Chiefs’ Shabalala lands major deal ahead of new season

Kaizer Chiefs and Bafana rising star Mduduzi Shabalala has joined the PUMA South Africa football family and features in the campaign for the new PUMA ULTRA 7 football boot.

The 22-year-old attacking midfielder, who made his Bafana debut in October 2025, joins a glittering PUMA football lineup which includes Teboho Mokoena, Themba Zwane, Iqraam Rayners, Bathusi Aubaas, Malibongwe Khoza, Patrick Maswanganyi, Thapelo Morena, Sailor Mudau, and Mfundo Vilakazi.

“Mdu’s performances last season were impressive, and we believe that we are signing a player that will be at the forefront of SA football for many years to come, and who will drive on-pitch visibility of our ULTRA football boots,” said PUMA SA’s Tshepo Mashishi.

“He is a player that has the talent to be a part of the SA national team and become one of the leaders when we are back on the world stage at the 2030 World Cup.” sweetbonan.org

Mdu delighted to join PUMA

Shabalala is excited to join the PUMA football family. “My decision was based on how well PUMA’s values, vision, and commitment to athletes align with my own goals and journey as a footballer. I push myself every day to improve, compete at the highest level, and make an impact on and off the pitch. I believe my ambition, work ethic, and passion for the game align perfectly with the brand.”

Looking forward to the new season, he said: “I want to improve my consistency, contribute more goals and assists, and continue developing all aspects of my game to help the team succeed.”

Shabalala will open the new season playing in the new PUMA ULTRA 7. “It’s lightweight, comfortable, and built for speed, which suits my style of play perfectly,” commented Shabalala.

Chiefs will kick off their 2026/2027 Betway Premiership season with an away match against newly-promoted Kruger United at Mbombela Stadium on 1 August.

The Springboks have made a promising start to the 2026 internation season, wining all four games they have played so far.

They beat the Barbarians 80-31 in a friendly season-opener towards the end of June and then won all three Nations Championship matches this month – against England (45-21), Scotland (42-28) and Wales (43-0).

Ahead of the one-off away Test against Argentina in Buenos Aires on 8 August and the four Test series against the All Blacks in August and September, here are five things we’ve learned about the Boks so far this season.

Unreal depth in all positions

Coach Rassie Erasmus has built quality depth across his squad, giving a number of players a chance to show what they can do. If you factor in the men who played for the SA A team against Zimbabwe, Erasmus has had a good look at several men over the four matches.

In some positions the Boks are four players deep. Erasmus also picked four different teams this season, and no matter who started or played off the bench, the Boks still won well.

The find of the season so far is flanker Paul de Villiers, but U20 stars Vusi Moyo and Jaco Williams also got their shots, as did several fringe men who grabbed their chance.

No Kolisi, Etzebeth and Sacha, no problem

Continuing on from the above point, it is quite scary to think the Boks beat all-comers to South Africa over the last month without the likes of Siya Kolisi, Eben Etzebeth and Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu in the mix. They were injured.

But, there are more … Lood de Jager didn’t play, neither did RG Snyman, Bongi Mbonambi, Jean Kleyn, Jaden Hendrikse and Morné van den Berg. Ethan Hooker only played for a few minutes, as did Canan Moodie.

Despite missing all these players, the Boks were pretty okay. But, the good news is, many of them will be back in action soon.

Veteran World Cup winners still tops

There was a time after the 2023 World Cup when questions were asked about the longevity of several of the older double cup winners, such as Kolisi, Etzebeth, De Jager, Mbonambi, Jesse Kriel, Damian de Allende, Handré Pollard and Franco Mostert. Well, as we’ve seen, most of them are still going strong.

And with many of them injured and not playing currently they’ve added years to their careers so it’s all worked out pretty well for Erasmus and Co.

The only vets who’ve given up or aren’t really in the picture anymore include Willie le Roux, Faf de Klerk, Duane Vemeulen, Frans Malherbe, Vincent Koch, Trevor Nyakane and Steven Kitshoff.

Boks have yet to be properly tested

The Boks have won all the matches they’ve played this year without too much of a fuss. They easily got the better of the Barbarians and were never really troubled by England. Wales hardly fired a shot, while Scotland were the toughest team to face and asked a few questions, but there was never really any doubt the Boks would win.

So, we don’t quite know how they’ll respond under real pressure, or when behind on the scoreboard.

Not once were they forced into considering kicking a penalty or two to keep the scoreboard ticking over.

And we don’t know how that chosen kicker would respond. This season Cheslin Kolbe, Quan Horn, Pollard, Moyo and Manie Libbok have handled the goal kicks.

Basic Boks, so what’s Rassie hiding?

While the Nations Championship competition is new and pretty cool and something the Boks would like to win, the Greatest Rivalry series is really what matters this season.

Up to now, the Boks have played solid, decent rugby. Their set-pieces have generally been good, they’ve contested well at the breakdowns and their attacking play has been encouraging. Defensively they’ve not been too bad, though they have leaked some tries.

It’s been standard fare though. There have been no gimmicks or wild experiments, or something out of the ordinary, like we’ve seen before at times, so it almost feels un-Rassie like.

Is he then perhaps holding something back for the Tests against the All Blacks? I wouldn’t be at all surprised.

Strong performances by several young Lions players in their Currie Cup opener against the Cheetahs, together with the return of eight Junior Springboks from their successful U20 World Championship campaign, will make the side a threat for the rest of the tournament and in the years to come, according to coach Mziwakhe Nkosi.

The Johannesburg side kicked off the tournament with a narrow 29-27 defeat to the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein at the weekend.

Last year’s finalists were greatly outmatched in experience, featuring 13 debutants and 11 U23 players against the likes of Springbok scrumhalf Faf de Klerk and regular Cheetahs stalwarts.

Still, they remained in touch with the hosts throughout the game and a losing bonus point plus another for scoring four tries left the Lions sixth out of eight on the table.

Young Lions shine

A hat-trick by outside centre Likhona Finca would have made the youngster an immediate hero if Cheetahs flyhalf Jaco van der Walt – a former Scotland international – hadn’t scored a late penalty for the win.

Now eight Junior Springboks, including another prolific centre, Ethan Adams, return from Georgia after defending their World U20 title.

They will likely be rested against the Pumas this weekend – a side also on two points after a narrow defeat to the Sharks – before joining the Lions fold over the following weeks.

“We came here with a young team but that has a bit of cohesion and did really well at U23 level,” said Nkosi.

“I think Victor Sekekete has more caps than our whole team combined. We were in the game for the most part and did well to take the lead.

“Ill-discipline challenged us in the first half. Tactically, our lineout didn’t function in the first half. So that was a cause for concern.

“But after one or two changes in the second half it made a real difference.”

Solid effort

The Lions coach said his side were gutted with not winning. But the two points weren’t too shabby considering the test his young side faced away from home.

He praised Finca for his tries, fullback Latica Nela for his score, and Matthew Coetzee for making an impact off the bench.

“It bodes really well for us if we make it count,” he added of the SA U20s.

“Hopefully, they make it back unscathed. It looked like they were in the wars. No doubt we’ll see one or two of them in the next seven or eight weeks.