Why Boks are thrilled to have Elton Jantjies back in squad | The Citizen

Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber and SA Rugby Director of Rugby Rassie Erasmus are both thrilled to have a Test veteran like flyhalf Elton Jantjies to fall back on in their time of need.

Injuries to Handre Pollard and Damian Willemse necessitated a call-up for a back-up flyhalf ahead of the Rugby Championship, with Jantjies then brought into the squad last week.

The Boks can now rest easy as they prepare for a massive international season, knowing that if needed, Jantjies will be able to slot straight into the playing setup.

‘Been in environment’

“We follow so-called roadmaps on almost 70 players and, obviously, with the two injuries last weekend and Manie being the only flyhalf still standing, how great is that to fall back on an experienced guy like Elton,” said Nienaber at a Bok presser on Tuesday.

“He is close to 50 Test matches and he’s been in our environment. It’s nice to get him in the mix. In a week or two, we could have four (fit) flyhalves present.

“Elton is probably our fourth choice in the position and again, I’m saying how lucky we are to have the depth that means a guy of his standard is ‘only’ our fourth-choice option.”

Willemse fitness

Erasmus is, however, hopeful that Willemse will be fit for the Rugby Championship opener against Australia at Loftus on 8 July, but admits that having Jantjies available allows the players to ease back from their injuries and not rush anything.

“What won’t be immediately apparent to outsiders is that there’s no pressure now on Handre to rush back from his injury,” explained Erasmus.

“There’s no pressure on Damian too. Both those men will be very important to our cause going forward. Not having a fourth 10 here would’ve meant undue attention on Handre and when he’ll be ready.

“He can now take his time and heal properly. There’s a good chance anyway that Damian will be cleared, which is great. But still, we didn’t want a situation where we had to force guys to get fit just because we didn’t have backup.

“But he (Jantjies) deserves a chance. I’m not sure if he will play in the Australian Test. It will depend on how quickly Damian recovers, that will be our marker.”

Split squads

The Bok management have admitted that they will be splitting their squads for the opening two games of the competition, and will send close to a full team to New Zealand for their game against the All Blacks a week early.

If he is able to prove his fitness by then Pollard will likely be part of that group, but it is expected that he will be available for at least the final game of the Rugby Championship against Argentina at Ellis Park on 29 July.