RUGBY NEWS - The ongoing frustration of Cell C Sharks fans towards coach Robert du Preez’s apparent blind-spot towards his son Robert and rival flyhalf Curwin Bosch would have reached breaking point with the latest team selection.
Replacing Bosch, who has been in good form every week since he was first selected as the starting flyhalf five matches ago, at pivot and moving him to fullback for the promising Aphelele Fassi during the second half was bad enough for many. It happened each week, and well though Bosch has played, he has yet to complete a whole 80 minutes in the flyhalf position.
In the latest game, Fassi, who had played well and was again one of the X-factor players in a Sharks game that has often been deemed way too predictable under Du Preez’s coaching, was pulled off after dropping a ball in the 54th minute. It was his first mistake, and it would surely have undermined his confidence to be hauled off at that point.
This week Fassi isn’t even in the starting team for Saturday’s crucial all-or-nothing clash with the Jaguares in Buenos Aires. He will be on the bench because Bosch has been moved back to fullback to accommodate the return of Robert junior as the starting flyhalf.
The selection might make sense on a rotational basis if Bosch had played all the games this season at No 10. But he hasn’t. Du Preez has still played far more games in the No 10 than Bosch has, and in comparison to the younger player, he has offered little.
The selection might also make sense if Bosch had been playing poorly. He hasn’t been. Many have credited the Sharks’ mini turn-around on the overseas tour to the more dynamic front that Bosch brings to the Sharks’ game. Most can see that, but unfortunately Du Preez senior doesn’t seem to.
This selection also might make sense if you argued that it was a less important game against inferior opposition and you needed to give the other player a chance to start so he could get game time as insurance against the possibility that injury could force him to play a role later in the competition. A policy by the way that was never exercised when Du Preez was seen as the permanent starting flyhalf.
