Curwin Dominique Bosch (born 25 June 1997) is a South African professional
rugby union
Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...
player for the in the
United Rugby Championship
The United Rugby Championship (URC) is an annual rugby union competition involving professional teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales. The current name was adopted in 2021 when the league expanded to include four South Afr ...
and in the
Currie Cup
The Currie Cup is South Africa's premier domestic rugby union competition, played each winter and spring (June to October), featuring teams representing either entire provinces or substantial regions within provinces. Although it is the premier ...
.
He can play as a fly-half or a fullback.
Rugby career
2010–15: Schoolboy rugby
Bosch was born in
Port Elizabeth and attended
Grey High School
Grey High School is a semi-private English speaking high school (grades 8 - 12) for boys situated in the suburb of Mill Park in Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is one of the top sporting schools in the country, ...
.
His first-team debut was at the age of 16 against
Paul Roos Gymnasium
Paul Roos Gymnasium is a public, dual medium (Afrikaans & English) high school for boys in the town of Stellenbosch, Western Cape, South Africa, and opened on the 1st of March 1866 as Stellenbosch Gymnasium. It is the 12th oldest school in the c ...
.
Bosch was selected on several occasions to represent
Eastern Province at youth rugby tournaments.
His first being in 2010, when he played at the Under-13 Craven Week tournament held in
Graaff-Reinet
Graaff-Reinet is a town in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. It is the oldest town in the province. It is also the sixth-oldest town in South Africa, after Cape Town, Stellenbosch, Simon's Town, Paarl and Swellendam. The town was the ...
, scoring a penalty in their win over Boland.
In 2013, he made three starts for Eastern Province at the Under-16 Grant Khomo Week held in
Vanderbijlpark
Vanderbijlpark is an industrial town with approximately 95 000 inhabitants, situated on the Vaal River in the south of Gauteng province, South Africa. The city is named after Hendrik van der Bijl, an electrical engineer and industrialist.
Va ...
, which included a match that saw him score a try and five points with the boot against
Western Province
Western Province or West Province may refer to:
* Western Province, Cameroon
*Western Province, Rwanda
*Western Province (Kenya)
*Western Province (Papua New Guinea)
*Western Province (Solomon Islands)
*Western Province, Sri Lanka
*Western Provin ...
.
Bosch appeared at the premier rugby union competition at schoolboy level in South Africa, the Under-18
Craven Week
The Craven Week is an annual rugby union tournament organised for schoolboys in the Republic of South Africa. The tournament started in July 1964, and is named after the legendary Springbok rugby union player and coach Dr Danie Craven.
The to ...
, in 2014. He started the tournament in
Middelburg Middelburg may refer to:
Places and jurisdictions Europe
* Middelburg, Zeeland, the capital city of the province of Zeeland, southwestern Netherlands
** Roman Catholic Diocese of Middelburg, a former Catholic diocese with its see in the Zeeland ...
by scoring 21 of his team's points in a 26–25 victory in their opening match
before helping his team beat Free State
and SWD in the final match of the tournament
to be crowned unofficial champions. After the tournament, Bosch was included in a
South Africa Schools team to play in the Under-18 International Series against their counterparts from
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
,
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...
and
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
.
He played in all three matches – starting the first and last matches – and kicked 15 points throughout the series to help his side to two wins in their three matches.
Still at school in 2015, Bosch represented Eastern Province at the Craven Week for a second time. A 21-point points tally form Bosch in their first match against SWD in a repeat of the 2014 main match
was followed by 13 points in their 23–22 victory over KwaZulu-Natal in their second match to qualify for a second successive final.
However, Bosch failed to help his side to back-to-back wins, as Western Province beat them 95–0 in a very one-sided final.
Bosch was once again noticed by the South African Schools selectors as he earned another selection in the squad for the 2015 International Series.
He kicked a total of 42 points in the three matches – ten penalties and six conversions
– in victories over Wales,
France
and England.
2016: Sharks
Bosch moved to
Durban
Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...
to join the academy for the 2016 season.
