Sharks to unleash highly rated 18-year-old on URC tour
SQUAD ANNOUNCEMENT: Sharks head coach JP Pietersen has revealed his tour squad for their upcoming matches in Wales and Scotland.
The Durban side will face Ospreys in Bridgend before a meeting with Sean Everitt’s Edinburgh a week later.
The squad includes highly rated 18-year-old fullback Zekhethelo Siyaya.
Siyaya helped Westville Boys’ High achieve an unbeaten season in 2025, and he represented the Junior Springboks earlier this year against Georgia.
He has represented the province at Under-16 and U18 level, as well as SA U18, scoring a brace of tries in the country’s defeat of their junior Irish counterparts.
The youngster will have plenty of experience around him on tour in the form of Springboks Makazole Mapimpi, Jaden Hendrikse, Ethan Hooker, Andre Esterhuizen and Edwill van der Merwe.
Meanwhile, the big names in the pack include Siya Kolisi, Ox Nche, Vincent Koch, and Jason Jenkins.
Kolisi makes his welcome return to the team after overcoming a calf niggle in January.
The Sharks are currently 10th in the standings, six points behind ninth-placed Connacht and seven points behind the eighth-placed Bulls.
Players not considered for selection due to injury: Aphelele Fassi, Bongi Mbonambi, Bryce Calvert, Coetzee le Roux, Eben Etzebeth, Francois Venter, Grant Williams, Hakeem Kunene, Jaco Williams, Luan GIliomee, Marvin Orie, Matt Romao, Ruan Dreyer, Simphiwe Matanzima, Thomas Dyer, Trevor Nyakane, Yaw Penxe.
Sharks tour squad:
