Sharks name 28 players for three-match tour opening at Lyon
The Sharks open their Challenge Cup campaign at Lyon on Saturday 17 October, at 13:00 in Brazzaville. Pietersen has named 28 players for three matches; the 23 for Saturday will be chosen from this group.
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File photo: Grant Williams and Thomas du Toit with the Sharks in Parma, on 23 September 2022. This photo does not show the squad selected for Lyon in 2026. Stefano Delfrate / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0. Margins and SNA logo added; adapted under the same licence.
The Sharks are preparing for their trip to Lyon without all of their South African internationals. To begin a three-match tour, JP Pietersen has named 28 players, while several Springboks are on mandatory rest. The trip to LOU on Saturday 17 October 2026 at 13:00 Brazzaville time opens their Challenge Cup campaign, ahead of two United Rugby Championship fixtures.
A touring squad, not yet the match-day team sheet
The published list contains 17 forwards and 11 backs. These are the players taken on the trip; it is neither a starting XV nor Saturday's replacements bench. Pietersen must pick his team for Lyon from within this group. The distinction matters particularly when squads are being rotated: being selected for three away games does not guarantee playing in the first.
Jordan Hendrikse and Gianni Lombard are among the backs, along with Jaden Hendrikse and Jurenzo Julius, among others. In the pack, Vincent Koch, Jason Jenkins and Vincent Tshituka are also included. The group therefore blends internationals with other players who can use this run of games to gain more playing time.
Lyon first, then a change of competition
Saturday's fixture is played at the Matmut Stadium de Gerland. It is the first pool match of the Challenge Cup, Europe's second-tier club competition, and not a United Rugby Championship round. The Sharks won it in 2024; Lyon had lifted the trophy in 2022.
The tour then continues in Wales, against Cardiff on 23 October, before moving on to Ireland to face Munster on 31 October. Both of those games count towards the United Rugby Championship, the league in which the Durban franchise normally competes. The three matches are therefore part of the same tour, but their results will not feed into the same table.
Reinforcements will arrive as the tour goes on
The club plans to send reinforcements during the tour, notably from among its resting Springboks. No individual return has yet been announced for Cardiff or Munster.
In Lyon, the first point of reference will be the make-up of the 23, before we see how this group launches the European campaign.