Curwin Bosch must be wishing his Springbok debut – if you can call four minutes and 18 seconds that – away today.
The Port Elizabeth crowd erupted when their 20-year-old hometown boy took the field for his first sip of the international rugby waters.
And today Bosch will probably want to spoeg that brakwater uit again.
He had two moments in those few minutes.
One saw a kick charged down with the Boks deep inside their own half and the other saw him failing to find touch from a penalty kick.
Nerves and pressure got to the youngster.
I expected it and coach Allister Coetzee probably expected it too; therefore the brief introduction.
I’ve always said Bosch is a future Springbok great.
I’ve also maintained that now is not his time.
Yes, injuries probably forced Coetzee’s hand and the fearlessness with which they want to blood the youngsters is perhaps admirable to others.
I’m not as convinced.
I believe a young player should serve his apprenticeship first and when he is ready to be unleashed at international level, then he will be a beast.
The Argentineans would have spotted Bosch’s nerves as well.
And I guarantee that the Pumas will go hard at him in Salta this coming weekend, even if it is just for four to five minutes.
My big concern is that Bosch starts doubting himself if things don’t go his way.
Some of you would have seen that big hit of Brian Lima on Derick Hougaard back in 2003.
At 20, Hougaard was the next big thing in SA rugby.
He was one of the flyhalves in the World Cup that year and although he scored 21 points in that match, he would only play four more Test matches after that.
When the World Cup was done, Hougaard didn’t wear the Green and Gold for four years after that, with his next match again being against Samoa four years later.
Hopefully Bosch is better equipped to handle the heat at the top level.
Coetzee mentioned earlier in the week that they will have to manage the youngster properly.
To me they will have to get the kopdokter in from the start.
The demands of Test rugby and the demands of the rugby public in South Africa can be taxing at times.
Closer to home, I believe a player such as Damian Willemse will be moulded properly.
Also seen as a future Bok, Willemse will probably not be fast-tracked too soon and I’m happy about that.
With Jean-Luc du Plessis the No.1 choice at the Stormers, the 2019 World Cup is perhaps too soon for Willemse.
That means Saru have seven years to get this guy ready for the World Cup in 2023… and maybe that should have been the plan with Bosch as well.
Then again, we don’t have a lot of flyhalves that are ready for the big time.
So here’s to hoping Coetzee’s experiment works out.