- The Sharks were once the most reliable South African team when it came to away playoffs.
- They lost their record as SA's most reliable playoff travelers in 2014 and have never regained that title.
- They had a chance to book a home quarterfinal in the URC but spurned it by losing to Ulster last week Friday.
The Sharks were an interesting case study when they traveled to Belfast for their United Rugby Championship clash against Ulster, which they lost 24-21 on Friday evening.
A home quarterfinal was at stake, but the Sharks proceeded to fluff their lines in a listless first 60 minutes that allowed the Ulstermen to be quarterfinal hosts instead of them.
That means the Sharks now have the unenviable task of having to travel to Tshwane for a mid-afternoon playoff game that's been unfriendly for most visiting teams historically.
Playing afternoon matches at Loftus Versfeld shouldn't be a new thing for the Sharks.
However, here are five Super Rugby playoffs on the road which show why the Sharks can't be trusted with a playoff game, especially on the road:
19 July 2014: Crusaders 38-6 Sharks
This Jake White-coached group was probably one of the better Sharks sides of the previous decade. They had won a round-robin game in Christchurch and in doing so, became the first South African side to win there since the Bulls in 1996.
However, they'd been in Australia for two weeks before travelling.
There was no such luck as after their 31-7 win over the Highlanders in the qualifier at Kings Park, they took on the taxing Trans-Indian Ocean flight to New Zealand, where they were no match for the Crusaders.
23 July 2016: Hurricanes 41-0 Sharks - WATCH
Traveling to New Zealand for Super Rugby playoff matches was mission impossible for South African teams.
That often hastened the need for SA teams to do the business at home, but in finishing eighth on the log by being one of the wildcard teams by finishing second in their conference, they journeyed to Wellington for a quarterfinal.
It was a scoreless implosion in New Zealand's capital as the Hurricanes marched through the playoffs without conceding a try to win their first Super Rugby title.
22 July 2017: Lions 23-21 Sharks - WATCH
This was a game memorable for a 90-second post-match press conference from then Sharks coach Robert du Preez.
The former Springbok scrumhalf was sometimes a short character, but he had every reason to be upset after this game.
A tense quarterfinal at Ellis Park that was badly officiated was settled by a late Ruan Combrinck penalty.
21 July 2018: Crusaders 40-10 Sharks - WATCH
Another unflattering season that saw the Sharks under Du Preez travel to Christchurch to play the Crusaders.
In this season, the Sharks were either sublime or ridiculous, but in this playoff game, they were consummately manhandled by the defending champions.
Despite this, the Sharks held on to Du Preez for just under another year which proved to be tumultuous in every sense of the word.
22 June 2019: Brumbies 38-13 Sharks - WATCH
In a season where the Sharks slipped up at home against the Jaguares (51-17), the Reds (21-14) and the Stormers (16-11), finishing in sixth place was down to the Australian teams simply not being up to the mark while the SA teams were also short of a gallop.
There was one quality Australian team and that was the Brumbies, who dispatched the Sharks with some ease in Canberra.
The Sharks' camp was already showing signs of instability, with Du Preez's overbearing hand tactical inflexibility coming to the fore.
The end of that erroneous era was soon to come to an end.