The Sharks looking forward to Curwin Bosch’s return against the Rebels in Ballarat

18 February 2020 - 15:20 By Khanyiso Tshwaku
subscribe Just R20 for the first month. Support independent journalism by subscribing to our digital news package.
Subscribe now
Curwin Boschis back for the Cell C Sharks.
Curwin Boschis back for the Cell C Sharks.
Image: Joe Allison / www.Photosport.nz

After being brought down to earth with a significant thump by the Hurricanes‚ the Sharks are looking forward to Curwin Bosch’s return at flyhalf for Saturday’s Super Rugby encounter against the Rebels in Ballarat.

Bosch was on compassionate leave for last week’s 38-22 loss against the Hurricanes in Wellington.

Sharks coach Sean Everitt said Bosch would slot straight back into the team.

The Sharks’ casualty list is growing slowly with Boeta Chamberlain on his way back to SA because of concussion.

Makazole Mapimpi has been cleared to play while Lwazi Mvovo has been drafted into the squad.

“Curwin will be good to go and he’ll slot straight in.

"Sanele did a job for us at 10 and he can do a job for us there‚ but he’s more cover than a starting 10‚” Everitt said.

Everitt refused to blame injuries for their first defeat of the season on Saturday.

He felt that they needed to sharpen their defensive structure and lower their error count. The Hurricanes capitalised on mistakes to score their tries.

The Sharks were also robbed of Thomas du Toit before the start of the game because of illness.

“We didn’t speak about the injuries and disruptions that affected the game.

"We’re not going to use that as an excuse but it does have an effect on the team‚ especially when you have to put guys on the bench when they weren’t expecting to play‚” Everitt said.

“The guys showed tremendous fight in that game and apart from four individual errors‚ which are fixable; we were always in the game.

"We made two unforced errors that if they’d gone our way‚ we would have been leading. We paid the price for those‚ but our lineout also malfunctioned. We’ve worked hard over the past two days to rectify that.”

The Rebels manufactured a workmanlike 24-10 win against a poor Waratahs team at a wet Melbourne on Friday.

It was a win they desperately needed after two early reverses against the Sunwolves and the Brumbies.

Everitt said the conservative nature of Dave Wessels’s team makes them a tricky opponent to deal with

“The Rebels are a conservative team and they hold onto the ball really well. When I talk about conservative play‚ they kick quite a bit and they do so very well.

"They’re a difficult team to play against‚ but if the weather holds‚ we’ll continue on what we think the right road is‚” Everitt said.

“We’ve got to be more accurate defensively‚ especially in the back three and we’ve got to put pressure on the breakdown.”


subscribe Just R20 for the first month. Support independent journalism by subscribing to our digital news package.
Subscribe now