Cobus Reinach: Northampton Saints sign South Africa scrum-half

Cobus Reinach (right) made his South Africa debut in 2014

Premiership side Northampton Saints have signed South Africa scrum-half Cobus Reinach.

The 27-year-old will join from the Durban-based Super Rugby franchise The Sharks from next season.

Reinach has won 10 caps for South Africa and scored in the Springboks' 31-28 win at Twickenham in 2014.

"We have been watching Cobus for some time and he has proven what a quality player he is," said Northampton director of rugby Jim Mallinder.

"We need quality players in each position to be able to compete at the highest level and Cobus further enhances a position where we are already strong with Nic Groom, Tom Kessell and Alex Mitchell."

With four scrum-halves now signed for next season, stalwart Lee Dickson, 31, who has played 248 times for Saints and featured in eight cup finals, seems set to leave the club. He is out of contract at the end of the season.

Northampton will hope to welcome Reinach with European Champions Cup rugby next season. They moved back into the top six in the Premiership with a 24-14 win over Worcester on Saturday.

"Northampton is a club with a long tradition and strong values," said Reinach.

"Saints have some outstanding players in their squad and I knew after speaking with the coaches that it was a club that I wanted to play for."

Last week, Northampton announced that 11 players had re-signed for the club, including senior players Luther Burrell, Christian Day and Ken Pisi.