Another Siya off to the Sharks
TRANSFER NEWS: The Sharks will be sporting two Siya’s with the news that Cheetahs flyhalf Siya Masuku will make the move to Durban at the end of the season.
The 26-year-old has signed a two year deal with the Sharks and will join them in November. He will face the Sharks in the Currie Cup at flyhalf this weekend when the Cheetahs host the Durbanites in Bloemfontein on Friday.
The departure of Masuku will leave the Cheetahs in a predicament as veterans Frans Steyn, forced due to injury, as well as captain Ruan Pienaar are rumoured to announce their retirement at the end of the season.
Masuku is a cool-headed accurate goal-kicker that can bring vital relief for the Sharks, who are in need of a quality back-up at ten. They have used Lionel Cronje and Fred Zeilinga in the Currie Cup while Curwin Bosch is first choice at flyhalf in the URC. Boeta Chamberlain has been standing in at fullback.
Masuku’s career started with the Pumas as a junior in 2014 representing them at the annual Craven Week for Under 18 in Mpumalanga. After school at Piet Retief High School in Mpumalanga, he played for four provinces – Lions (2015-’18) in Johannesburg, Leopards (2018-’19) in Potchefstroom, the Southern Kings (2019-’20) in Port Elizabeth, before settling in Bloemfontein towards the middle of 2021.
Coach Hawies Fourie was full of praise for Masuku ahead of their Currie Cup clash with the Sharks.
“Siya is important in our kicking game especially because he can kick quite a distance. When we lost Frans (Steyn), we lost a big part of our kicking game. Siya has more distance than Reinhardt (Fortuin), who played well at ten, but I moved him to centre at the end of last year.”
The Cheetahs also confirmed that prop Conraad van Heerden (Beertjie) has signed a deal with the Lions and will make a move up north at the end of June.
Meanwhile they have also lost the services of another prop with the announcement that Marne Coetzee has been forced to retire due to a serious neck injury.
The 29-year-old tighthead joined the Cheetahs towards the end of 2021, making his debut for the Bloemfontein side on 26 November 2021 in the Toyota Challenge Series against Romania’s Baia Mare at the Toyota Stadium, Bloemfontein.
He became an important cog in the Cheetah machine, playing in eleven of the thirteen Currie Cup matches in 2022.
The Cheetahs are joint-top of the Currie Cup standings with the Pumas having won five of their six matches so far. Both teams are on 25 points.
