The Sharks coach, John Plumtree, has lauded the impact of Siya Masuku, following his outing against the Stormers in the United Rugby Championship on the weekend.

The former Toyota Cheetahs flyhalf came on as a substitute in the second half at Kings’ Park and made an immediate impact at his new team and the fought back to lose 25-21.

The 27-year-old may well have done enough to earn the starting role for the Sharks when they face the Lions in Johannesburg next.

Curwin Bosch has been blowing hot-and-cold for quite some time now and Masuku just proved why he was so highly valued at the Cheetahs during his brief stay in Bloemfontein.

Masuku reads the game very well and has an outstanding kicking game. He has a deceptive turn of speed and he in also a really good inside centre. In defence his solid, especially in that 10-12 channel and this is an asset for any team. In addition his kicking off the tee is right up there where it should be.

Plumtree said Masuku will just get better going forward especially having the former Cheetahs captain and Springbok, Francois Venter, playing alongside him.

“When Siya came to us, his conditioning was really poor, and he came from a really average base,” said Plumtree.

“He’s worked really hard and you can see he's got a bit around his game and a really long kicking game.

“His challenge is to learn how to run the game with a guy like Francois Venter alongside him, who is really clever tactically and it can help him.”

It has to be said that when Masuku left the Cheetahs he had only just returned from an injury which also led to him falling out of favour in the starting role.

The URC takes another break this week for the third round of the Six Nations.

Morgan Piek OFM Sport