South African star Reinach is 'flying high' at Saints

Last season, there were just flashes of the class Cobus Reinach could offer Saints.
Cobus Reinach scored his 15th try of the season last Friday nightCobus Reinach scored his 15th try of the season last Friday night
Cobus Reinach scored his 15th try of the season last Friday night

Often rotated with compatriot Nic Groom, Reinach struggled to really develop any consistency.

But this season, he has done just that.

In fact, Reinach has been that good that he is starting to realise his goal of becoming the best scrum-half in the Gallagher Premiership.

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And last Friday night, he produced a performance worthy of that title.

Reinach ran the show as Saints delivered a stunning success at Welford Road.

Chris Boyd's men were in control from the moment Reinach finished off a rapid counter-attack, which started with Ahsee Tuala setting Tom Collins away.

Collins went on to score two tries of his own as Saints cruised into a 29-3 lead before taking their foot off the gas a little late on, seeing the game out to earn a 29-15 win.

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It was the perfect way to round off an incredible seven days for Reinach, who helped Saints to lift the Premiership Rugby Cup at Franklin's Gardens five days earlier and who also welcomed his son into the world.

And Reinach said: "With my son being born, it was definitely the best week of my life. The other things are little add-ons.

"It was a great week, I felt like I was flying high so it was really good."

Reinach could be forgiven for thinking this could not only be his day, his week or his month, but it may also be his year.

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The World Cup is coming up in Japan before 2019 is out, and Reinach must surely be on the radar of the South Africa coaches.

But the 29-year-old has nothing but Saints on his mind right now.

“My goal this year was to be the best I could be and to be the best nine in the Premiership,” Reinach said.

“If I can achieve that, then greater stuff may come. I don’t want to look too far into the future; saying I’m aiming for this or that.

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“I just want to be the best I can be and hopefully I’ll get rewarded for that.

“You can always improve, I can always work on my basics and then there are the little bits of X-factor and do something out of the ordinary to change a game, I think I can step that up a little bit.

“If the team plays well, it’s easy to pick guys from a winning team.

"The possibilities are endless for us here at Saints at the moment.

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"We've got a nice group, a young group and they bring a lot of energy.

"We've also got a few old heads so the sky is the limit."

It is clear that the arrival of Chris Boyd as boss and Sam Vesty as attack coach has helped to bring the best out of so many at Saints.

And Reinach is certainly one of those, having scored a massive 15 tries in just 19 starts this season.

"Chris came in and said he wants us to know what we're good at, to improve it and to make it the best in the world," Reinach said.

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"Everyone is out here trying to be their own player, continue to build on their strengths and play as a team in that."

Now Reinach will look to help Saints stay on track for a treble as they travel to Clermont Auvergne for a huge Challenge Cup quarter-final on Sunday evening.

"It's not getting any easier," he said.

"We're playing some big teams coming up so we've celebrated last weekend and now it's about working hard, going back to the drawing board and doing it again."

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