of competitiveness against New Zealand-specific enemies this season,
which is at least a reason to believe that they can cause a huge upheaval
against the mighty Cantabres Saturday

They won
three of the four relevant games, and even the agony, late 38-37 reverse to
the Hurricanes at Napier deserve to be among the others as candidates for
their list of "performances of the season" – they were miserably unhappy
That day.

There are
also the little (and rare) practice of "summer there, do that" for the
Sharks when it comes to prior knowledge of dominance against the Crusaders
away: they did it in the league game against all odds in 2014.

Remarkable match marked by their bloody desire to succeed despite the
Jean Deysel's red card for a stamping incident in the minute 17
the Sharks ended 30-25 after a late test of Kyle Cooper, the
replacement hooker who is now working with Newcastle Falcons in England.

says, however, the signs from a statistical point of view do not seem bright
for the Sharks when you study the fortunes on the lowest side
since the advent of the conference system – and a KO phase involving more than
just semi-finals and a final – in 2011.

Coincidentally,
the Sharks have been the least-seeded qualifying team themselves on as much as
five of the eight opportunities now; they seem to do a scuttling specialty
through the door.

Most
Usually, the lowest qualifying team sinks from the first attempt
the KOs (the actual quarterfinals), although the 2012 Sharks,
interesting, was an exception including gutsy.

Then under
John Plumtree's coaching position, they challenged common sense and medical
waiting by bouncing back into the Indian Ocean during the
playoffs to advance to the centerpiece against the leaders (where they were duly
obliterated 37-6 while the fatigue of the trip finally took a hold without remorse).

defeated the Reds in Brisbane (30-17), then heroically defeated the Stormers a few
days later in their Newlands den (26-19) before everything has a little too much for
once again around the world in Hamilton.

Can Sharks & # 39;
clbad of 2018 show such a real grain?

The answer
will at least begin to manifest on Saturday …

* Here is the list of post-2010 opportunities
(Beginning of the conference format) in which the least rich team succumbed
the first obstacle of the knockout phase:

Sharks,
2017: Lost quarter-final 23-21 to the Johannesburg Lions

Sharks,
2016: Lost quarter-final 41-0 against the Hurricanes in Wellington

Highlanders,
2014: Lost quarter-final 31-27 to Lions in Johannesburg

Cheetahs,
2013: Lost quarter-final 15-13 at Brumbies in Canberra

Sharks,
2011: Lost in quarterfinals 36-8 against Crusaders in Christchurch

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@RobHouwing