Benhard Janse van Rensburg

Barend Johannes Janse van Rensburg (born (1997-01-14)14 January 1997) is a South African rugby union player, currently playing with the Sharks.^[1] He is a utility back that can play as a fly-half, centre or fullback.

Rugby career

2014 : Schoolboy rugby

Janse van Rensburg was born in Pretoria and grew up in Thabazimbi. In 2014, he was selected to represent the Limpopo Blue Bulls at the premier high school rugby union competition in South Africa, the Under-18 Craven Week.^[2]

2015–2016 : Leopards, NWU Pukke and South Africa Under-20

He moved to Potchefstroom at the start of 2015, joining their provincial team, the Leopards. He made twelve starts for the Leopards U19 team in the 2015 Under-19 Provincial Championship, starting five matches at inside centre, five at outside centre and two at fullback. He scored tries in matches against Eastern Province U19,^[3] Sharks U19^[4] and Western Province U19^[5] and also kicked fourteen conversions and three penalties for a total of 52 points, the second-highest points tally for a Leopards player and tenth overall in Group A of the competition.^[6]

Janse van Rensburg represented the NWU Pukke in the 2016 Varsity Cup, where he made history in their opening match against the UP Tuks; the Varsity Cup adopted a points system whereby tries that originate within a team's own half were worth nine points, and Janse van Rensburg scored the first nine-point try in the competition after just nine minutes.^[7] He scored a second try in the match, a 38–15 victory for NWU Pukke,^[8] and two more in matches against the NMMU Madibaz (another nine-pointer)^[9] and Maties^[10] to finish as his side's second-highest try scorer.^[11]

In March 2016, Janse van Rensburg was included in a South Africa Under-20 training squad,^[12] but wasn't initially included in the final South Africa Under-20 squad for the 2016 World Rugby Under 20 Championship tournament to be held in Manchester, England.^[13] However, following injuries to S'busiso Nkosi and Embrose Papier during the tournament, he flew out to meet up with the rest of the team.^[14] He came on as a replacement in their final match of the tournament, the third-place play-off against Argentina. Argentina beat South Africa for the second time, convincingly winning 49–19^[15] to condemn South Africa to fourth place in the competition.

Shortly before his involvement in the World Rugby Under 20 Championship, he also made his first class debut in South African domestic rugby. He started their Currie Cup qualification match against the Falcons, helping them to a 26–24 victory.^[16] After another start against the SWD Eagles,^[17] he dropped to the bench for their match against the Boland Cavaliers, but came on to score his first points in first class rugby, converting two late tries.^[18] He started five more matches in the fly-half position before his short spell with the South Africa Under-20 team, without scoring any points. On his return, he made two more starts; in the first of those, he scored a total 13 points – including his first senior try – in his side's 23–26 defeat to a Sharks XV,^[19] and a week later, he scored a try and five conversions in a 54–14 victory over the Eastern Province Kings.^[20]

2016–present : Sharks

Midway through 2016, Janse van Rensburg joined the Durban-based Sharks. He was included in their squad for the 2016 Currie Cup Premier Division,^[21] but didn't feature for the team, instead making two appearances for the Sharks U21 in the 2016 Under-21 Provincial Championship.^[22] At the end of October 2016, he was included in the Sharks Super Rugby squad for the 2017 season.^[23]

References