Cobus Reinach

Cobus Reinach is the fastest scrum-half South Africa have picked in the professional era, and he has built a Test career on the narrow thing he does better than anyone else: he runs.

The hat-trick against Canada at the 2019 World Cup took under six minutes, the quickest in the tournament’s history, and it was a fair advertisement. Reinach attacks the fringe of a ruck the way a wing attacks a gap — if the guard is slow to set, he is through before the defence registers that the ball has moved.

That threat changes how sides defend the Springboks. Forwards have to honour him around the corner, which opens the wider channels the Springboks actually want to attack.

The rest of the game caught up later. His box kick is now a genuine weapon rather than a release valve, and his service has tightened to the point where the running is a choice rather than a necessity.

He is the son of Jaco Reinach, the sprinter and Springbok wing, which explains a great deal. In his mid-thirties he is still being picked for the same reason he always was.