Springboks scrum-half Cobus Reinach is in a ‘good space’ for tonight’s Rugby World Cup semi-final against England despite receiving a death threat following the quarter-final win over France. The former Northampton ace, who now plays for Montpellier, was threatened on social media in a menacing post which also featured a picture of his young son.
Written in French, the X-rated message translates to: “Dirty son of a b****. I hope that when you return to Montpellier you get murdered by French people on the ground. Gang of thieves, easy to win a title by cheating.” The perpetrator continued by sending a picture of Reinach’s young son with the caption: “Go and die.”
French police are now looking into the incident but Reinach is reported to be unfazed heading into tonight’s Stade de France showdown with England.
“I’ve seen him every day,” said South Africa assistant coach Mzwandile Stick. “He’s in a good space. He’s got his family around him.
“I must also give credit to the French for the security around our hotels with all the teams in the World Cup. The security was just another level. So I don’t think at the moment, there is something to worry about because we know for sure we are well protected in our camps.
“We are here to represent South Africa. If someone has got a problem with that, the French authorities will have to deal with it.”
The Instagram post to Reinach, which was shared online, insulted the player and then expressed the hope that he is ‘murdered by French people on the ground’ when he returned to Montpellier. Team-mate Pieter-Steph du Toit added that the Springboks have confidence in the police to deal with the perpetrator.
“I’ve heard there were some threats made to him and his family. It’s an unfortunate situation but I think everything has been reported to the French authorities,” he said.
Reinach started last Sunday’s match against France and keeps his place for Saturday’s showdown with England in spite of the abuse, which was highlighted by Springboks director of rugby Rassie Erasmus earlier this week.
“Unfortunately these threats were made to Cobus Reinach,” wrote Erasmus in a post on X, formerly Twitter. “It’s not nice and upsets his mom to see things like that said about her boy. But we are not going to whine, we will just move on.”
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