OPINION: Siya Masuku joins growing list of quality flyhalves in SA rugby

1 week ago

It has taken just a handful of performances for Siya Masuku to get South African rugby fans excited about what he might offer the Springboks in future.

The 27-year-old has been the talk of the town in recent weeks with his performances at No 10 for the Sharks playing a big part in the better showing in all competitions by the Durban-based team.

There is little doubt Masuku has played well and kicked brilliantly at goal – his performance off the kicking tee this last weekend ensuring the Sharks qualified for the Challenge Cup final – and he is without question someone to keep an eye on.

He is not new on the scene though. Masuku played a bit of rugby for the Lions, Leopards and Kings before finding a home in Bloemfontein with the Cheetahs. He already showed plenty of promise then.

But joining the Sharks earlier this season seems to have done wonders for his game and confidence, and he’s now in a big group of seriously promising flyhalves who’ll all hope to be part of the Springbok setup in the coming years.

Flyhalf depth

Here one thinks of the Lions’ Sanele Nohamba and Jordan Hendrikse, who will be a Sharks player in the coming months (but how he must be questioning his move to Durban), possibly Chris Smith of the Bulls, and still Curwin Bosch, who may find himself third in the No 10 queue in Durban quite soon.

Then there’s still Johan Goosen of the Bulls who’ll have ambitions of playing Test rugby again.

All these players though will have to jump ahead of Handre Pollard and Manie Libbok, who seem to be the established number one and two of the Boks, with Damian Willemse as a third-choice flyhalf. Heck, even some of the World Cup-winning scrumhalves have in the past been talked about as possible flyhalf options in an emergency.

The good news is that South African rugby is currently blessed with a number of quality No 10s, some of them established, others still emerging, and it’ll be interesting to see who coach Rassie Erasmus picks in his squads later this season – either to play now and in the next few years, or whether simply with an eye on the future and beyond the 2027 World Cup.