Rugby in KwaZulu-Natal has begun the new year with a hiss and a roar after 2005 ended in tears and bitter recriminations. On the field, Dick Muir has cast a finely meshed net far and wide to find Super 14 talent, and on Friday night he examined the Super 14 credentials of more than 50 players in a series of trials involving the Leopards and the Wildebeest.

Off the field, the Sharks have decided to take the fight to the enemy by taking on Brian van Rooyen in a boardroom battle for the presidency of the South African Rugby Union - the governing body that has not looked kindly on the Sharks in many respects since Sharks President Oregan Hoskins asked the controversial Van Rooyen to stand down from the presidency last year.

And in the Sharks' own boardroom there will be some new but familiar faces, after the founding of the Ex-Sharks Players Association, which will be represented on the Sharks board.

This is a positive move that will be welcomed by all involved in Sharks rugby because it will mean that the valued opinions of former players will have the correct forum in which to make a contribution. In the recent past, when the manure hit the fan after poor on-field results, prominent players aired their sometimes vitriolic views in the media, and relations between administrators and these former players became understandably strained.

The association will be chaired by Tony Watson, one of the greatest Sharks of all time (although in his time he was a banana boy). Joining him on the steering committee will be respected and much-loved old boys Mark Andrews, Errol Stewart, John Allan and Craig Jamieson.

Many of these former players have not been complimentary towards the Sharks administration in public statements, but everyone involved in rugby in this province will be delighted that they are putting their disillusionment behind them to take a positive step forward. A pat on the back, too, to the Sharks hierarchy for opening the door to the new association.

Muir, meanwhile, is not saying too much about last Friday's warm-up matches against the Leopards, which his teams won comfortably. He said that this Saturday's match against the Bulls at Sun City would give him a better indication of his team's shape before the big February 11 kick-off against the Chiefs in Durban. The Sharks have a final warm-up match next Wednesday against the Cats in Rustenburg.

• This article was originally published on page 14 of The Mercury on January 23, 2006