Durban - Cobus Reinach could not have chosen a better time to advance his case for inclusion at scrumhalf for the November 7 Test against Wales when he scored two fine tries in Paris on the day his Springbok teammates arrived in the French capital.
There is hot competition at No 9 following the unavailability of incumbent Faf de Klerk, who has undergone hip surgery, and it is a straight shootout between Reinach and Herschel Jantjies to slot in.
ALSO READ: Speedy Cobus Reinach has inside lane for Springboks’ No 9 jersey after outing in Paris
In a media conference on Sunday, coach Jacques Nienaber was asked if had seen Reinach’s two tries for Montpelier against Racing 92 in the flesh, as some Boks were spotted in the Parisian crowd
“I wasn’t at the game myself as I arrived at 5am on Sunday morning in the second group — we were split into two groups for travel purposes — but I did see the highlights and I thought Cobus was excellent,” Nienaber said before deflecting attention to Reinach’s teammate, Handre Pollard.
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“It was also nice to see Handre at flyhalf. Some of the guys went there as an outing to give Cobus and Handre support and they said the stadium (the Paris La Defense Arena) provided a very special environment.”
Nienaber was asked by an enthusiastic British reporter what more Reinach has to do to clinch a starting berth.
#TOP14 - L'image de la J8 : Arrête-moi si tu peux
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Le springbok est parvenu à échapper aux griffes des fauves lancés à sa poursuite !🙈 Essai tout en vitesse de @c_reinach qui a fait sursauter les supporters du @MHR_officiel et ses coéquipiers champions du monde @Springboks 🇿![CDATA[]]>🇦 🌟 pic.twitter.com/lutSu5R5vX
“The guys know what they have to do,” the coach said. “With Faf injured there is a spot open, and it is between Cobus, Herschel and Grant Williams to replace him.
“It is going to be a tough one but that is what we want in our squad because good competition drives good standards.
“Cobus was excellent for us against the British and Irish Lions in the last game, then Faf came back from injury, and then we saw how well Herschel finished the game against New Zealand — he had a very good outing. So we are fortunate that we have very good 9s pushing for starting positions.”
IOL Sport