‘Give Elton his Test chance’
25 Sep 2012
Golden Lions coach Johan Ackermann says flyhalf Elton Jantjies deserves a fair opportunity with the Springboks.
This is the 22-year-old pivot’s fourth Bok call-up since 2010, but he is yet to make his official Test debut.
Jantjies was included in Heyneke Meyer’s squad for the June Test series against England and the opening Rugby Championship Test against Argentina, but was dropped following the fixture in Cape Town as Pat Lambie and Johan Goosen provided back-up for Morne Steyn during the tours to South America and Australasia.
The reactions from pundits and on social networks have varied, with some believing Jantjies’ Super Rugby and Currie Cup form in recent seasons proves he’s capable of excelling at the highest level, while others argue he’s just not Test quality.
However, Ackermann believes he has the ability to make an impact on the international scene.
‘Every flyhalf has his weaknesses and strengths. In terms of the total package, Elton has what it takes to make things happen for the Springboks,’ Ackermann told keo.co.za. ‘I really hope Elton gets some game time over the next two Tests – the only way he’s going to prove himself is on the field.
‘I’d rather have him playing with the Lions in the Currie Cup if he’s not going to be used.’
Ackermann added that Jantjies’ confidence has taken a hit because of the lack of faith in him at Test level.
‘One week, he’s seen as the second choice behind Morne Steyn. Then suddenly, he’s dropped, without getting a run.
‘This had a negative effect on the player. But I kept him motivated when he returned to the Lions. I told him to keep focusing on his game, hold on to his confidence and remain consistent. He’s done that and he’s been the in-form flyhalf in the Currie Cup. He deserves his Test chance.
‘Heyneke should go with the two young flyhalves [Goosen and Jantjies] against the Wallabies and All Blacks. Morne is struggling and needs a mental break from rugby. Johan should start as he’s been in the squad in recent weeks, and Elton can come off the bench.’
Meanwhile, the Lions have also lost prop CJ van der Linde and fullback Jaco Taute to Bok duty.
Ackermann believes 21-year-old Taute could be pushed straight into the mix.
‘He’s the kind of the player the Springboks need,’ said Ackermann. ‘He motivates the players around him. He’s big and strong, and makes an impact whenever he gets the ball.
‘He’s returned from injury two weeks ago, so he shouldn’t start. But he’ll be a great option on the bench as he can play most positions in the backline – from inside centre to fullback.’
By Gareth Duncan
60 Comments
25 Sep 2012, 06:58 am
you’re pissing against the wind with heyneke ackers…elton won’t be in the match 22 come the weekend.
25 Sep 2012, 06:59 am
sadly opportunity in SA is more about your relationship with the coach than your ability…nepotism, african style. Whereas in NZ and Aus it’s simply about if you’re the best or not…fullstop. The best players play and the team wins…simple. But we in Bok rugby have to make things soooo damn complicated for ourselves
25 Sep 2012, 07:19 am
For as long as HM believes in his ability to coach players back to form, ala Bryan Habana, Elton will not play for the boks. He might as well take four year break from SA rugby and come back when we a new coach.
Steyn and Goosen are the chosen ones…
25 Sep 2012, 07:45 am
Ug, why o why is it so difficult to just make rugby decisions?
HM shouldnt get sentimental and MS wont break into two pieces if he gets dropped. What does this poor guy have to do to get a break from it all? This cant be good for the player…
Goosen and Jantjies/Lambie is the future. They are better flyhalves and should be receiving the encouragement and belief from their coach by awarding them the responsibility going forward. By keeping Steyn, HM is neglecting Jantjies and is wasting time to help the player at top level.
They are better and Steyn is past his prime. He had a great test career he can be proud of. He’s out of form and currently not the best 10. Its not that big a deal or it shouldnt be.
25 Sep 2012, 08:00 am
It is absolutely pathetic that Heyneke still believe in this day and age you can carry out of form players in your run-on 15 while they “regain” form.
The additional pressure you place on the other 14 players is unfair and stupid.
