Elton Jantjies - Not SA's solution at Fly Half

[TRF_stormer2010]

Not to get on the band wagon but though Jantjies might look like a thug, Louis Koen is a well groomed smooth talking BS artist. I've done business with him and he rides you like no tomorrow but when the ball is in his court. I'd much rather have dealings with the likes of Jantjies.

Anyway, rugby..

Ja, I think SA has been in a bit of a predicament at 9, 10 and 15 ever since 2007. Joost and then FdP are hard 9s to replace and carried their 10s. With them out or out of form when FdP carried those injuries the limits of likes of Steyn, Kirchner etc get exposed.

We ruined Goosen pushing too hard while Pollard has been in and out of the hospital and Lambie has been moved around so much trying to plug holes and then when he got his chance Stander broke him for good.

Cronje is ATM our most complete 10 and it took him going to the Kings without pay to get consistent starts. Too old to invest in particularly with his stint in japan for at least this year? I don't think so myself but don't think AC will look past Jantjies TBH.

As a Stormers supporter I will aways carry my reservations regarding Jantjies. That one year stint with us while the Lions were out he was useless playing outside of Jo'burg's hard surfaces and in a tighter game plan.

I still say give Pollard a good run. At SR first though.

 

[Gavin]

We ruined Goosen pushing too hard while Pollard has been in and out of the hospital and Lambie has been moved around so much trying to plug holes and then when he got his chance Stander broke him for good.

I still say give Pollard a good run. At SR first though.

That whole Goosen situation is mental when you consider the potential he had. Is it really a situation that he was pushed too hard and that is why he left for France and ultimately retirement?

Pollard appears like the future IMO, but we don't want another Goosen situation.

 

[TRF_heineken]

That whole Goosen situation is mental when you consider the potential he had. Is it really a situation that he was pushed too hard and that is why he left for France and ultimately retirement?

Pollard appears like the future IMO, but we don't want another Goosen situation.

I think Goosen will make a return to rugby. Perhaps sooner than we think now that the Cheetahs are going to play Pro12. I think his retirement was more of a plan to leave France ASAP, than ending his rugby career. He's still so young, and it wouldn't surprize me at all if he makes his return in 2018.

 

[Penne Rara]

I think his retirement was more of a plan to leave France ASAP

Well, I can only understand him too well. France is possibly one of the worst places in the top 10 rugby nations to play this game at a high level, whatever your income is.

That being said, I hope Pollard can get back to his top form. He has a potentially bright future ahead of him.

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

That whole Goosen situation is mental when you consider the potential he had. Is it really a situation that he was pushed too hard and that is why he left for France and ultimately retirement?

Pollard appears like the future IMO, but we don't want another Goosen situation.

I don't know what the circumstances surrounding his retirement are/were but it was crazy the way he was promoted as the SA rugby Messiah in our local media and the lad was thrust into starting against the top team in the world at test level straight out of school (a game which we won largely thanks to him) all while his body was still maturing never mind the kind of mental pressure he was certainly under to perform off the bat so to speak. The media hype was staggering. Can't blame him for wanting to get away from under that weight.

 

[George Ford]

Very different flyhalves in character but since we are comparing the best we have on offer in 10: Jantjies v Pollard & Lambie. As far as my knowledge serves me, I will draw my conclusion based on the following:
1. Test record - Pollard 1st, Jantjies 2nd, Lambie 3rd.
2. Super Rugby / Domestic form - Jantjies 1st, Lambie 2nd, Pollard 3rd.

Yes, it's unfair to use number 2 as Pollard hasn't been as long on the scene as the other 2, so 1 should be the only marker. But 2 is very much relevant in determining the next best (emphasis on this).

1. perhaps shows that given the chance to have a consistent run, Pollard does have the higher ceiling than both, BUT the last time he performed was in the Heynecke Meyer era which effectively ended in 2015 and rugby has moved past that cycle ever since, so at current there is a question mark hanging over whether Pollard's ability does compliment the preferred expanded brand of rugby, whereas, Elton has actually proven to excel at. And the latter put all the doubts of the Sharks QF and last year's final to bed with his performance over the weekend.

As for his appearance - nothing different to Kiwi players.

 

[Big_Grumper]

Poor lad. That's a lot to go through at such a young age. One assumes he's mentally strong to remain so resilient.

 

[Gavin]

I don't know what the circumstances surrounding his retirement are/were but it was crazy the way he was promoted as the SA rugby Messiah in our local media and the lad was thrust into starting against the top team in the world at test level straight out of school (a game which we won largely thanks to him) all while his body was still maturing never mind the kind of mental pressure he was certainly under to perform off the bat so to speak. The media hype was staggering. Can't blame him for wanting to get away from under that weight.

It is very unfortunate. I compare him to James O'Connor. A young lad who was thrust into the lime light and seen as the next Messiah for his country but ultimately not given enough support and an arm around his shoulder.

 

[Caitlyn Jenner]

It is very unfortunate. I compare him to James O'Connor. A young lad who was thrust into the lime light and seen as the next Messiah for his country but ultimately not given enough support and an arm around his shoulder.

Even as a Kiwi, I've always found it a massive shame what happened with JOC. He was so young and had such an amazing career ahead of him. Shame the way things turned out.

