The Sharks' Challenge Cup semifinal win over Clermont wasn't just a triumph for their resolve and their ability to slug it out in tight European contests, but presents them the chance to break with their underachieving past and a shot at launching their brand globally.
Their appointment in the final against Gloucester on May 24 holds much promise.
It is the stated ambition of majority shareholder Marco Masotti to establish the Sharks as an instantly recognisable global sports brand and nothing more than the glow of closely held silverware achieves that object better.
Masotti wants to take his team to new frontiers but first they have to conquer what is in front of them.
They carry the unwanted distinction, and of course this is entirely debatable, of being the best team never to win Super Rugby.
Though the Sharks have grossly underachieved in the United Rugby Championship and will not finish in its top eight, they will qualify for the prestigious Champions Cup should they lift the Challenge Cup at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium later this month.
Winning the final won't just secure them the trophy but will provide proof that they have turned the corner after a hugely trying first half of the season.
As part of Masotti's attempt to shoot for the stars, the Sharks have been in recruitment overdrive over the last few seasons. Victory in the Challenge Cup final in London will come as validation that that strategy is starting to bear fruit.
They have copped much criticism this season and were often reminded that they cannot buy success, or at least not instantly. Siya Kolisi (who has since moved to Racing Metro), Eben Etzebeth, Bongi Mbonambi, Ox Nche, Vincent Koch, Coenie Oosthuizen, Aphiwe Dyantyi and Francois Venter, who arrived in Durban as Springboks didn't come cheap, and it was soon evident that team success was going to be hard-earned.
They had to gel as a team and that process, irrespective of the quality of the individuals, can be painstaking. That they were bottom of the URC points table was at the time hard to explain.
Director of rugby Neil Powell and the coaching team led by John Plumtree haven't yet fully unlocked the Sharks' true potential but there are encouraging signs that they are on the way to doing so.
The Sharks have used the Challenge Cup as their springboard to return to winning ways with their only blemish coming against the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein. Some will argue they've had a relatively easy path to the final having also had to play Section Paloise (Pau), Oyonnax, the Dragons, Zebre, Edinburgh and Clermont but that now matters little. They've played what was in front of them and effectively dealt with it.
Though some of that form has rubbed off in the URC too, it is the Challenge Cup that holds the key to much of the Sharks' future. It can set the Sharks on a bright new path while extinguishing the memories of their underachieving past in cross continental competition. They carry the unwanted distinction, and of course this is entirely debatable, of being the best team never to win Super Rugby. They were hard to beat in the league stages but could not replicate their success in play-off matches.
The Sharks reached eight Super Rugby semifinals and the final in 1996 (as Natal), 2001, 2007 and 2012. To be fair, they often had the unenviable task of travelling across the time zones to New Zealand and Australia to achieve the near impossible.
Going south did not bring them the success they craved but perhaps by turning their gaze north, the Sharks will now have a better shot at glory.
They will truly reach a new frontier with victory in London.
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