The Sharks (known as the Cell C Sharks for sponsorship reasons) are a South Africa rugby union team that participates in the annual Currie Cup tournament. The Sharks are the current representative team of the KwaZulu-Natal Rugby Union and they draw most of their players from the KwaZulu-Natal Province. For most of their history, the team was known simply as 'Natal', with a nickname of 'The Banana Boys' or in Afrikaans, until the mid-1990s when they were re-branded as the Sharks. The team is the third most successful provincial union in the Currie Cup, having won the competition eight times. Natal won its first Currie Cup in 1990, the same year the union celebrated its centenary. Since then the Sharks have won the Currie Cup in 1992, 1995, 1996, 2008, 2010, 2013 and most recently in 2018. The KwaZulu-Natal Rugby Union are the majority owner of the Sharks franchise who compete in the United Rugby Championship. They also play in Durban and represent the province of KwaZulu-Natal. For most of Super Rugby history, the Sharks Super Rugby franchise drew players from a much larger area than the Sharks provincial union, with the rugby unions of Border, based in East London and Eastern Province from Port Elizabeth included in the Sharks franchise. Since 2013 the Southern Kings functions on its own, and no longer supplies players to the Sharks franchise. History Early history The Natal Rugby Union, renamed the KwaZulu-Natal Rugby Union (KZNRU) in 1999 was formed in 1890, but it took 66 years for the union to enjoy its first Currie Cup final. In the interim, the province did produce its fair share of quality players, including Springboks Bill Payn, Wally Clarkson and Philip Nel, who led South Africa on the country's unbeaten tour of Australia and New Zealand in 1937. Whilst the 1920s and 30s saw Natal improve from one of the weakest unions in the Currie Cup to becoming a more competitive mid-table team, the team still struggled against the quality of sides such as Western Province and Transvaal. 1920-1990: The years of pain Natal didn't enjoy any success prior to the 1960s, although legendary coach Izak van Heerden did manage to fashion two unbeaten seasons in ’61 and ’63, when the Currie Cup competition wasn’t held. The 1956 final saw Natal up against Northern Transvaal and even though it was contested at Kingsmead in Durban, 9-8 was