 

[mania]

Appearance says a lot about people

appearance says nothing about the content of ones character. appearance is just aesthetics, window dressing.
you cant judge a book by its cover. i thought everyone knew that

It's just something that is making it less enjoyable to watch when the Bokke play and you have to look at him most of the time...

can you honestly not see past it and see him for his rugby? ok his skill levels are low and i agree with your post bar his appearance. but if he picks up his game , matures and becomes a better player will you still see only his hairstyle?

 

[die_mole]

appearance says nothing about the content of ones character. appearance is just aesthetics, window dressing.
you cant judge a book by its cover. i thought everyone knew that


can you honestly not see past it and see him for his rugby? ok his skill levels are low and i agree with your post bar his appearance. but if he picks up his game , matures and becomes a better player will you still see only his hairstyle?

Appearance doesn't say much about a person. Caring about a persons appearance says a lot about that person however.

 

[TRF_heineken]

can you honestly not see past it and see him for his rugby? ok his skill levels are low and i agree with your post bar his appearance. but if he picks up his game , matures and becomes a better player will you still see only his hairstyle?

Well it will be difficult to change my opinion of him if he improves and matures. It's just that I have met him personally (he was with my brother at Uni, they played together for the Varsity team), and based on what i've experienced, it will take a lot to change my viewpoint, but I guess time will tell...

 

[mania]

It's just that I have met him personally (he was with my brother at Uni, they played together for the Varsity team)

ah its personal. dude u need to state that real early on.
you sound like a biggot when in actual fact your just talking about jantjes on a personal level. thats way different
its ok to have personal dislikes but it sounded like you applied your jantjes measure to all and sundry.

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

The man performed well I thought in a high pressure final, yesterday - with commentators commending his touchline conversion and his defensive play to hold up Crotty and win the turnover. Sounds lie he did decent in the semi too. Doesn't surprise me in the slightest as I consider him a consistent performer under Ackermann, who knows how to use him.

And he was far better presented than either coach in my opinion! Ackerman looked like he'd been casted to play Robinson Crusoe and Robertson looked like an ageing rocker in a mid-life crisis!

 

[TRF_heineken]

The man performed well I thought in a high pressure final, yesterday - with commentators commending his touchline conversion and his defensive play to hold up Crotty and win the turnover. Sounds lie he did decent in the semi too. Doesn't surprise me in the slightest as I consider him a consistent performer under Ackermann, who knows how to use him.

And he was far better presented than either coach in my opinion! Ackerman looked like he'd been casted to play Robinson Crusoe and Robertson looked like an ageing rocker in a mid-life crisis!

He kicked well most of the time. But apart from the Crotty turnover, he was poor on defence. Tamanivalu had a roaring time running at his channel. Have to give him props for the goal line conversion he slotted over...

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

Jantjies to me had a mixed bag leaning towards decent. Two Crusaders tries came off of errors by him; kick directly into touch saw the Crusaders cross after being gifted a scrum in the centre of the field and the turn over that lead to Tamanivalu's try came off his positioning and placement of the ball being tackled by Read. Other than that he went okay apart from giving away meters upon meters in defens; 2 tackles, 2 missed tackles.

 

[Cruz_del_Sur]

Jantjies to me had a mixed bag leaning towards decent. Two Crusaders tries came off of errors by him; kick directly into touch saw the Crusaders cross after being gifted a scrum in the centre of the field and the turn over that lead to Tamanivalu's try came off his positioning and placement of the ball being tackled by Read. Other than that he went okay apart from giving away meters upon meters in defens; 2 tackles, 2 missed tackles.

How is that decent!
You're too kind.

 

[Hound]

He is a bloody big change of gears for a country with largely conservative views on rugby. I wouldn't expect a quick transition with him.

I mean this is the country that gives the world Naas Botha, Morne Steyn and held a "When building a rugby side, you pick the biggest, baddest, best tighthead possible and go from there" attitude far longer than any other Southern Hemisphere nation.

I'm not dumping on that though... I'm a Brumbies fan, we're basically what you get if you slap the Bulls down in Australia. I'd rather win ugly than lose pretty.

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

That was the best Jantjies performance in terms of following AC's dumb kick obsessed tactics today I thought. Probably what kept Pollard on the bench. As the Aussie commentators said though, Elton barely ran once in the first 60mins. You can bet that wasn't through choice.

As for Elton & Faf, I'm not going to get into that discussion, as we all know by now that Faf is your lovechild and that whatever we say on this matter falls on deaf ears...

Seems Faf de Clerk has earned a few more adoptive parents from fans of the English league!

As good a back-to-back contribution as you'll see from Faf.

Outstanding.

That game definitely burst the bubble of last week. Faf de Klerk looked head & shoulders above everyone else on the pitch.

I have to say I personally only consider him a top 4 or 5 scrum half in the world, I wouldn't go wild about him (I just think he and Elton complimented each other beautifully). If it was just money that took him north, then fair enough - there is nothing you can do about that. But looking at the way he was benched by both the Lions and Boks makes me think other matters may have been at play. With the lack of depth at that position he is a big loss for the Boks in my opinion. Cronje and Hougard were both very ordinary today.

 

[sigesige00]

How good is Jantjies' DG technique?