Cobus' golden winter glows ever brighter

LOUIS Rees-Zammit is the hottest try-scoring property in the Premiership.

- NICK CAIN

But even though the 18year-old Welsh flyer’s first hat-trick for Gloucester earned them two losing bonus points at Northampton, he was upstaged by Cobus Reinach.

It has been a golden few months for the Saints South African scrum-half, and having returned to Franklin’s Gardens with a World Cup winner’s medal, he continued his rich vein of form with a brace of tries which put Saints back at the top of the table.

Reinach might not have Rees-Zammit’s blistering sprinting speed, but he showed here that he is not just one of the fastest scrum-halves in the pro game, he is one with unrivalled finishing skills, by ensuring that Northampton kept their noses in front in this entertaining, closely fought contest.

Although Rees-Zammit drew first blood when he raced onto a Mark Atkinson grubber for his first try after just seven minutes – which with Danny Cipriani converting gave Gloucester a 7-0 lead – Northampton did not take long to respond.