The Hollywoodbets Sharks face a testing and challenging period leading into Christmas and beyond as they return from the tournament recess and focus on their Vodacom United Rugby Championship and Investec Champions Cup commitments over the forthcoming month.
With a host of Springboks away on national duty for the Autumn International window, and their final game of the month-long campaign taking in a clash with Wales this weekend, the Hollywoodbets Sharks will have to make do without some of their test match players for this weekend’s VURC clash with Connacht.
The Irish side hold sway in the success stakes, having won three of the four clashes between the two sides, with the Hollywoodbets Sharks winning the 2022 match 41-21 at Hollywoodbets Kings Park. Since then, the teams have met twice at Dexcom Stadium, Connacht’s home ground since 1927, with the home team taking the spoils on both occasions.
The following week, on Sunday 7 December, the Hollywoodbets Sharks are in France for their Champions Cup opener against one of the tournament’s greatest teams, Toulouse, who won the inaugural tournament (the Heineken Cup) in 1995/96 and have gone on to win the trophy a further five times, most recently in 2023/24.
Their six titles from eight finals puts them at the top of the log with Leinster the second most successful team (four-time champions).
That this match will provide the Hollywoodbets Sharks with the ultimate test of rugby passion and performance is no understatement.
And it doesn’t get any easier, with Saracens visiting Hollywoodbets Kings Park in the round two match of the Champions Cup the following weekend, both teams having intercontinental travel to add to their gruelling schedule.
One of England’s most successful franchises, the North London-based side boast four Champions Cup final-appearances, taking the title on three of those occasions during a period of real dominance as a rugby force between 2013 and 2019. They have also won the English Premiership six times in the last 15 years, with no other team winning more than two titles.
A week later and it’s derby time – the first of two – when the Hollywoodbets Sharks host three-time VURC finalists, the old foe in the Vodacom Blue Bulls at Hollywoodbets Kings Park.
The history between these two proud sides extends back to the famous 1990 Carling Currie Cup Final, won against all odds by Craig Jamieson’s Hollywoodbets Sharks, and the start of a rugby rivalry that continues to grow in intensity.
As a true powerhouse in South African rugby, the Vodacom Bulls will surely test their Durban hosts, although the bragging rights are not solely theirs to boast about, having won three of the last five clashes between them.
Christmas makes a quick show before the action resumes on 27th December, when the Lions host the Hollywoodbets Sharks at Ellis Park for the two teams’ final match of 2025.
In their eight VURC matches played since 2022, the Hollywoodbets Sharks edge the win ratio by five wins to three, winning twice up in Joburg to go with two losses for a 50% success rate away from home.
Clearly, like the four earlier matches in their schedule, the Hollywoodbets Sharks will be tested, and as underdogs, will relish the challenge that lies ahead.
But rugby is a strange beast and when backs are against the wall, this is where true grit, determination and character rise to the fore.
Pride and grit are characteristics embraced by this Hollywoodbets Sharks team and both will be central to how they prepare mentally and physically for this demanding period.
