Sharks recall Curwin Bosch for Benetton kicking battle

The desire not to be pinned in their own half for lengthy periods has seen the Sharks recall Curwin Bosch to the starting flyhalf berth for their United Rugby Championship match against Benetton in Treviso on Saturday.

Italian vogue might be extremely exciting for those who consider themselves to be dedicated followers of fashion, but their rugby, apart from 2015 when the national team wore pinstripe shorts, can be dour at times.

Kicking long and deep is a tactic Sharks coach Sean Everitt is fully expecting from their hosts this weekend, and in Bosch he has one of the longest boots in the game to repel the strategy.

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“Benetton have made the fourth-highest kicking metres in the competition so far, so we thought we would go like-for-like,” Everitt said on Thursday.

“Curwin has gone well over the last couple of weeks, and he kicked for poles very well when he came on against the Bulls.

“Our goalkicking accuracy has not been as good as we would have liked and hopefully Curwin can take that away. It’s going to be the same challenge that we faced against Ospreys, who are also in the top five for metres kicked.

“We have to be really smart in how we manage the game. Benetton also rely a lot on their maul, so we have to make sure we’re playing in the right areas.”

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Although Benetton Treviso will be missing their Italy national squad players, they showed in hammering the Bulls in the Rainbow Cup final eight months ago that their no-name-brand team are a lean, mean, fighting machine.

“Benetton are just outside the top eight already and they have run teams close in their five defeats, even when they’ve been under-strength,” Everitt said.

“They won the territory and possession battle last weekend against Glasgow Warriors, but lost the match 13-3. We have learnt lessons from teams like the Bulls and we won’t take them lightly.

“They have still got their overseas players – five of them South African in Irne Herbst and Carl Wegner at lock, Dewald Duvenhage, Andries Coetzee and Rhyno Smith – who are all good players, some of the best in South Africa. We are sure they will come with a lot of emotion and passion, and we’ll have a target on our backs with a lot of Springboks.

“And we expect a lot of local support in the Stadio Monigo. Treviso is a small city, but there is lots of rugby interest. We’re expecting hostile stands.”

Sharks team

Aphelele Fassi, Sbu Nkosi, Lukhanyo Am (c), Marius Louw, Makazole Mapimpi, Curwin Bosch, Jaden Hendrikse, Phepsi Buthelezi, Henco Venter, Siya Kolisi, Gerbrandt Grobler, Ruben van Heerden, Thomas du Toit (v/c), Bongi Mbonambi, Ox Nche.

Bench: Kerron van Vuuren, Ntuthuko Mchunu, Khutha Mchunu, Le Roux Roets, Sikhumbuzo Notshe, Cameron Wright, Tito Bonilla, Werner Kok.