Cobus keeps himself grounded after Kobe heroics

Cobus Reinach was delighted to score the hat-trick of tries that broke a World Cup record but he wasn't getting ahead of himself after the Springboks’ final Pool B game against Canada at Kobe Misaki Stadium.

Reinach's three tries were scored in 20 minutes, five minutes less than the previous World Cup record held by Australia's Chris Latham who did the feat against Namibia playing on his own soil in the 2003 World Cup.

"I didn't know that I had broken the record to be honest, I was only told that after I came off the pitch," said Reinach.

"I was just happy with the tries and being able to contribute. I wasn't counting the tries when I scored them, I was just trying to get my breath back."

How good was @c_reinach today? Here's an alternative view of his hat-trick against Canada ??

What's the one adjective you would use to describe the @Springboks scrumhalf?#RWC2019 #RSAvCAN pic.twitter.com/uQNtcKqgiW

— SuperSport ???? (@SuperSportTV) October 8, 2019

One of Reinach's tries was an individualistic gem, with a break from inside his own half in which his natural speed was very much in evidence being followed by a kick which he chased down and gathered himself to score.

"In training it has happened once or twice, but I had tried the outside and that didn't work so that was the option available to me," he laughed.

Reinach has played only sporadically since returning to the Springbok fold after an absence of a couple of years, but he says that being asked to produce and be sharp when spending so little time on the playing field is far from the difficult task it should appear to be.

"My lack of game time isn't really a problem because of the way we train," he explained. "I retain my sharpness through the way we train. There's a big focus in training on trying to be accurate all the time. We simulate game situations. That is why we can make changes to the team and the boat still heads in the same direction, sometimes even faster than it was going before."

X-FACTOR

It was when he was asked if he felt he had done enough to be noticed, or had maximised his opportunities, that Reinach's "there's no I in team philosophy" came to the fore.

"No, I definitely don't go out there to get noticed, I just go out to execute the basics well and follow the game plan we are set to play," said Reinach.

"Look at the team we put out (tonight). Stuff will happen on the pitch, people will make breaks, people will come up with their little circus tricks, but you need luck sometimes for it to come off and I thought I had some luck tonight. Our drive is just for the whole team to be accurate with what we do. I am happy with how my game went, but the whole team played unbelievably."

His coach Rassie Erasmus said he wasn't surprised by Reinach's performance and said that the Boks were in a good space when it came to scrumhalves.

"We all know that Cobus has X-factor, and I knew his dad well," said in Erasmus in reference to Reinach's late father Jaco, a Springbok wing who scored a famous try through sheer speed against the New Zealand Cavaliers in 1986.

"The moment he gets a sniff he shows exceptional speed. I thought he did really well if you consider that he was not part of a lot of the test matches we played in the build-up to this World Cup and in the Rugby Championship. When he gets space his speed and good anticipation means he is away.

"It is good to have three quality No 9s in Cobus, Faf de Klerk and Herschel Jantjies playing for us. Between them they can spread the workload."