25 Sep 2012, 08:07 am
@Transformation-1: Hahahahahaha. Remember our bet! Just so you know. I take cash. Morne to start on Saturday. Esspecially if Frans is out. He is going to panic about too many young players on the field.
25 Sep 2012, 08:15 am
@Craven-5:
He’s just doesnt seem to be thinking rationally. Jantjies and Lambie deserve the confidence and belief from HM. They should be awarded the responsibility and guided to become test players. And what a contradiction by supporting Steyn when he should be doing this with young players (who are better anyway) going forward. Why dont they deserve this blind faith and support?
25 Sep 2012, 08:17 am
The way HM is talking, it sounds like the only way Jantjies is going to be in the match 22 is if Goosen is ruled out. Even then Jantjies, like against England, wont get any game time…
25 Sep 2012, 08:33 am
Are there any coaches from say u/9 level up left in SA who has not had his say on what Meyer should do?
25 Sep 2012, 08:34 am
Cooper slams ‘toxic’ Wallabies
View 13 comments Comment on this story2012-09-24 08:26Sydney
- Outspoken Wallabies flyhalf Quade Cooper has criticised the conservative coaching methods and tactics of Robbie Deans, describing the environment within the Australian team as “toxic”.Cooper, 24, currently sidelined with a knee injury, attacked the Australian Rugby Union and the Wallabies set-up in a series of weekend Twitter posts.Cooper criticised Australia’s boring playing style, warning the Wallabies would continue to lose fans and Bledisloe Tests against New Zealand with conservative tactics.Cooper said he was only allowed to play his maverick attacking game in Super Rugby for Queensland and might join close friend and All Black Sonny Bill Williams in Australia’s National Rugby League next season.”I love rugby but there’s s–t going on behind and above the players (that affects) the whole organisation!” Cooper said in one of his tweets.When a Twitter follower told Cooper he should be allowed to play in his trademark exciting manner, the Reds flyhalf responded with an apparent shot at Deans’ conservative tactics.”I am allowed from February to May sir,” Cooper said, in reference to his Super Rugby season under Reds coach Ewen McKenzie.”If people want to go out there and play a boring brand of football then there’s other guys they can pick to do that.”But Cooper later said the tweets were not solely an attack on Deans but on the whole Wallabies/ARU set-up — players, selectors, officials and coaches — which he claimed was not as professional as the last year’s Super Rugby champions Reds.”There’s a lot of people who are afraid to say what they feel so they just go along with it and nothing is going to change,” Cooper told Australian Associated Press late Sunday.”That’s why I feel so strongly as a player. I don’t want to be involved in the toxic environment, and that’s how it is at the moment.”It’s an environment where things aren’t going according to plan and everyone is looking to point the finger.”Cooper, involved in contract negotiations with the ARU, said he loved rugby and wanted to continue to play under Deans, who is under pressure to keep his job amid struggling team performances in this year’s Rugby Championship.”All I want to do is fix the problems and get on with it and win rugby games,” he said.”That’s not to say I’m not supporting Robbie. He’s done a lot for me as a kid coming through.”I’m very respectful to Robbie and I’m very thankful to Robbie as well for giving me the opportunity that he has.”After consecutive defeats to world champions New Zealand, the Wallabies have had narrow Rugby Championship wins over South Africa and Argentina at home and lie second on the standings.AFP
25 Sep 2012, 08:44 am
9. lol
25 Sep 2012, 08:44 am
Jantjies is only the 3rd choice flyhalf – after Heineken’s love interest Morne and then the Goose. It will be like that until Meyer’s last day in charge of the Boks.
It may be easier to get rid of Heineken that it is to get rid of that kak Morne.
25 Sep 2012, 08:45 am
Meyer is an immature, emotionally driven creature and the pressure he is under turns his brain to mash.
Can someone please go and hold his hand and just try to get him to relax.
Everyone can see the players are not enjoying playing under him.
And that is his biggest mistake. Its true that the all blacks are not at their best but you can see that they are all enjoying themselves. Thats why they all give a little extra. Esspecially on defence. And they play as a team.
At the moment meyer is putting some individuals before the team and this has a negative effect on the team.
