Team effort gives Jantjies chance to shine
If Elton Jantjies stays fit he will be the Springbok flyhalf for the three-Test series against Ireland in June, says Jacques van der Westhuyzen.
|||Johannesburg - If Elton Jantjies stays fit he will be the Springbok flyhalf for the three-Test series against Ireland in June.
This in spite of the fact some critics have questioned the Lions’ No 10’s apparent weakness in defence – he’s missed 18 of the 58 tackles he’s been asked to pull off up to now.
What is forgotten though is the influence he’s had on his team winning five of their seven matches to date, and this includes his excellent reading of the game, his decision-making and his game management.Jantjies is the form No 10 in South Africa and he’s shown he has the X-factor that can swing matches his team’s way.
But the Lions pivot has only managed to jump to the front of the No 10 queue because he’s been given the platform to play his game.The Lions lead the competition in the category “defenders beaten” and that’s got plenty to do with how Jantjies and the man on his inside, Faf de Klerk (and in recent weeks Ross Cronje), have set up those around them, but it’s also down to the quality front foot ball the backs have received from the forwards.So while De Klerk and Jantjies and most of the men outside of them have grabbed the attention of the fans, it’s the Lions pack that have laid the foundation for the strong performances up to now.
And, captain Warren Whiteley was quick to come up for his forwards when he was asked about Jantjies’ Man of the Match performance following the win against the Stormers last weekend.“It’s fantastic for us (that Elton is playing with so much confidence),” said Whiteley.
“But it’s a collective effort. At the end of the day Elton wouldn’t perform like this if he didn’t have a pack that put in the hard yards, if the props didn’t scrum well, if the locks didn’t grind… he wouldn’t get that front foot ball.
“Yes, Elton’s playing with magnificent confidence, but collectively as a team the last two weeks have been fantastic. It’s now crucial though to find consistency in our performances.
”The Lions, coming off wins against the Sharks and Stormers, travel to Port Elizabeth this weekend for a date with the Southern Kings.Whiteley added his team had found the right recipe for success in the last fortnight, following their narrow defeat by the Crusaders.
“The decision-making and our game management has improved and we’ve got the balance right in the last two weeks,” said the skipper.“Perhaps we’re still forcing things a bit in our own half, but we’ll keep looking for opportunities and back ourselves to take them.
”The Lions lead the way among the South African teams in clean breaks, metres run, defenders beaten and offloads – the key components for a successful attack-minded game – but up front, where the hard work is done, Johan Ackermann’s men are also in good shape.
They’re best of the bunch in ruck success, which has so far allowed De Klerk and Jantjies to get their team on the front foot and play the attacking rugby they’ve produced up to now, while they’re second only to the Bulls in line-out success and third behind the Kings and Sharks in scrum success.
As Ackermann said after the Stormers match: “Our first phases possession was very good, we got our share of possession from the scrums and line-outs … and that allowed Elton and Faf to make big contributions with their little individual touches.”Ackermann will name his team for the Kings match around midday today.
The Star