DURBAN - Sharks coach Sean Everitt has urged Curwin Bosch to bounce back from the disappointment of exclusion from the Springbok squad with a strong performance this evening against the Bulls in the big Rainbow Cup finale at the Shark Tank.
And tonight Bosch will up against veteran Morne Steyn, who got the nod ahead of Bosch in the 46-man Bok squad which also includes World Cup flyhalves Handre Pollard and Elron Jantjies.
Bosch is 14 years younger than Steyn, but is already into his fifth year of playing senior rugby for the Sharks, the union he joined straight out of school at Grey High in Port Elizabeth.
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Four years ago, in 2017, Bosch was capped twice for the Boks, but has known only disappointment on the national front ever since.
“Curwin is unfortunate. He has consistently won games for us,” Everitt said. “He has been through this before (not being picked) and the challenge again for him is how he bounces back.
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“We spoke about it early this week and I said to him ‘you can crawl into a hole and see yourself as a victim, or you can come out and put your hand up because the (Lions) tour hasn't even started yet.’
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“There could yet be an opportunity for him during the Lions series to get a call-up, so it's important for him to produce form week in and week out and keep putting pressure on Rassie (Erasmus) and Jacques (Nienaber).”
Bosch was a schoolboy prodigy, playing two years of SA Schools rugby (2014-2015), and he followed this up with two years in the SA Under-20 team (2016-2017). He is already just six caps short of the 100 milestone for the Sharks (in all competitions), so is vastly experienced for a 23-year-old, and he will be desperate to kick on and make it on the international stage.
IOL Sport