But fortunately he is on his last strike.
I dont think the public will tolerate him much longer.
25 Sep 2012, 08:49 am
Well…seems that
Mallet
Mitchell
Naka
Akermann
all dont know s hit…….
HM must be the ultimate genius….
25 Sep 2012, 08:57 am
@Hammer-13: I am willing to bet that the fickle Loftus crowd will booo Steyn if he stuffs up again.
25 Sep 2012, 08:57 am
@Slartibartfast-9: at what point did Bok fans ever not comment on an incumbent coach’s decisions or performance?
hahahaha
25 Sep 2012, 08:58 am
@grant10-14: between him and ludeke, they’re the only ones with super rugby titles, so yeah you might be right
25 Sep 2012, 09:00 am
@rossoneri-6: don’t be so quick to celebrate, johan might be declared fit and start
25 Sep 2012, 09:10 am
the ONLY reason MS is in the Bok squad is because of his kicking. He has nothing else in his arsenal. Then can someone explain to me how he can be kept in the squad when his percentages are so poor this season? Meanwhile Jantjies has it all including kicking +80%. Or do we just have a coach who simply does not feel comfortable with players of colour?
25 Sep 2012, 09:15 am
@Hammer-13:
Quote from the Australasian tour: “I’m a guy who backs the players, will give them continuity and once we’ve played away from home then I’ll look at the combinations and be ruthless.” HM doesnt seem to be too ruthless…. When is he going to start to back the right players?
25 Sep 2012, 09:16 am
@grant10-14:
@Transformation-17:
Heineken is a Laager man- the more he gets critisised the more he will go into it and the more “hardkoppig” he will become.
The fact that the boks will be playing an out of sort Aussie team at a high altitude will give him some breathing space though.
I have been away and did not read any local rugby for a while but saw something about Jantjes going to the Sharks. Is that true and final?
25 Sep 2012, 09:18 am
@XV-19:
That WAS the only reason before HM took over. Now it’s because HM trusts him to implement his game plan like he did at the BBs.
A lot of people forget that HM was worried about Steyns kicking BMT at the Bulls, at one stage. So he obviously believes that he can coach him out of this slump, whilst ignoring his other deficiencies.
25 Sep 2012, 09:18 am
@RL-15:
That is a real possibility… His ‘home’ ground advantage just might f*ck him up mentally even more.
25 Sep 2012, 09:31 am
@XV-19: i don’t think it’s about colour but rather about how he perceives players to be following his orders. remember there are about 3 players that are better than zane than meyer has ignored or benched. one assumes zane though not setting the world alight is playing exactly what meyer wants hence his place in the team is not under threat..
25 Sep 2012, 09:32 am
Elton is much better than Steyn any day but Goosen is the complete package .
Even Brummer is starting to show excellent form
25 Sep 2012, 09:39 am
@Robzim-21:
It’s still a rumour that the Lions have a loan deal with the Sharks for the S15.
25 Sep 2012, 09:45 am
@Transformation-24: maybe not colour but then maybe culture? Think of the way de jongh, Kolisi, Jantjies and Beast have been treated…….
25 Sep 2012, 09:45 am
@David-26:
Thanks David.
25 Sep 2012, 09:49 am
I don’t understand his fear at the moment. What’s the worst that happens? He starts with Elton/Goosen/Lambie the moment gets to big for them and they drop deep into the pocket, kick everything, miss their goal kicks, defend poorly and just shovel on ball. Seeing as our current starting flyhalf has this chronic condition already there is nothing to lose by trying someone else.
25 Sep 2012, 09:50 am
@XV-27: ja, but you must understand de jongh and aplon dance after scoring tries, heyneke meyer doesn’t want that stuff.
elton’s haircut just infuriates heyneke meyer!
kolisi is as unfortunate as brussow, the coach just doesn’t rate you.
