Sharks captain Pat Lambie says the players would prefer a Super Rugby tournament that sees the 18 teams play each other once during the regular season.

Sanzar's complicated new format has been heavily critisised on social media, with many simply unable to understand it.

The Sharks will be in the Africa 2 conference along with the Lions, Kings and Jaguars, and won't face any Australian teams during the league stage.

'I think if you ask a lot of players who have had a few Super Rugby seasons under their belt, if they could have it their way they would want to play every team once,' said Lambie.

The one positive of the new format is South African sides will only tour for a maximum of three weeks at a time.

The Sharks play the Blues, Highlanders and Chiefs in New Zealand between 15 and 29 April, return to South Africa for a week and then travel to Argentina to meet the Jaguars.

'That might be our toughest stretch of Super Rugby this year,' admitted Lambie.

VIDEO: How new Super Rugby format works

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