Elton Jantjies has struggled in the Springbok jersey. After unconvincing performances in seven Tests, lets examine the possible reasons for Jantjies’ inability to reproduce his superb Super Rugby form at Test level.
Does Jantjies have the mental strength to perform at Test level?
It’s a massive leap from Super Rugby to Test rugby. Or so people always say.
The Lions have faced New Zealand teams in this year’s Super Rugby competition. They have done battle against the Chiefs, the Highlanders, the Crusaders, the Hurricanes and the Blues, and not in one of those outings did Jantjies look the way he does when playing with the Boks. Not even in the Super Rugby final.
Those New Zealand teams are filled with great players, including top All Blacks, yet in some of those games Jantjies steered the Lions to victory.
So I highly doubt that Jantjies just doesn’t have the mental capacity to perform in big matches.
Is Faf de Klerk a piece of the puzzle?
De Klerk is another man who has not lived up to his Super Rugby glory. We have seen that he is not really a kicking scrumhalf, and his distribution has also been faulty at times.
One has to wonder whether De Klerk’s erratic passing has something to do with Jantjies’ struggling form.
Yes, De Klerk’s passes sometimes really put Jantjies under pressure, but the flyhalf has often been poor even when De Klerk was nowhere near him.
I don’t think De Klerk is to blame, but I do think that his distribution has played a part in the Jantjies’ struggles.
The Allister Coetzee factor
Elton Jantjies had a tough time in 2013. He arrived in Cape Town, his father suddenly passed away and he was given a couple of weeks off. He came back in time for the Stormers’ Super Rugby season opener against the Bulls at Loftus, but it was a nightmarish affair for Jantjies, marred by missed penalties and an out-of-tune performance. And that would become his script for the rest of the season.
But before he went to Allister Coetzee’s Stormers, his attacking flair made him a standout.
Jantjies was an out-and-out attacking player. He effortlessly put players around him into space. He took the ball to the line very flat. He had quick feet and he was a creator. (Much like his performances in this year’s Super Rugby competition).
But what went wrong?
The Stormers were focused on conservative rugby. Safe rugby. They emphasised defence and a strong tactical game (what do you think they expected their pivot to do with the boot?). Obviously, this was not Jantjies’ style. Maybe he felt boxed in. Out of place. Maybe he under-performed because he had to play a different game all of a sudden. Or, perhaps, he couldn’t perform because he didn’t have the backing of the coach to play his game.
Now Jantjies is playing under the same coach.
Last week Coetzee spoke about producing a ‘10 out of 10’ performance and winning the set-piece battle ‘before anything else’, dominating the territorial contest ‘because you can’t score 70-metre tries in Test rugby’, and playing in the right areas of the field.
I could be wrong, but that doesn’t exactly sound like the game plan Jantjies would flourish in.
Perhaps he and Coetzee are just not a good fit.
The Star