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Cobus Reinach has opened up on last month's World Cup death threat

(Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)

Springboks scrum-half Cobus Reinach has opened up about the death threat he received last month after South Africa knocked host nation France out of the Rugby World Cup in Paris.

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The 33-year-old, who has been playing his club rugby in Montpellier since a 2020 move from Northampton, was a starter for his country in their quarter-final against the French and he was subjected to online abuse following his team’s dramatic 29-28 victory.

Reinach is now two appearances into his 2023/24 return at Montpellier in the Top 14 and ahead of their home game this Saturday against Oyonnax, he has told L’Equipe, the French daily sports newspaper, what happened last month in the wake of South Africa’s elimination of the World Cup hosts.

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“I said after the game that the referees were good under pressure which got me a lot of messages,” he explained. “The first message concerned me directly, telling me not to return to Montpellier, otherwise I would be killed.

“Then it starts to affect my family. People, behind their keyboards, who can attack your family… They are not the ones who make decisions on the field or plays against your team, so clearly it’s over the line.

“I don’t want to dwell on that because the French have been incredible but this online harassment, which concerns a minority, must stay out of this game.

“Those people who told me not to come back to Montpellier, that I was going to die, that I was a cheater, that I had to go to the anti-doping control, which is what I did after that match,” he quipped with a smile.

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Reinach, whose wife wanted to quit France and return to South Africa because of the threat, added that he filed a complaint in the aftermath so that French police could investigate the threat and ensure that the most threatening cyberbullies do not live near Montpellier where he lives with his family.

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2 Comments
P
Patrick 356 days ago

Nick - I joined the forum a couple of days ago for a bit of rugby chat and banter. Yesterday I was called a Muppet for 2yrs work with the Red Cross in Africa because I take issue with drug cheats. Obviously I cried myself to sleep but I'm stunned that there's no 100+ comment discussion about Cobus and the disgusting abuse he's had to endure. That his wife was so affected that a move home was seriously considered is a disgrace for our sport. I've spent a couple of hours trying to understand why some people think that Owen Farrell deserves the abuse he's received on social media and I stumble upon this article.
I'm England through and through but Cobus Reinach?? Seriously?? FFS he's got to be one of least offensive or controversial players/blokes in the world. World class and genuine humility? A guy who's had to wait for his chance and stepped up when asked.
I am genuinely sickened by that and judging from the type of comments certain people are capable of on this forum (without actually including any rugby content), it won't be long before a rugby player gets assassinated.
Killing a musician was inconceivable before Lennon happened and it's hardly a happy world these days.
Cheers Nick

N
Nick 362 days ago

Every single one of these incidents is reprehensible.
People need to get a grip. More importantly they should face consequences.
Great that Cobus made an official complaint. Didn’t know that his wife wanted to leave off the back of this. What an awful experience.

I was deliberating on whether to make this final point. Here I am.
This article has been out for just under a day now.
It’s not received any comments or much reaction. However, other similar incidents provoked some big and polarised responses.
When this story first came out at the time it simply disappeared.
I find that difficult.
It seems that anything SA simply can't be supported in the rugby world anymore. They are all just people. Playing the same sport to the same rules. Experiencing similar issues and adversity.
We would all do well to show some equal compassion.

Especially when a person's life is threatened, their livelihood challenged and their loved ones distressed.

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JW 3 hours ago
'Passionate reunion of France and New Zealand shows Fabien Galthie is wrong to rest his stars'

Ok, managed to read the full article..

... New Zealand’s has only 14 and the professional season is all over within four months. In France, club governance is the responsibility of an independent organisation [the Ligue Nationale de Rugby or LNR] which is entirely separate from the host union [the Fédération Française de Rugby or FFR]. Down south New Zealand Rugby runs the provincial and the national game.

That is the National Provincial Championship, a competition of 14 representative union based teams run through the SH international window and only semi professional (paid only during it's running). It is run by NZR and goes for two and a half months.


Super Rugby is a competition involving 12 fully professional teams, of which 5 are of New Zealand eligibility, and another joint administered team of Pacific Island eligibility, with NZR involvement. It was a 18 week competition this year, so involved (randomly chosen I believe) extra return fixtures (2 or 3 home and away derbys), and is run by Super Rugby Pacific's own independent Board (or organisation). The teams may or may not be independently run and owned (note, this does not necessarily mean what you think of as 'privately owned').


LNR was setup by FFR and the French Government to administer the professional game in France. In New Zealand, the Players Association and Super Rugby franchises agreed last month to not setup their own governance structure for professional rugby and re-aligned themselves with New Zealand Rugby. They had been proposing to do something like the English model, I'm not sure how closely that would have been aligned to the French system but it did not sound like it would have French union executive representation on it like the LNR does.

In the shaky isles the professional pyramid tapers to a point with the almighty All Blacks. In France the feeling for country is no more important than the sense of fierce local identity spawned at myriad clubs concentrated in the southwest. Progress is achieved by a nonchalant shrug and the wide sweep of nuanced negotiation, rather than driven from the top by a single intense focus.

Yes, it is pretty much a 'representative' selection system at every level, but these union's are having to fight for their existence against the regime that is NZR, and are currently going through their own battle, just as France has recently as I understand it. A single focus, ala the French game, might not be the best outcome for rugby as a whole.


For pure theatre, it is a wonderful article so far. I prefer 'Ntamack New Zealand 2022' though.

The young Crusader still struggles to solve the puzzle posed by the shorter, more compact tight-heads at this level but he had no problem at all with Colombe.

It was interesting to listen to Manny during an interview on Maul or Nothing, he citied that after a bit of banter with the All Black's he no longer wanted one of their jersey's after the game. One of those talks was an eye to eye chat with Tamaiti Williams, there appear to be nothing between the lock and prop, just a lot of give and take. I thought TW angled in and caused Taylor to pop a few times, and that NZ were lucky to be rewarded.

f you have a forward of 6ft 8ins and 145kg, and he is not at all disturbed by a dysfunctional set-piece, you are in business.

He talked about the clarity of the leadership that helped alleviate any need for anxiety at the predicaments unfolding before him. The same cannot be said for New Zealand when they had 5 minutes left to retrieve a match winning penalty, I don't believe. Did the team in black have much of a plan at any point in the game? I don't really call an autonomous 10 vehicle they had as innovative. I think Razor needs to go back to the dealer and get a new game driver on that one.

Vaa’i is no match for his power on the ground. Even in reverse, Meafou is like a tractor motoring backwards in low gear, trampling all in its path.

Vaa'i actually stops him in his tracks. He gets what could have been a dubious 'tackle' on him?

A high-level offence will often try to identify and exploit big forwards who can be slower to reload, and therefore vulnerable to two quick plays run at them consecutively.

Yes he was just standing on his haunches wasn't he? He mentioned that in the interview, saying that not only did you just get up and back into the line to find the opposition was already set and running at you they also hit harder than anything he'd experienced in the Top 14. He was referring to New Zealands ultra-physical, burst-based Super style of course, which he was more than a bit surprised about. I don't blame him for being caught out.


He still sent the obstruction back to the repair yard though!

What wouldn’t the New Zealand rugby public give to see the likes of Mauvaka and Meafou up front..

Common now Nick, don't go there! Meafou showed his Toulouse shirt and promptly got his citizenship, New Zealand can't have him, surely?!?


As I have said before with these subjects, really enjoy your enthusiasm for their contribution on the field and I'd love to see more of their shapes running out for Vern Cotter and the like styled teams.

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