High-flying youngster gets his first start

Ken Borland

Sharks coach Robert du Preez sprang a surprise yesterday in naming his team for their Currie Cup match against the Pumas in Durban tomorrow night, giving Aphelele Fassi (right), a top-class 20-year-old talent, a first start.

Fassi has made such a sensational start to his Currie Cup career, coming off the bench against the Blue Bulls and the Free State Cheetahs, that his elevation to the starting line-up has not come as a surprise.

What was unexpected, however, was that the Dale College prod- uct would be replacing Curwin Bosch at fullback.

It’s been a dramatic fall from grace for Bosch, who is still considered a part of the Springboks’ plans for next year’s World Cup, having been a member of the national squad for the series against England just a couple of months ago.

Du Preez has not entirely jettisoned the 21-year-old, however, naming him on the bench for the Pumas clash, alongside returning Springbok hooker Akker van der Merwe and flank Wian Vosloo, who has ceded the No 6 jersey to Luke Stringer in the only other change to the starting line-up that made a meal out of beating the Cheetahs last weekend.

Bosch’s axing is probably as a consequence of his perennial bugbear – defence.

He was exposed so badly in the last line of defence against Free State last weekend in Bloemfontein that Du Preez inflicted the embarrassment of hauling the Springbok off at halftime.

It’s a distressing situation all round, but the mystery remains why a player of Bosch’s phenomenal talent cannot seem to get himself up to a reasonable level of defensive prowess and Du Preez is clearly losing patience with the highly-rated player who was capped for SA Schools in 2014 and 2015, and played for the SA Under-20s in both 2016 and 2017.