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Cape Town - Former national coach Nick Mallett feels Rohan Janse van Rensburg deserves to start in midfield for the Springboks against England at Twickenham on Saturday.
The Lions centre impressed in his first match for the Boks last weekend when he scored a late try to secure a 31-all draw against the Barbarians at Wembley Stadium.
Janse van Rensburg impressed all match with his barn-storming runs and was one of the few shining lights in an otherwise patchy Springbok performance.
The match was not an official Test and Janse van Rensburg was initially only selected for the BaaBaas clash.
However, an injury to Jesse Kriel saw him stay with the squad in London for the remained of the tour, which includes Tests against England, Italy and Wales.
Mallett, speaking on SuperSport’s TMO programme on Tuesday night, said he was impressed by the performance of the 22-year-old Janse van Rensburg.
“I must admit, Janse van Rensburg was outstanding. He’s been the form player of the Super Rugby campaign and he really showed again how effective he can be against very good players. He got go-forward every time he got the ball,” said Mallett.
“Two or three players are required to tackle him every time... he's a strong player... he was really the good news story out of this performance. It’s what we’ve been saying time and time again, to pick form players because you know what they’re going to produce.”
Mallett said he would pick Janse van Rensburg and Lions team-mate Lionel Mapoe in midfield for Saturday’s Test against England, although he thought coach Allister Coetzee would decide otherwise.
“You’ve got the Lions centre pairing of Janse van Rensburg and Lionel Mapoe, who played brilliantly in Super Rugby. Given that Janse van Rensburg is on form at the moment, given that Mapoe is very confident playing outside him, it would make sense to play the two of them, but my view is that they’re possibly going to go with (Damian) De Allende and (Juan) De Jongh.”
