Nienaber discusses Reinach's omission

The announcement of the Spring squad on Tuesday carried with it a couple of surprises, one of which was the omission of live-wire scrumhalf Cobus Reinach, who misses out while Faf de Klerk dons the number 9 jersey with Herschel Jantjies backing up from the bench. 

Reinach is easily one of the top scrumhalves in the world and, for many, it is strange not to see his name amongst the match-day 23. 

Springbok Head Coach Jacques Nienaber opened up about the situation. 

“Cobus was phenomenal for us in the games that he played and I think we are very fortunate in South Africa to have three quality scrumhalves like we have currently,” he said. 

“He could start in Saturday’s Test and there wouldn’t be an eyebrow raised. That’s the quality of Cobus and it’s the same for the other two players. 

“Unfortunately for Cobus, we went with this pairing, but they will also know that they need to perform. It’s probably consistency in selection and building on that, but he is banging on the door very hard and kicking his way through. 

“I think that’s nice for us in the squad that we have is that there is massive pressure coming from all over.” 

The rugby world will have its gaze fixed on Cape Town this weekend as the Springboks do battle with the British & Irish Lions in the first of a three-Test series.