The Sharks' silverlining is their youth

There's no doubt: the men from Durban underperformed. The Bok-laden squad was unable to advance past the Round of 16 in the Challenge Cup, or recover from their disastrous start in the URC season and make the playoffs. Eight wins from 18 matches left them tenth on the table, nine points off qualifying.

Of course, there were positives. The Sharks went back-to-back against the in-form Stormers, won nine out of 12 home games and more recently, unearthed many great young talents. For one, teenage sensation Zekethelo Siyaya has stepped his way into many a headline in the last month. The 18-year-old beat 32 defenders in his four URC matches.

Then there's Vusi Moyo, who was solid at flyhalf against Zebre on Saturday, and just 19-years-old. Flanker Matt Romao and flyer Jaco Williams are 20. The powerful Jurenzo Julius lives up to his moniker - the Boogeyman - every match at just 22. Then forwards Nick Hatton and Phatu Ganyane are 23, along with winger Litelihle Bester.

All these players ran out for the Sharks in the last few weeks and impressed in their own way.

"One positive that was great to see is the youngsters putting their hands up," reflected Pietersen.

"It's always a tough decision as to when to blood them in a campaign, but through injuries, it gave these players opportunities to show their worth.

"A guy like Vusi did that today [Saturday]. He was a bit nervous at the start, which is normal as a 19-year-old.

"Even a guy like Jurenzo showed his worth and is more of a senior guy in the team now. The same counts for Jaco, Litelihle and Siyaya, who we have in the backs that impressed this season.

"We also have Matt in the forwards with Nick Hatton and Phatu as a breakthrough player. It's exciting for what we're busy building.

"It's also good for me to work with this squad depth, which is better than last season. We want to come back next season with the mindset of not just competing, but we want to win. That's the challenge to the group."

Zooming out, Pietersen was happy with the pride shown by the players in the last four months, momentum he will take into the 2026/27 season.

"I'd say we showed resilience throughout the season and restored some pride in the jersey since December until now," Pietersen said.

"There was fight in every game. Unfortunately, some results didn't go our way. Some people will see it as disappointment, but I see it as a learning curve. To find your identity, you need to have one.

"We showed today [Saturday] that we can be physical, fast and relentless, and it's part of our identity we want to continue working on next season."

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