South Africa's hopes of producing their first Super 14 title winner appear to be in the hands of the Coastal Sharks from Durban.
It is, however, not a surprise that they are leading the South African challenge in this year's competition.
Dick Muir's team are currently in second place with 20 points after five matches, three behind the leading Auckland Blues from New Zealand.
The South African side, however, have a game in hand over David Nucifora's team.
The Sharks are the only unbeaten team in this year's southern hemisphere inter-provincial competition having recorded wins over the Northern Bulls, New South Wales Waratahs, Otago Highlanders, Canterbury Crusaders and Central Cheetahs.
Playing as Natal in 1996 -- the first year of the series, then called the Super 12 -- they managed to make the final, losing 45-21 to the Blues, and again reached the semi-finals the following year, again going down to the Blues who went on to win the title.
Renamed the Sharks in 1998 the team from Durban again reached the playoffs, losing narrowly to the Crusaders (36-32), but made the final for a second time in 2001 against the Brumbies.
While the Sharks lost out to the Bulls for a place in the last four because of an inferior points difference last season, the signs were there for big things in 2007.
Muir and former Springbok coach Rudolf Straeuli, now the commercial manager at the Sharks, planned wisely by investing in a number of young academy stars who have emerged on the scene.
Muir used a massive squad during the Currie Cup, often selecting a new-look team from one week to the next, and while he didn't manage to reach the final of the domestic tournament, the Sharks were one of the more clever and industrious sides last year.
The coach, a center in his day, allowed his players the freedom to think for themselves on the field and not necessarily stick to a planned game-plan. Now the hard work is paying off.
The Sharks are a well-balanced squad with Muir able to select from a bunch of experienced campaigners like John Smit, Johan Ackermann, AJ Venter, Butch James and Percy Montgomery.
But there is also a group of youngsters such as Ryan Kankowski, Ruan Pienaar, Waylon Murray, Bard Barritt, JP Pietersen and Frans Steyn who are providing the real spark in the team.
"The forwards and backs have been playing together for a while now and are starting to feed off each other," Muir said.
"Although each acts as an individual unit, there is good interplay between them. We have come of age as a team as we can now leave calls [on the field] to the players," he said.
The one area where the Sharks are still battling to make an impact however is in the try-scoring department. They have yet to earn a bonus point for scoring four or more tries in a match.
With the Super 14 entering the halfway point this weekend, the Sharks are well positioned to again reach the semi-finals.
They still have two homes games to contest -- against the Hurricanes and the Brumbies -- before going overseas to tackle the Western Force, Queensland Reds, Auckland Blues and Waikato Chiefs.
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