His first action of the season came for the Sharks-affiliated university side in the
2016 Varsity Shield.
He made four appearances for the team, scoring one try in a 63–30 victory over
and 19 points with the boot as his side finished level at the top of the log with
(although a subsequent points deduction saw them demoted to third).
In March 2016, Bosch was included in a
South Africa Under-20 training squad,
also making the cut for a reduced provisional squad named a week later.
In between training with the team, he returned to the Sharks to make a single appearance for a in the
2016 Currie Cup qualification
The 2016 Currie Cup qualification series was a South African rugby union competition organised by the South African Rugby Union which was played between 9 April and 23 July 2016. It featured all fourteen South African provincial unions plus the f ...
series, making his first class debut in a 48–18 victory over
Namibia
Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...
n side the . He came on as a replacement shortly after half-time and took just half an hour to score his first try in first class rugby, scoring the Sharks' sixth try in the 73rd minute.
On 10 May 2016, Bosch was included in the final South Africa Under-20 squad for the
2016 World Rugby Under 20 Championship
The 2016 World Rugby Under 20 Championship was the ninth annual international rugby union competition for Under 20 national teams. The event was organised in England by rugby's governing body, World Rugby. Twelve nations took part in the tournamen ...
tournament to be held in
Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
.
He started their opening match in Pool C of the tournament in the fullback position as South Africa came from behind to beat
Japan 59–19, with Bosch successfully converting all eight of South Africa's tries and also kicking one penalty.
He switched positions with fly-half
Manie Libbok for their next pool match as South Africa were beaten 13–19 by
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
, with Bosch scoring eight of his team's points.
He reverted to fullback for their final pool match, scoring a try and kicking 15 points as South Africa bounced back to secure a 40-31 bonus-point victory over
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
to secure a semi-final place as the best runner-up in the competition. He also started the semi-final, as South Africa faced three-time champions
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
. Despite Bosch scoring his second try of the competition and kicking seven points, the hosts proved too strong for South Africa, knocking them out of the competition with a 39–17 victory.
His final appearance at the tournament was against
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
in the third-place play-off match, and Bosch kicked two conversions as Argentina beat South Africa – as they did in the pool stages – convincingly winning 49–19
and in the process condemning South Africa to fourth place in the competition. As the main kicker for the team, Bosch was the top scorer for his team with 63 points.
Shortly after returning to South Africa, Bosch was included in the
Super Rugby squad for their
Round Sixteen match against the .
2017-2018
Bosch has been a regular starter for the Sharks since 2017, being called up for South Africa's international team, the Springboks, during the
2017 Rugby Championship
The 2017 Rugby Championship was the sixth edition of the expanded annual southern hemisphere Rugby Championship, featuring Argentina, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand. The competition is operated by SANZAAR, a joint venture of the four c ...
. Bosch made his international debut for South Africa on 19 August 2017, replacing
Elton Jantjies
Elton Thomas Jantjies (born 1 August 1990) is a South African professional rugby union player for the South Africa national team, the in the Japan Rugby Football Union and the in the Currie Cup.
Jantjies made his professional debut with the ...
off the bench in a 37-15 win over Argentina.
Bosch has featured prominently at fullback for the Sharks during the
2018 Super Rugby season
The 2018 Super Rugby season was the 23rd season of Super Rugby, an annual rugby union competition organised by SANZAAR between teams from Argentina, Australia, Japan, New Zealand and South Africa. After two seasons in which 18 teams particip ...
, with
Robert du Preez taking his place at first-five, becoming the leading points-scorer in the competition so far. Bosch was named in the Springbok squad again for the 2018 June internationals.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bosch, Curwin
1997 births
Living people
Rugby union players from Port Elizabeth
South African rugby union players
Rugby union fly-halves
Rugby union fullbacks
Sharks (Currie Cup) players
Sharks (rugby union) players
South Africa Under-20 international rugby union players
Alumni of Grey High School
South Africa international rugby union players
Munakata Sanix Blues players