The next Springboks star has revealed himself on the URC stage as he had a record-breaking performance in round 16.
Zekethelo Siyaya is an 18-year-old fullback who made his debut for the Sharks against the Ospreys on April 18th. Less than a week later, he was breaking a URC record.
Siyaya’s background
Siyaya was starring for Westville Boys’ High last year, while also representing the Sharks U18S,
Earlier this year, he represented the Junior Boks in a game against Georgia U20S, where they defeated the home team 35-0.
He was selected for his URC debut against the Ospreys after a series of injuries to senior players.
Aphelele Fassi, Luan Giliomee, Hakeem Kunene and Jaco Williams all missed the tour of Europe and allowed the youngster to travel for this tour, according to SARugbyMag.
The 18-year-old record breaker
Siyaya continued his run in the Sharks’ starting team when he started against Edinburgh, and he had a game for the history books.
His record for 15 defenders beaten in a single URC game was the most a player has beaten since they began collecting records.
The Sharks lost the game 33-28 against the struggling Edinburgh, but Siyaya was the dominant player in the stats department, and it wasn’t just in defenders beaten.
The youngster also led the game for metres carried, carries and line breaks (joint).
The metres carried stat of 149 metres from 15 carries is outstanding, making essentially 10 metres per carry.
What next for Zekethelo Siyaya?
While a future of watching Zekethelo Siyaya in a green jersey is a strong possibility, it is still a long way off.
The first step for the youngster will be gaining a consistent starting place in the Sharks team.
Once he is able to continue his run of form in that starting jersey, he will be able to move up the rankings in Rassie Erasmus’ depth chart.
