Curwin Bosch credits an 11-week, injury-enforced break from rugby for giving him the time and space needed to get back to basics and rediscover his love for the game.
Bosch broke his thumb in a pre-season match against the Stormers and while the initial prognosis was a six- to eight-week recovery, he was out of action for 11 weeks.
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Since returning, Bosch has been an integral part of Neil Powell’s plans and scored 14 points to guide the Sharks to a memorable Champions Cup victory over Bordeaux in France.
In an interview with BokSquad, Bosch opened up on the mental shift he made during the recovery period as well as his aspirations to add to his solitary Springbok cap.
“This long break was exactly what I needed from a mental perspective,” Bosch told BokSquad. “It was the longest I’ve ever been out since I started playing professional rugby so I had time to reflect on where I am and where I want to go.
“Mentally it was refreshing for me, it sort of gave me a chance to miss the game again – especially as I couldn’t pass a rugby ball for about 10, 11 weeks. I did see a psychologist for a while to put certain things in place and refocus the mind again.
“Last season I was at a really frustrating time of my career where I wasn’t where I wanted to be in terms of my rugby, and because of that I became more results-orientated,” added Bosch. “Every game I’d set goals and all I wanted was to achieve those goals, losing the love of the process and the everyday work you need to do to get there.
“So it boiled down to restarting, how to look forward to training each day, what I could do to bring the enjoyment back to training every day instead of looking from Saturday to Saturday. It was simple things I already knew but needed to hear from someone else, someone outside of rugby.”
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Back at his best for the Sharks, Bosch said that he is taking inspiration from former teammate Manie Libbok that a Springbok call-up is possible, but doesn’t want to put any extra internal pressure on himself.
“Springbok ambitions will always be there, it’s the reason I fell in love with the game from a young age. But – and this is going to sound funny – it was part of the reason my form went into a dip in the last few seasons.
“I got so down, hard and disappointed in myself when I didn’t make a squad that it ended up affecting my performances. It’s going to sound boring and clichéd, but I’m not even taking things week by week anymore, I’m taking them day by day.”
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