25 Sep 2012, 09:57 am
@Transformation-30:
lol
25 Sep 2012, 09:59 am
look, i rate elton unfortunately “timing” of your career is sometimes not with you.
imagine being a scrumhalf in the fourie or gregan era…..you have no chance.
it definately looks as if goosen is earmarked as the 10 to take us forward in the coming years. I’m pretty sure heyneke does not want to start with morne but he also does not want 2 flyhalf newbies in his match 22 either. So elton is in the mix in case the goose goes down at the last minute or morne.
It’s a bit kak at the moment if you are elton but my ameteur advice would be for him to keep banging on the door until he bangs it down much in the same way as Morne did in 2009. In 2008 CC morne was the form flyhalf but still didn’t get invited to tour with the boks but Pienaar did who had been playing scrumhalf all CC.
I would say though that Elton needs to start making big statements in superrugby.
25 Sep 2012, 10:01 am
@Transformation-30:
ja, and remember when jean devilliers used to sign his name in the air….
what the hell was that all about?
I wonder if the coaches told him to stop with that kak or if he realized all on his own what a frikken nob he was being?
25 Sep 2012, 10:17 am
fark me! this headline says it all..?..
there are a million farking good flyhalves in this country who will never have the fortune to play for the boks. that is life, deal with it.
there are no fairytales.
he must fight it out with goosen, lambie, fouche, pollard, morne
and still there is no guarantees
for some life is roses for others prickly pears
25 Sep 2012, 10:24 am
At the moment there are two flyhalfs in SA that have daylight between them and the next best lot. And they are Jantjes and Goosen. All the rest – Steyn, Lambie, Grant, Viljoen, Fouche, James – are good old “do the basics right” kind of players, but none of them offer you real game breaking skills. Going forward, a Bok match 22 simply has to have one of Jantjes and Goosen in the starting 15 and the other one on the bench.
25 Sep 2012, 10:27 am
@Brigadier Van Zyl-33:
It was not his own name- it was his girlfriend’s (now wife) name.
Nobody told him to stop- why should they- its like telling Pierre or Bryan to stop pointing upstairs when they score.
People all celebrate in different ways, nothing wrong with that.
25 Sep 2012, 10:37 am
@Robzim-36: exactly, we can’t have a one size fits all approach as if everyone has the same wooden personality as morne steyn! breyton paulse used to somersault, digby ioane dances his moere af, sbw jumps into the crowd, craig burden bangs the ground, a whole host of NZ players do the “dougie”, chris ashton did the “ashsplash” etc.
25 Sep 2012, 10:37 am
@katman-35: 100% agreed. No comparison with the rest.
25 Sep 2012, 10:39 am
@Robzim-36: Signing someone else’s name? That’s fraud then, no matter how you look at it.
25 Sep 2012, 10:44 am
@katman-35:
Exactly… and even when on top of their games none of the rest (including Morne) have that x factor to even come close to players like Carter, Gitau, Wilkenson, Larkam, Cooper and a few more. So picking or persisting with any of them is a complete waste of time if we ever want to take our game to another level.
25 Sep 2012, 10:46 am
not if she’s given him power of attorney to do so
25 Sep 2012, 10:46 am
@XV-19: Meyer is not just picking him for his goal-kicking, it’s his tactical kicking and ability to carry out Heyneke’s gameplan.
25 Sep 2012, 10:46 am
@katman-39:
hehehe…even if it was a loveletter?
25 Sep 2012, 10:46 am
The Test at Loftus is a risk free one for HM, The Boks will win it regardless of whom is playing at 10.
HM does know once he includes Jantjies it will be impossible to drop him, it means he will have to play him against the All Blacks too, based on Jantjies standards as displayed at the Super Rugby level that would be detrimental to HM’s survival.
Simple?
25 Sep 2012, 10:49 am
@Big Hit-42: morne is rubbish Big Hit, he is like charlie hodgson with diarrhoea!
25 Sep 2012, 10:51 am
I don’t rate Steyn either in current form (although he is 10x the goal-kicker Charlie ever was), but do you really want to see Jantjies starting and told to boot the leather off the ball?
25 Sep 2012, 10:53 am
@Transformation-45:
Or like Mike Catt at 38.
