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Cobus Reinach catapults himself into contention on back of turbocharged hat trick
With three high-class scrumhalves competing with one another, Springboks head coach Rassie Erasmus is in a good position at the end of the pool stages of the Rugby World Cup.
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Faf de Klerk, Herschel Jantjies and Cobus Reinach are all vying to impress their coach, and the Northampton Saints nine did himself no harm with the fastest RWC hat trick ever on Tuesday against Canada.
Reinach dotted down for his third score on the 21-minute mark in a first-half demolition of the Canadians, breaking Australian Chris Latham’s 16-year record for the fastest trio of tries. However, it was perhaps the variety of scores that may have impressed Erasmus the most.
The first try was just a pure solo effort, where Reinach displayed his searing pace, his second was a sniping try from close range and the third showed his superb support play after a break by Warrick Gelant.
Although de Klerk has been Erasmus’ first choice over the past year in green, he has faced some criticism so far this RWC, particularly after his display against the All Blacks.
Since making his debut in July, Jantjies has closed the gap behind the Sale Sharks nine, but Reinach is hot on his heels as well. The 23-year-old Jantjies was not overly impressive in the final 20 minutes against Canada, leaving it unclear who may start come the last eight.
On this display, Reinach has worked his way into a number of fans’ squads for the quarter-final, although he may not necessarily be a starter. The pace he brings from the bench is unrivalled, and he could provide an injection of energy into the final stages of a match.
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2018 World Rugby player of the year nominee de Klerk has been consigned to the reserves for many fans, as the playoffs of a RWC are not the place for a struggling player to try and find some form.
These are the fans’ opinions on the scrumhalf debate:
#RSAvCAN This man should start every game…and Jantjies on the bench. Reinach is our best scrummie
— Pruwolf (@pruwim) October 8, 2019
#SSRUGBY start Hercelle Jantjies in quarter final and use Reinach as an impact player. Fad can carry water
— Billy Claasen (@BillyClaasen) October 8, 2019
Based on current form,
Reinach > Jantjies > de Klerk.
— Wabi-Sabi 🏴☠️ (@AlessandroCAR) October 8, 2019
Reinach is better than De Klerk, notwithstanding the fact that teams like Canada don't add anything to the world cup at all.
— Darren (@lionheartdw) October 8, 2019
Imagine rating Faf higher than Reinach. #RSAvCan #RWC2019
— Keegan Kruger (@KeeganKruger) October 8, 2019
I think Reinach has just shafted Faf to the reserves for the rest of the tournament.
— Daemon Targaryen (@CASHMANIA14) October 8, 2019
While Reinach and Jantjies look to be the form scrumhalves in the South Africa squad currently, coaches are sometimes reluctant to defer from what they know when it comes to crucial matches, which works in de Klerk’s favour. The Springboks will face either Japan, Ireland or Scotland in the last eight, none of which are teams that Erasmus will want to experiment with his nines against.
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Rassie Erasmus has had to curtail talks of any racism in the Springboks:
Comments on RugbyPass
The Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
3 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
3 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
3 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to comments