Cape Town - Curwin Bosch kicked nine out of nine in the opening match, but it is his tactical kicking that will see him line up at flyhalf for the Junior Springboks in Saturday’s clash against Argentina (7pm kickoff).
Bosch, who started at fullback against Japan in Manchester on Tuesday, helped the Junior Boks out of a first-half rut with his accurate goal-kicking as the South Africans came back from a 19-7 deficit to romp home 59-19 in the end.
The former Grey PE pupil is renowned as much for his playmaking skills as his ability to counter-attack from the back, and he told Independent Media before flying to England that he is equally comfortable at No 10 and No 15.
On Friday, Junior Boks coach Dawie Theron said that the forecast of 75 percent rain for Manchester on Saturday has influenced his decision to move Bosch to the pivot position in place of Manie Libbok – who shifts to fullback – as one of six changes to the match-23 for their second match of the Under-20 Championship.
“Wet weather is predicted for this game, so we tried to beef up the back a bit. Eduard Zandberg was injured earlier in the game, but he is ready now as a number four lock and Cobus Wiese will be on the bench as a loose forward, which we might need in the second half,” Theron said on Friday.
“Curwin Bosch is at 10 as I believe he is the best tactical kicker that we’ve got at the moment, and he’s very good at that. So that is what we need when it’s raining. Manie Libbok played well against Japan at flyhalf, but he will move to fullback and he won’t be uncomfortable there as he’s played there for the Bulls.
“Franco Naude (in place of JT Jackson at No 12) is a strong and direct runner in midfield. You can’t move it too wide too quickly, especially in the rain, and the way we played in the second half against Japan is how we would like to do it.”
There are two new props on Carlü Sadie and Franco van den Berg, while prop Nicolaas Oosthuizen, scrumhalf Marco Jansen van Vuren and wing Edwill van der Merwe are on the bench for the first time.
Theron will hope that his team can avoid another nightmare first half against Argentina after Japan scored three quick tries before halftime. The Junior Boks hit back after the break with three of their own to kill off any hopes of an upset, with flank and Man-of-the-Match Zain Davids and captain and centre Jeremy Ward scoring two tries apiece.
“Argentina are a disruptive team by nature, as we have seen over the last few years and also in their opening victory over France,” Theron said. “They are particularly tenacious on the ground and they like to get in behind teams and offload.”
Junior Springbok Team
15 Manie Libbok, 14 S’busiso Nkosi, 13 Jeremy Ward (captain), 12 Franco Naude, 11 Mosolwa Mafuma, 10 Curwin Bosch, 9 James Hall, 8 Junior Pokomela, 7 Ernst van Rhyn, 6 Zain Davids, 5 Eli Snyman, 4 Eduard Zandberg, 3 Carlü Sadie, 2 Tango Balekile, 1 Franco van den Berg.
Bench:16 Jan-Henning Campher, 17 Nicolaas Oosthuizen, 18 Jaco Holtzhausen, 19 Ruben de Villiers, 20 Cobus Wiese, 21 Marco van Vuren, 22 JT Jackson, 23 Edwill van der Merwe.
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