Sharks coach praises Reinach attitude

Cape Town - The Sharks will not benefit from the services of Frans Steyn and Marcell Coetzee this Currie Cup season, but they do have Cobus Reinach.

The scrumhalf was overlooked for Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer’s World Cup squad, with Rudy Paige having booked his ticket to England despite having not featured in any of the Boks’ pre-tournament matches.

Sharks coach Gary Gold on Thursday named Reinach in his starting line-up for this Saturday’s Currie Cup clash against the Pumas in Durban, and he has commended the player’s attitude despite the obvious disappointment of being left out of the national squad.

“I’ve always been a believer that if you come back from international duty you deserve to go straight back in,” Gold said.

“He’s hungry for game time. Obviously it’s very disappointing for him but his attitude has been exceptional.

“He’s been a livewire at training and if anything happens to go wrong he wants to be in good shape to be able to get a call up.”

Gold said that while everyone at the Sharks knew that Reinach possessed an ‘x-factor’, nobody would be putting any pressure on him to single-handedly change the game against the Pumas, who boast their own unpredictable scrumhalf in Faf de Klerk.

“He’s one of the nines in South Africa whose support lines are absolutely fantastic so he’s always pitching up at the right times,” said Gold.

“His defensive work is fantastic; his speed around the breakdown is good. It’s going to be a good game between him and Faf.”

Kick-off on Saturday is at 15:00.