Jacobus Meyer Reinach (born 7 February 1990) is a South African professional rugby union player who plays as a scrum-half for the Stormers in the United Rugby Championship and the South Africa national team. He is the son of former Springbok winger Jaco Reinach. He was a member of the victorious Springbok team who won the 2019 and 2023 Rugby World Cup.
Early career Born and raised in Bloemfontein, Reinach attended the famous rugby school Grey College. He initially played age-level rugby for the Free State, before heading to Durban in 2009 to link up with the Sharks, spending a portion of his club career playing scrum half for SA Home Loans Durban Collegians.
Club career Reinach's first forays into senior rugby came with the Sharks XV in the Vodacom Cup. During the 2011 and 2012 Vodacom Cup competitions he made 17 appearances and scored 3 tries. His good performances at that level saw him promoted to the Sharks Currie Cup squad. He earned his first 2 Currie Cup caps during the 2011 season and over the following 2 campaigns he rotated with the more experienced Charl McLeod for the starting role in the number 9 jersey. He was a Currie Cup winner in 2013 and a runner up in 2012 with both matched being played against . Following McLeod's departure to Grenoble at the conclusion of the 2014 Super Rugby season, Reinach was left as the undisputed first-choice scrum half for the Sharks.
At Super Rugby level, Reinach debuted during the 2012 Super Rugby season however, he only made one appearance which amounted to 1 minute of game-time. His performances in tandem with Charl McLeod during the 2012 Currie Cup saw him see much more regular action in 2013 and the two continued their rotation. 2014 saw him become much more of a regular starter and indeed despite missing 4 matches due to injury, Reinach started all 12 of the regular season matches he was available for and scored 6 tries including a memorable effort in the Sharks first ever win away to the in Christchurch.
On 27 February 2017, it was announced that Reinach would link up with English club Northampton Saints in the Aviva Premiership from the 2017–18 season.
On 12 June 2020, Reinach officially joined Montpellier in the Top 14 ahead of the 2020–21 season after leaving Northampton.
International career Although his father had twice been selected for South African Schools, Reinach never represented his country at any age-group level. However, this did not stop him from making the full Springbok side at the age of only 24. He was called up to the Springbok squad for the 2014 Rugby Championship due to the absence of the injured Fourie du Preez and when another experienced number 9 in Ruan Pienaar went down injured during the Boks tour of Australasia, Reinach was promoted to back-up scrum-half for the remaining two home games of the competition against and . Reinach debuted as a second-half replacement for Francois Hougaard in South Africa's 28–10 win over Australia in Cape Town on 27 September 2014 and played a big role in the Boks bonus point try scored by Jean de Villiers in the final minute. He got his second taste of international rugby a week later and was again on the winning side as his team earned their first win over the All Blacks since 2011. On 8 October 2019 Reinach scored a hat-trick in a 66–7 win over Canada at the 2019 Rugby World Cup, the fastest hat-trick in Rugby World Cup History. South Africa went on to win the tournament, defeating England in the final.
International statistics Test Match record
Against P W D L Tri Pts %Won 11 9 0 2 4 20 8 6 0 2 1 5 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 3 15 5 4 0 1 1 5 3 2 0 1 1 5 1 1 0 0 1 5 3 1 0 2 1 5 3 3 0 0 2 10 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 10 7 0 3 1 5 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 3 15 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 5 5 4 0 1 1 5 Total 57 45 0 12 20 100 Pld = Games Played, W = Games Won, D = Games Drawn, L = Games Lost, Tri = Tries Scored, Pts = Points Scored
International tries
Try Opposing team Location Venue Competition Date Result Score 1London, EnglandTwickenham Stadium2014 end-of-year tests15 November 2014Win28–31 2Padua, ItalyStadio Euganeo2014 end-of-year tests22 November 2014Win6–22 3Johannesburg, South AfricaEllis Park Stadium2019 Rugby Championship20 July 2019Win35–17 4Kobe, JapanKobe Misaki Stadium2019 Rugby World Cup Pool B8 October 2019Win66–7 5 6 7Pretoria, South AfricaLoftus Versfeld Stadium2021 July tests2 July 2021Win40–9 8Port Elizabeth, South AfricaNelson Mandela Bay Stadium2021 Rugby Championship14 August 2021Win32–12 9Genoa, ItalyStadio Luigi Ferraris2022 end-of-year tests19 November 2022Win21–63 10Bordeaux, FranceNouveau Stade de Bordeaux2023 Rugby World Cup Pool B17 September 2023Win76–0 11 12 13Marseille, FranceStade Vélodrome2023 Rugby World Cup Pool B1 October 2023Win49–18 14Santiago del Estero, ArgentinaEstadio Único Madre de Ciudades2024 Rugby Championship21 September 2024Loss29–28 15Auckland, New ZealandEden Park2025 Rugby Championship6 September 2025Loss24–17 16London, EnglandTwickenham Stadium2025 Rugby Championship4 October 2025Win27–29 17 18Saint-Denis, FranceStade de France2025 end-of-year tests8 November 2025Win17–32 19Dublin, IrelandAviva Stadium2025 end-of-year tests22 November 2025Win13–24 20Durban, South AfricaKings Park Stadium2026 Nations Championship18 July 2026Win43–0
Honours South Africa 2019 Rugby Championship winner 2019 Rugby World Cup winner 2021 British & Irish Lions Series winner 2023 Rugby World Cup winner 2024 Rugby Championship winner 2025 Rugby Championship winner
References
External links Cobus Reinach at Springboks