Curwin Bosch’s confident return shows signs of Sharks prodigy’s revival under Neil Powell | Sport

Curwin Bosch. (Photo by Steve Haag/Gallo Images)

• 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.

READ | Moodie, Arendse combine to spark thumping Bulls win as Cardiff crash down to earth

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.

READ | Sharks rickshaw across the line but boss Powell happy with Ospreys win after ‘tough’ week

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.