Powell happy as Sharks welcome back Curwin Bosch at flyhalf for Ospreys

Sharks director of rugby Neil Powell hopes Curwin Bosch's return at flyhalf will better their game as they seek to bounce back against the Ospreys on Friday.

The Sharks host the Welsh outfit in a United Rugby Championship (URC) match at Durban's Kings Park Stadium (7.10pm).

The men from the Zulu kingdom are hoping to end what has been a tough week that saw head coach Sean Everitt sacked after the team's 35-0 defeat to Cardiff at the weekend.

Against the Ospreys, Bosch will make his first appearance of the season, starting at 10 as Boeta Chamberlain moves to fullback.

Bosch, who has a lot to live up to, missed the Sharks’ six opening fixtures due to injury.

The pivot was one of the players criticised after the franchise's underwhelming run last season.

“Curwin has been training with us fully for two weeks now and the protocol for us is that players who are coming back from injuries need to get through one full training week,” Powell said.

“He has been in his second week and has really done well.

“I think what we are looking for from Curwin is to manage the game better from a kicking perspective.

“He needs to make sure we play in the opposition half and that was mainly why we selected Curwin, to get on top of Ospreys in terms of our kicking game and how we manage the game.”

Powell has warned his players not to underestimate the Ospreys, who are having one of their worst seasons.

The men from Wales have just one win from eight outings this season and are third from the foot of the table.

“There’s no easy game out there. I think we realised that with Cardiff, we can’t just pitch up and run off to the field and think that things will just happen for us,” Powell said.

“I think that’s where we get to act on the words spoken this week. We have let ourselves down with our efforts and actions on the field. We definitely need to make a step up.

“The message to the players for the whole week has been that we are looking for the players who are going to make it happen because it’s not going to just happen.”

Sharks Team: 15 Boeta Chamberlain, 14 Marnus Potgieter, 13 Francois Venter, 12 Ben Tapuai, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Curwin Bosch, 9 Jaden Hendrikse, 8 Phepsi Buthelezi (captain), 7 Jeandre Labuschagne, 6 Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 5 Gerbrandt Grobler,  4 Vincent Tshituka, 3 Carlu Sadie, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Ox Nche.

Substitutes: 16 Dan Jooste, 17 Ntuthuko Mchunu, 18 Khutha Mchunu, 19 Hyron Andrews, 20 James Venter, 21 Grant Williams, 22 Nevaldo Fleurs, 23 Rohan Janse van Rensburg.