The DHL Stormers have confirmed one of rugby’s worst kept secrets with the announcement that Springbok scrumhalf Cobus Reinach will play for them next season.
With Herschel Jantjies already having announced that he will be heading overseas at the end of the current season, and Paul de Wet understood to be linking up with the Vodacom Bulls, the arrival of 34-year-old Reinach from Montpellier will balance out those departures.
Reinach started his senior provincial rugby career playing for the Sharks in 2011 before he headed overseas to play for the English club, Northampton Saints, in 2017.
✍️ Double World Cup winner @c_reinach will boost the DHL Stormers squad next season.
— DHL Stormers (@THESTORMERS) January 14, 2025
💬 'Cobus has proven himself a threat at the highest level of the game and we are expecting him to fit in seamlessly here'
Full story 👉 https://t.co/i4S9Q9EGjy#iamastormer #HierIsSpoed pic.twitter.com/DGWABsxSKJ
He was part of the Springbok World Cup-winning squad in Japan in 2019 and again in France in 2023, playing in some key games and showing off his renowned pace, inherited from his late father, the Bok wing Jaco, on many occasions during the 39 games he has played for his country.
However, as always with a player who arrives when already in his mid-30s, Reinach will be expected to play a key mentorship role to the young scrumhalves coming through at the Stormers, headed by the highly gifted Junior Bok Imad Khan and also Asad Moos.
Stormers coach John Dobson has never made a secret of his hopes that Khan will develop into a big star performer in the sport, and told a press conference after his team had beaten Sale Sharks 40-0 in Cape Town last weekend that Kahn was currently busy with a conditioning programme aimed at helping him make an easy transition into the big league of Vodacom United Rugby Championship and Investec Champions Cup rugby from age group rugby.
Cobus has proven himself a threat at the highest level of the game and we are expecting him to fit in seamlessly here,” said Dobson in the Stormers press release announcing Reinach’s arrival at the Stormers for the 2025/2026 season.
“He is a double World Cup winner and his considerable experience will be vital as we develop the next generation of young talent, with the likes of Imad Khan and Asad Moos set to benefit greatly from working with him.
“His attacking abilities are well known, but he is also a player with great rugby IQ, and given his knowledge of European conditions and opposition he will provide plenty of value on and off the pitch,” added the Stormers director of rugby.
'𝙃𝙞𝙚𝙧 𝙞𝙨 𝙨𝙥𝙤𝙚𝙙!'
— DHL Stormers (@THESTORMERS) January 14, 2025
Springbok scrumhalf @c_reinach will join our squad ahead of the 2025/26 season.#iamastormer pic.twitter.com/Z8ZDyt14hT
Reinach said he was thrilled to be returning to play in South Africa after nearly eight years being based first in England and then in France.
“It will obviously be great for my family and I to return home but what is just as exciting for me is to join a team that plays such a great brand of rugby. I know many of the Stormers players well and I feel I have a lot to offer within their game model.”