Durban - Springbok supporters will have noticed the sharp peak in the performance of Sharks centre Rohan Janse van Rensburg over the last month of the United Rugby Championship and statistics released by the competition organisers confirm his growing influence.
After 15 rounds of the URC, nobody has beaten more defenders than the Sharks centre and the statistic is all the more telling given that the 28-year-old has missed much of the action because of suspension and injury.
Van Rensburg has beaten 34 opponents in the URC and a good few of those were in last week’s match against the Stormers in Cape Town. He bulldozed through a host of defenders to give the Sharks a good chance of winning that game.
Van Rensburg has just one Test cap behind his name — against Wales in 2016 — and has been on the outside looking in because his chief rival for the No 12 jersey is Damian de Allende.
There can be no argument that De Allende has been the best No 12 available for the Boks for some time and an issue for Van Rensburg is that he plays a similar game to De Allende.
They are both strong ball-carrying centres and it is understandable why the Bok coaching staff are choosing one rather than both of them, but if something should happen to De Allende, it is reassuring for Jacques Nienaber & Co to know that they have a like-for-like replacement.
Van Rensburg was a key member of the Lions team that contested three consecutive Super Rugby finals under Johan Ackermann and Swys de Bruin.
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In 2018, he moved to Sale Sharks and played 73 times for them before the Sharks brought him back to South Africa after two seasons of battling to replace their own swashbuckling No 12, Andre Esterhuizen, who left for Harlequins in London when the Covid-19 lockdown opened up a transfer window.
The Sharks’ next URC fixture is away to Scarlets on 25 March.
IOL Sport