There may be three months to wait for the next edition of the Vodacom United Rugby Championship, but the excitement over what’s to come for the Hollywoodbets Sharks remains close to fans’ hearts.
The fourth season produced its fair share of challenges for the Hollywoodbets Sharks, but the growth of the team under John Plumtree and his coaching team saw them enjoying their finest season yet, earning a home quarter-final thanks to their third-place finish, winning the South African Shield, and advancing as far as the semi-finals.
The 2025/26 season beckons and unlike previous years when the Durban side had a gruelling four-week tour to start the tournament, there is some respite given that they have one fewer tour game to kick off the away leg of their campaign.
Glasgow Warriors, fellow semi-finalists in this year’s VURC tournament, will host the Hollywoodbets Sharks in round one in the last weekend in September, before the Durban side head south to Wales to take on this past season’s table-dwellers, the Dragons the following weekend.
Week three throws a huge challenge their way as they face off against this season’s champions Leinster, before they return home to host Ulster and the Scarlets at Hollywoodbets Kings Park in rounds four and five.
They’re back on the road in week six, taking on their third Irish team, Connacht in the heart of Galway City before there’s a three week break in the tournament to accommodate the early Investec Champions Cup and EPCR Challenge Cup pool fixtures (the draw takes place on 1st July).
Their top eight finish ensures a place in the Champions Cup for the second year in a row.
Back to the VURC and it’s derby time in week seven action just before Christmas as the Hollywoodbets Sharks host the Vodacom Bulls in Durban, with a clash against the Emirates Lions taking place in Joburg on Boxing Day the following week.
Week nine sees the first new year matches, with the Hollywoodbets Sharks hosting the Lions at Hollywoodbets Kings Park in the return leg match.
There’s another three week break for the Champions and Challenge Cup tournaments before a fourth derby game, this time pitting the Hollywoodbets Sharks and DHL Stormers against one another in Cape Town, with the pair meeting the next weekend in Durban.
There’s another break in February, before the Hollywoodbets Sharks close out their local derby commitments when they travel to Pretoria to take on the Vodacom Bulls in round 12.
Another three week pause sets up a repeat of this year’s dramatic quarter-final between the Hollywoodbets Sharks and Munster at Hollywoodbets Kings Park in the third week in March, followed by a visit by Cardiff Rugby to Durban in the next weekend’s 14th round.
The Hollywoodbets Sharks are back on the road a week later, traveling to Swansea to take on Ospreys and then off to Scotland for a date with Edinburgh, before closing out the final two rounds at Hollywoodbets Kings Park where they welcome the Italian pair of Benetton and then Zebre.
Despite having to juggle player resources in the 2024/25 season, the Hollywoodbets Sharks finished their season in a commendable third place and will use their learnings to further their ambitions in in 2025/26 and to be a club that regularly wins silverware, adding to the EPCR Challenge Cup, the Carling Currie Cup and the VURC South African Shield all scooped up in the last year.
