- Curwin Bosch made a confident return to the field in the flyhalf’s first URC outing when the Sharks beat the Ospreys at Kings Park on Friday.
- Bosch suffered a hand fracture in pre-season that kept him out for eight weeks, missing the start of the URC.
- The flyhalf had confidence peaks and troughs under former coach Sean Everitt but signs of a revival under Neil Powell were evident.
Curwin Bosch, a player with still enormous unfulfilled promise, made a confident return to the field in the flyhalf’s first United Rugby Championship (URC) outing when the Sharks beat the Ospreys 25-10 at Kings Park on Friday.
Bosch scored 15 of his side’s points, including a crucial try that took the match away from the Welsh, and generally dictated terms, putting the Sharks in better positions to play.
It was a stark contrast to the scattergun performance his deputy Boeta Chamberlain, who moved to fullback, displayed at flyhalf when the Sharks lost 35-0 to Cardiff last weekend, a result that shook the franchise to its core and claimed head coach Sean Everitt’s head.
If the Sharks are to revive their uncertain and inconsistent start to the URC and mount a European Champions Cup challenge, they’ll need Bosch at his confident best.
"You could see that Curwin hadn’t played in a while – maybe a little bit rusty in the first half," director of rugby Neil Powell said.
"But he also got his confidence as the match went on and I think it showed when he tried that penalty goal from inside his half in the second half.
"It’s great to have Curwin back. It’s his first game back after a long injury.
"I think he can build on that performance and hopefully get into firing on all cylinders when we come back next weekend."
Under departed coach Everitt, Bosch had periods when he was so good that a Springbok recall looked a certainty and times when you wondered where his confidence had gone.
In 2020, before Covid curtained the Super Rugby season, Bosch was at his sensational best, as he was when the Sharks made the first of two Currie Cup finals in 2021, where they lost to the Bulls at Loftus.
That first final loss in January that year seemed a particular turning point that saw Bosch battle to recapture the form that had many calling for his inclusion in the Springboks’ British & Irish Lions series squad.
His form dipped so badly thereafter that there were reports that, once he’d lost his place to Chamberlain and the Sharks started recruiting more pivots, Bosch could be out the door at the end of last year.
Sharks CEO Eduard Coetzee admitted they felt pressure to "dump" Bosch after poor performances but they stuck with the 25-year-old, who remained in Durban and rebuilt his reputation.
"During the season, there were a lot of cries to dump him, cancel his contract, but he is an unbelievable human being and he is incredibly talented," said Coetzee earlier this year.
It will be intriguing to see if Powell, who is now both head coach and director of rugby, will get a tune out of the former Grey High School prodigy.