Curwin Bosch Sharks flyhalf in URC

Sharks flyhalf Curwin Bosch. Photo: Gallo Images.

Bosch ready to lead Sharks on road to redemption in URC

Curwin Bosch says the Sharks are keen to rectify their past mistakes when they play against the Lions in the URC at Ellis Park on Saturday.

Curwin Bosch Sharks flyhalf in URC

Sharks flyhalf Curwin Bosch. Photo: Gallo Images.

Flyhalf Curwin Bosch says the Sharks are keen to rectify their past mistakes when they come up against the Lions in a crunch URC match at Ellis Park on Saturday.

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The Sharks are currently in eighth position in the United Rugby Championship standings, the last of the available spots for a place in the playoffs.

However, the Sharks were humiliated in their last URC game on 4 February, when they lost 46-19 to the Stormers at Kings Park.

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The 25-year-old Bosch says that performance not to the standard they want to play and the Sharks have hit the ground running in an attempt to avoid a repeat of that display and ultimately outcome.

“To our standard, that performance was not good enough. We obviously had an in-depth review of what went wrong, I think on the day nothing just went our way,” Bosch said.

“We made mistakes we would not usually make and a good team like the Stormers will punish you for those mistakes. They took their opportunities and we couldn’t get back into the game.”

“I think one of the biggest factors that let us down during that game was our discipline. We were always on the back foot because of giving away penalties and so it was very hard to get back into the game.

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SHARKS WILL BE OKAY IN URC SAYS BOSCH

Bosch admitted they learned a lot from the defeat against the Stormers, of which the most important is to get things right wrong the kick off.

“It is really important that we start well at Ellis Park. We are keen to rectify things this weekend. We know what we are capable of and we are going to hit the ground running.”

“We haven’t approached this any different to any other game, we are sticking to our process and want to get on the park and perform well.”

“Training has gone really well and guys are keen to rectify things this weekend and apply all the learnings from the defeat to the Stormers.”

“We know the Lions is a team that always tries to play a little bit of expansive rugby. They are a very good set-piece-based team, scrum is strong, so we have done a little prep on them. But our focus is just to try and execute our plan and if we can do that, we will be okay.”

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As recruitment in sport goes, the Lions have acquired the services of several ex-Sharks players and the majority of those “old boys” will most likely play against their former team and teammates.

Centre Marius Louw, forward Willem Alberts, scrumhalf Sanele Nohamba and lock Emile van Heerden will have previously donned the black Sharks jersey and Bosch says he is looking forward to the reunion.

“It’s strange seeing Marra [Marius Louw] in a different jersey; we started our careers together at the Sharks,” he explained.

“He is a flippin’ great player; he’s tough, hard, and any team will get a high work rate and physicality from him. It’s just a matter of us stopping that, and minimising or taking his space away.”

Bosch added: “We know what to expect from the Lions. They like to play an expansive brand of rugby at home when they have the altitude factor in their favour.

“They have some quality players, and obviously a couple of our old boys who will be playing against us. It’ll be a good physical and set-piece challenge for us.”

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Sharks in URC standings Curwin Bosch
The Sharks are eighth in the URC standings.