Spoed shows Spead how to raise his game

Cobus Reinach is excited to see Stormers halfbacks Yaqeen Ahmed and Haashim Pead coming through, but noted that their success will depend on the work they put in.

Reinach spoke in the build-up to Saturday’s clash between the Stormers and Ulster at Cape Town Stadium, where John Dobson’s men will look to make it four wins on the trot.

The two-time World Cup winner featured off the bench in last week’s win over the Scarlets, and will again arm-wrestle Man of the Match Pead for the No 9 jersey.

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“I can’t tell you what his ceiling is. That’s going to be determined by him, but I can tell you there’s a lot of potential,” Reinach told the media on Tuesday.

“Like all our young players here, they have so much talent and you can’t limit them, but the work they put in is where they’re going to go at the end of the day.”

The Stormers needed two tries from Ahmed at the death to secure the 52-40 victory against the Scarlets.

“Yaq showed his class,” Reinach said. “He’s 20 but he’s got a big rugby brain and rugby blood in him. Age doesn’t really matter anymore. The boy backs himself and it came off well.”

Reinach applauded his teammates for being solution driven after losing three hookers to injury last week, while crediting the age-group system for how they deal with pressure.

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“It took time to find our feet again after that, but that’s how we solve problems on the go, and that’s a sign of us learning and growing as a team,” the 36-year-old added.

“Every weekend we have to raise our game. The competition is only starting now and everyone’s picking up form, so if we don’t raise our game, we’re going to get left behind.

“With Yaq coming through now, Sacha [Feinberg-Mngomezulu], a lot of the younger guys we have, they just deal with the pressure. I call it the privilege of playing.”

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Rassie Erasmus is expected to name his Bok squad for the Nations Championship this week, yet Reinach emphasised he cannot afford to focus on national duty.

“Where you are is where you have to give your full attention, and the Springboks that are here will give their full attention to this week and this week only.

“After the game is done, we can shift our minds to whatever is coming.”

Photo: Cole Cruickshank/Gallo Images