I WISH Benhard Janse van Rensburg no ill, in fact I thoroughly enjoy watching him play for Bristol and I admire his retro mullet, but there is no conceivable reason why he should be deemed eligible to play for England and World Rugby has made the correct call on this one.
Van Rensburg, right, is South African through and through. Between 2016 and 2020 he played for six South African sides before trying his luck in Japan and then washing up at London Irish where his career began to take off. He also played for South Africa at the Junior World Cup in 2016 in the 3rd-4th play-off final, when the Junior Boks got wiped by Argentina.
Now that taste of representative rugby didn’t go so well for Benhard but c’est la vie. It still went better than for many. Trailing home in ninth place in that tournament were France with a squad that went on to produce 11 senior internationals including world class operators such as Antoine Dupont, Damian Penaud and Peato Mauvaka. They didn’t just give up the ghost on their return home and entry in the senior ranks. Sometimes a little patience and belief is needed. And yes it can be frustrating. That U20 cap came in a year when the Boks used their U20 team as their capture side – 2015 and 2017 were the his game season on same – whereas for no season – it’s still not too obvious reason 2014 late for van Rensburg was not a capture year to challenge for South which is where Duhan African honours at the van der Merwe got very next world cup. lucky and maintained The game generally his ability to qualify for and this columnist in another nationn byparticular is tiring residency.ofback door
At 28 Test players and much who roll out improved in the tired recent years old line of – to these “dreaming eyes he is a of playing late developer international who adds to rugby”. No body in fact just dreams of playing Test rugby, everybody dreams of representing their own nation in international rugby. That is the dream, the ultimate and the battle to achieve that dream is often what makes it so special.
We should try and keep it that way. One Bok cap for Rensburg would surely mean as much if not more than 40 or 50 for England and our respect for him would be even greater.
The best betting sites