25 Sep 2012, 10:53 am
If you had to construct Morne Steyn from other flyhalfs, he’d have Charlie Hodgson’s X-factor, Ronan O’Gara’s defense and Gaffie du Toit’s BMT.
25 Sep 2012, 10:56 am
@Big Hit-46: i know elton won’t! and meyer will be forced to yank him off the field and it will be his kak to deal with!
FFS it’s not like morne steyn is lionel messi or kobe bryant or peyton manning!
there’s only one thing he does well and it is to kick, msteyn admitted LAST year already that the rest of his game is s.hit but the bulls and boks play a kicking so he’s not that worried about varying his play!
25 Sep 2012, 11:05 am
if he plays Pienaar, Steyn, Hougaard, Steyn, JdV, Habana, Kirchner I hope he loses, it will be the penultimate nail in his bossbefokte coffin, Goosen or Jantjies should actually stay the fck away from this fallout, they don’t need their burgeoning careers being besmirched by this non composmentis doos. Let him implode in his own stupor why drag some decent promising rugby careers down with his dumb deluded deficiencies? He’s already compromised many quality players and fckd their potential up hopelessly in his penchant for his one dimensional delusional idiocy killing off their game eg. Hougaard, why risk any more?
Let Meyer lose the next 2 games and move the fck on before bok legacy gets ruined further than it already has. C’mon Aussie do it one more time for your bitter desperate foe, AB’s should wrap it all up a week later in Soweto and this goddamn regression nightmare will be verby.
25 Sep 2012, 11:08 am
@Big Hit-46:
at last, a non-emotional blogger who sees the picture clearly.
hm needs only one thing from his flyhalf – the ability to kick accurately – be it an upnunder, touch or goal kick.
hm does not need sleight of hand, shimmies or any such quade cooperish razzle-dazzle.
all he wants is field position.
25 Sep 2012, 11:16 am
@charo-51: ja, and we wonder why we draw with the likes of argentina
25 Sep 2012, 11:19 am
basically goosen and elton will get extended runs on the eoyt.
they will each get a shot at credible but still beatable opposition and we’ll take it from there.
morne will be with us for many years so its a question of organising the hierarchy pyramid, that’s all.
25 Sep 2012, 11:47 am
Mornes major weakness is his inability to actually run the game, which makes me wonder if HMs persistence with him is due to his belief that FdP will return to take that role.
25 Sep 2012, 12:09 pm
@katman-48: Sheesh. That’s a bit harsh!
Funny though.
Which is really the most important thing…
25 Sep 2012, 12:35 pm
Elton has been the real victim this year
25 Sep 2012, 12:37 pm
@David-54:
He did well to run the Bulls to two superrugby titles, with them being the top try scorers each time (Frans Ludeke was the coach by the way, not Meyer as some dellusional Bulls fans seem to think), or our u21′s to a WC in 2005. No boet, the problem with MS is HM… Meyer is doing him no favour either by keeping him in the team when he’s clearly outta form.
Instead of being remembered as the man who starred in SA’s win over the Lions, the pivot who was part of the team that holds the record score in a superrugby final, or the only FH to have beaten the ABs three times since readmission… He will be remembered for the kak he’s delivered in 2012, thanks to Meyer.
25 Sep 2012, 13:09 pm
I don’t see Elton taking any part this weekend; possibly some game time looms in Soweto for him…
I sure hope that I’m wrong but I can’t help thinking that this whole business of “selecting” him for the Springbok team is in an attempt to stop the rampant Lions from running away with the Currie Cup; that just wouldn’t look good for SA Rugby, would it now?
Elton has been playing so well & I really do feel for the kid at the moment.
25 Sep 2012, 14:11 pm
@BrumbiesBoy-58: @<a
That actually makes a lot of sense as I can't see him being part of the 22 and if he's not part of the 22 why is he being taken away from the Lions?
HM is just very sinister and can't be trusted
25 Sep 2012, 14:23 pm
@papaown-59: Was thinking along very similar lines with Jaco Taute also, although in HM’s favour Taute was injured before.
Taute will “understudy” Zane @ Loftus.
Hahahaha
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