Born in Pretoria and raised in Thabazimbi, former Junior Springbok star Benhard Janse van Rensburg earned a call up by England on the eve of the Test rugby season, and looks set to bank meaningful minutes on the international stage this season.
Having lived and played professional rugby continuously in the UK since his 2021 move to London Irish, the 29-year-old officially hits his five-year residency qualification mark on 8 July, and has become a real prospect for England as they build towards next year’s World Cup.
Janse van Rensburg’s qualification was nearly blocked because he made a 21-minute cameo appearance off the bench for the Junior Springboks against Argentina back in 2016, but World Rugby granted special dispensation, effectively clearing his path to represent England.
Burly midfielder was on Springboks’ radar
Interestingly, Rassie Erasmus admitted this week that they were considering integrating Janse van Rensburg into their wider squad this year, but did not want to hinder his opportunity with England after acknowledging it was unlikely that a Test cap would have been on the cards this year.
“If I tell the honest truth, we did have conversations with him,” Erasmus said. “He was very keen to come.
“Our CEO [Rian Oberholzer] asked me whether we were interested and I said yes, but we wanted to see where he’d fit into our selection plans.
“Then he asked whether we were going to try and cap him this year. I said no, I didn’t think so.
“We then wanted to give him a chance in June because we were thin at centre with a lot of players away and we had the Barbarians game and the SA A game [against Zimbabwe].
“But then our CEO reminded me that we’d already committed to World Rugby that we wouldn’t go down that route. So we didn’t pursue it.”
Reminder of his career history
Janse van Rensburg initially made a name for himself playing for the Leopards and North-West University (NWU Pukke) in the Varsity Cup, before moving on to feature for senior provincial sides including the Sharks, Southern Kings and the Cheetahs. He also represented the Junior Springboks in 2016.
After a short stint in Japan with the NEC Green Rockets, the versatile 29-year-old utility back – who can comfortably slot in at centre, flyhalf or fullback – moved to England in 2021 to join London Irish. He then found a home with the Bristol Bears.
At Bristol, his physical ball-carrying, defensive reliability, and sharp offloading skills have made him one of the most consistent midfielders in the Premiership, firmly placing him on Borthwick’s international radar.
