Siya Kolisi says goodbye with a double

MATCH REPORT: Springbok captain Siya Kolisi said his goodbyes to the Sharks with a man-of-the-match performance against Zebre Parma at Kings Park on Saturday.

Kolisi scored two of his team’s eight tries in a 54-19 win to end a disappointing season for the Durban-based side.

He will be returning to Cape Town to rejoin the Stormers.

Saturday’s win means the Sharks will end the 2025/2026 URC campaign in 10th position.

After a scrappy period of play, there was some quality with ball in hand, and it eventually ended with Jaco Williams going over in the corner in the 14th minute.

However, Zebre showed their own bit of flair, and it all started from a turnover in midfield. After some great work from their outside backs, Malik Faissal went over for the visitors in the 20th minute.

After putting themselves in a prime position in Zebre’s 22, Kolisi found his way to the tryline after a smart line-out move. Vusi Moyo added the extra two points with the conversion.

The Sharks increased their lead a few minutes later when young gun Zekhethelo Siyaya weaved his way through several Zebre defenders to score his team’s third try.

There was a blow for the Italians just before the break, with captain and scrumhalf Alessandro Fusco getting a yellow card for cynical offside play.

Not long after that, Kolisi completed his brace after a powerful driving maul.

At half-time, it was 26-7 to the Sharks.

After sustained pressure inside Zebre’s half, Moyo opened the scoring in the second half when he powered over for a five-pointer in the 48th minute.

Some more patience on attack resulted in Emmanuel Tshituka scoring his team’s sixth try in the 54th minute.

Zebre had something to cheer about in the 63rd minute after Simone Gesi took advantage of some lackadaisical Sharks covering to score a five-pointer from his grubber kick.

However, the Sharks hit back moments later when Andre Esterhuizen ran through Zebre’s defence before feeding the ball to Le Roux Malan, who scored an easy try.

Ross Braude scored another for the home side, while Giovanni Quattrini had the final say for the Italians.

Man of the match: The award goes to Siya Kolisi, who produced an impressive showing in his final game for the Sharks. It included two tries.

The scorers:

For Sharks:
Tries: Williams, Kolisi 2, Siyaya, Moyo, Tshituka, Malan, Braude
Cons: Moyo 5, Smith 2

For Zebre Parma:
Tries: Faissal, Gesi, Quattrini
Cons: Montemauri 2

Yellow card: Alessandro Fusco (Zebre, 40′ – cynical offside)

Teams:

Sharks: 15 Zekhethelo Siyaya, 14 Jaco Williams, 13 Jurenzo Julius, 12 Andre Esterhuizen (captain), 11 Litelihle Bester, 10 Vusi Moyo, 9 Bradley Davids, 8 Nick Hatton, 7 Emmanuel Tshituka, 6 Siya Kolisi, 5 Emile van Heerden, 4 Deon Slabbert, 3 Vincent Koch, 2 Eduan Swart, 1 Ox Nche.
Replacements: 16 Fez Mbatha, 17 Phatu Ganyane, 18 Hanro Jacobs, 19 Thomas Dyer, 20 Matt Romao, 21 Ross Braude, 22 Jean Smith, 23 Le Roux Malan.

Zebre Parma: 15 Mirko Belloni, 14 Malik Faissal, 13 Luca Morisi, 12 Damiano Mazza, 11 Simone Gesi, 10 Giovanni Montemauri, 9 Alessandro Fusco (Captain), 8 Samuele Locatelli, 7 Bautista Stavile, 6 Alessandro Ortombina, 5 Matteo Canali, 4 Franco Carrera, 3 Ion Neculai, 2 Tommaso Di Bartolomeo, 1 Muhamed Hasa.
Replacements: 16 Giovanni Quattrini, 17 Luca Franceschetto, 18 Matteo Nocera, 19 David Odiase, 20 Giampietro Ribaldi, 21 Iacopo Bianchi, 22 Migael Prinsloo, 23 Martin Roger Farias.

Referee: Adam Jones (Wales)
Assistant referees: Griffin Colby (South Africa) and Sean Muller (South Africa)
TMO: Paul Larter (Scotland)