It has been a strange season so far for the Hollywoodbets Sharks if you are looking for one player who has stood out above all others across five Vodacom URC games and one EPCR Challenge Cup fixture. For it is two youngsters in the same position that would come to mind.
Luan Giliomee was the undeniable standout when the Sharks started their URC campaign with good wins over the Ospreys and then Leinster at Hollywoodbets Kings Park. Giliomee, just 19 and a Junior Bok, brought his stamp of class to both performances. But as he did so, looming over him was his impending departure for the Vodacom Bulls.
By the time the Sharks headed for Cape Town for their first URC derby of the season, Giliomee had completed his move to the Bulls. In came Zekhethelo Siyaya as the fullback and while that first game was not a good one for the Sharks, mainly because their forwards were dominated, a week later they were up and running with a good win over Lyon in France in the Challenge Cup.
Siyaya has followed up by winning two successive URC man of the match awards, and it was his X-factor moment, in doing all the work for a try eventually dotted down by flyhalf Gianni Lombard, that effectively broke apart what had until that point been an arm-wrestle against Munster at Thomond Park.
The Sharks went on to win 15-3 at a venue that has seldom been kind to South African teams and Siyaya was to feature on several more occasions with telling attacks, one of which would have led to his second try and a bigger Sharks halftime lead as he only just failed to hold onto the ball on the Munster line as he tried to pick up his own kick and it rolled over the dead ball line.
THE ‘D’ KEPT THEM IN THE GAME IN FIRST HALF
The Sharks’ defence was outstanding in the first half. It was good throughout the match, but it was in the first half, when Munster had more momentum than they had later, that the Sharks’ ‘D’ was the difference between the teams.
Later, the slow poison of the Sharks’ good set piece play started to take effect, and the visitors became more physically dominant as the game wore on - something that should now almost be expected of good SA teams.
The difference between the Sharks of the last three games compared to the one that played in Cape Town might come down to this area - the Sharks were on the back foot at forward at the DHL Stadium, and as a consequence the players at the back struggled to get into the game and be impactful.
As it was, the Sharks also did quite well in managing three tries with comparatively minimal 22 entries.
Sharks coach JP Pietersen was predictably effusive about Siyaya afterwards. And so he should be as the recent Westville Boys High matriculant is one of a few youngsters who might not have progressed as quickly as they have had the former Bok wing, who himself profited as a player from an aggressive youth policy, had not taken over as Sharks head coach.
But at the same time, Pietersen acknowledged the core ingredients that set up the platform for a win that ensured the Sharks completed their three match tour unbeaten.
“It was a special win for us tonight. It was the first time we won here as the Sharks in the URC, and with our defensive effort, we didn’t give them one try, it shows what we have been building. We fight for each other. It’s a good mix of guys just getting along, young and old. And in-between. One of our goals is not to just connect with mates, but also make a new connection in the team.
“(Siyaya delivered) a Man of the Match Performance, but it also came down to our pack. It is the pack that gives guys like Siyaya a platform to do what he does. He’s a special kid, unbelievable talent, and is only 19. He’s learning as he’s growing.”
SOMETIMES DOES “CRAZY THINGS”
Pietersen added that it was the nature of a player like Siyaya that because of his extraordinary skill set, he will make mistakes as he develops. But he made it clear that came with the territory.
“Sometimes he will do some crazy things, which is what we like about him,” Pietersen said.
The Sharks’ renaissance that has secured four URC wins in five starts has taken them to fourth on the log, behind Glasgow Warriors, the Vodacom Bulls and the DHL Stormers. The Sharks get their chance to take revenge against the Stormers in their next game, 5 December, which is when the Capetonians visit Kings Park for the return fixture.
Pietersen will hope to have Matt Ramao back for that game. Another recent world championship Junior Bok (2025 version), Ramao has arguably kept pace with Siyaya in being the young Sharks talent making the most impact, but the flanker was withdrawn from the Sharks team for the Munster game before kick-off because of a late injury.
The Sharks go into their November break for the resumption of the international season on a good footing, which is drastically different to what was the case this time last year, when Pietersen’s successor as coach John Plumtree was staring down the barrel after some disturbing defeats.
JP HELPED BY BETTER STRUCTURAL ALIGNMENT
It needs to be noted though that Pietersen had something this time around that Plumtree and the assistants were denied last year - a proper pre-season due to the better alignment between recruitment and the coaches which delivered Pietersen upwards of at least 20 players per training session as opposed to the eight that Plumtree had working with him last September.
While Pietersen deserves a lot of credit for what he has done to instil the right culture, long an issue during a succession of different coaching reigns at the Sharks, the miracle fix may have been the changes made to the structures after last year’s audit - and the arrival as Chief of Staff of Rory Duncan.
Whereas before it felt like the marketing team was leading the Sharks, there is now a better balance, and if the marketers do wonder why there’s great interest in the URC derby matches set for Durban in December, the answer doesn’t really require rocket science - it all comes down to winning.
If you win on the field, then the people pitch. If you don’t win, then it needs to be the sideshows like music concerts that bring your custom.