Although born in Abergavenny, Boshoff was just four weeks old when he was flown to South Africa with his mother – who is Welsh – and Cape Town is where he spent the first 11 years of his life, before they moved back to Wales.
Boshoff then discovered a love of rugby, starting his playing career at Monmouth Boys School and Pontypool U11s. He played for Dragons U16s before going to Clifton College in sixth form, where his talent caught the eye of Bristol Bears – and soon joined the club’s Academy.
He made his senior debut for the Bears in September 2023 when he started against Exeter Chiefs in the Premiership Rugby Cup at Sandy Park and, in doing so, became the sixth youngest player to play a competitive game for the club at 17 years and 346 days old.
The dynamic back, who turns 19 in September, was called up to the Wales U20 squad a year young earlier this year, making his U20 Six Nations debut against France as a replacement and then started in the final game against Italy, helping Wales recover from 15-0 down to win 27-15 after a stunning second half comeback.
Having also represented Wales at U18 level, making his U20s breakthrough back in March was a proud moment for Boshoff, who said it “meant the absolute world” and was a “dream come true.”
But, given the fact he only took up the sport after moving to Wales, it’ll be even sweeter to do so in front of his South Africa based family in surroundings that are home from home.
“They’ve never seen me play, so it’ll be seriously special. Where I grew up is just down the road, about 20 minutes away,” said Boshoff.
“I’ve got loads of family flying in, they’re all Johannesburg based, but they’ve been flying in, so they are all there ready. My mother has flown out too.”
Boshoff says the squad are in a good place following their mixed Six Nations campaign and says they certainly aren’t in South Africa just to make up the numbers.
“On the whole, the Six Nations was a positive. I think we showed every aspect of our game that we wanted to, but probably not as a collective, and probably not as consistently as we’d like,” he added.
“But we showed the potential is there and that we are a solid team when it all glues together – and finishing off with a solid performance always makes it a bit sweeter.
Aidan Boshoff is going into the U20 World Championship with plenty of confidence
“The hard work that we’ve put in over the past few weeks fills us with confidence that we’re going to put all those attributes together when we go out there.”
Wales kick-off against New Zealand on Saturday 29 June (6.00pm kick off BST), just as they did in their opening game of the 2023 edition – also held in South Africa – almost exactly a year ago to the day. The junior All Blacks came out on top 27-26.
And if last year was a trip into the unknown, there will also be bigger expectation on Richard Whiffin’s side and greater belief going into the clash this time.
Boshoff prefers to play on the wing but can play across the back three as well as in the centre. He certainly isn’t lacking in confidence and says there is intense competition in the squad heading into the clash with New Zealand.
“Competition is only getting fiercer and it’s driving everyone here to perform better. As a squad we know that the boys that are on the team sheet, we can trust, and we can know they’ve earned it, and they are going to go out there and represent what we’ve been working on,” he said.
“I’m looking forward to New Zealand and I’m full of confidence we can overturn them. I’ve got no doubt in my mind that we can do that.
“It’s really exciting; every single player is talented and it’s just about going out there and making a name for ourselves on one of the biggest stages you’ve got.”
Wales’ games can be viewed on Rugby Pass Tv
