Curwin Bosch will start at flyhalf for the first time in the Vodacom United Rugby Championship and Sharks coach Sean Everitt hopes he can use his booming boot to dominate Saturday’s match against Benetton.
Bosch was heavily linked with a move away from the Sharks after playing time in his favoured No 10 jersey dried up in the URC. Boeta Chamberlain, who has come through the Sharks’ junior ranks, and newly-recruited Argentinian Tito Bonilla were both tried at flyhalf, with mixed results.
There was talk that Bosch was on the verge of signing for English side Bath, but he has remained in Durban and fought for his place. He recently made his return from injury in the Currie Cup and looked like he had rediscovered some of his verve in the coastal derby against Western Province in Durban.
That performance earned him a recall to the URC squad and he came off the bench against the Vodacom Bulls to help the Sharks close out a win at Loftus Versfeld.
Speaking to the media during a press conference on Thursday, Everitt says Bosch’s boot will be valuable in what he expects to develop into a kicking battle in Treviso.
“Curwin’s done well in the last few weeks and, as we saw when he came on against the Bulls, he kicked well for poles,” said Everitt.
“The challenge coming towards us is that Benetton have the fourth most kicking metres in the competition, so it makes sense to go like-for-like and that’s why Curwin gets a run.
“We haven’t been as good as we would have liked with the accuracy of our goal-kicking. Hopefully, Curwin will take that challenge away.”
Italian side Benetton last year stunned the Bulls in the PRO14 Rainbow Cup final after Jake White’s team had dominated the South African leg of the tournament and were coming a Currie Cup title win.
Everitt said there will be no such complacency from the Sharks.
“One of our goals is to finish in the top eight, and if we win this game with a bonus point, we could jump a few notches from ninth. Benetton are in the top eight and have run some top teams close.
“The kicking game challenge that we’ll face is the same as what Ospreys gave us in Wales. The Ospreys are also in the top five for metres kicked. You’ve got to be very smart in how you manage the game.
“Benetton rely a lot on their maul as a source of possession and to attack from. Playing in the right areas of the field is vitally important. Curwin will certainly play a major role in that.”
Photo: Muzi Ntombela/BackpagePix
