Does Jantjies fit into the Springbok plan?

WITH Patrick Lambie being ruled out after injury and now working his way back into the Springbok fold, Lions flyhalf Elton Jantjies has been the man in the number 10 jumper.

But after producing superb form in the Super Rugby competition, the Johannesburg man has struggled and has failed to make an impact in his seven test performances thus far.

It seems as though he cannot adjust to the massive leap from Super Rugby to Test rugby.

He has shown that he has the mental capabilities to get the job done, having played against New Zealand teams during the Super Rugby competition, and performing under immense pressure in the Super Rugby final.

So one needs to ask then if Faf de Klerk is the right piece for the Bok puzzle.

De Klerk and Jantjies gelled at Super Rugby level, both starting for the Lions.

But Faf is not a kicking scrumhalf, and his distribution has at times been faulty.

Jantjies has looked poor when De Klerk was nowhere near him, so he is not to blame, but his distribution has played a part in Jantjies’s struggles.

Jantjies has had a tough time in 2013, with his father suddenly passing away, resulting in a couple of weeks off.

He came back in time for the Stormers’ Super Rugby season opener against the Bulls at Loftus, where it was a nightmare affair, marred with missed penalties and an out-of-tune performance which became the script for the rest of the season.

Before arriving on the Stormers and Allister Coetzee’s door step, Jantjies was an attacking player, and he clearly did not fit in at the Stormers, who played safe, conservative rugby.

He obviously felt boxed in, under-performing due to having to play a different brand of rugby and not having the backline to support his style of play.

Now he is playing under the same coach in the green and gold, and week in and not he is not performing.

He looks like a player who is lacking confidence.

He has produced horrible mistakes, tactically and technically.

The question is: are the mistakes coming from a lapse of concentration or from not having the right kind of support to just play his game?

It is not clear if he has that kind of backing from Coetzee, but it is highly unlikely.

Because if he did, he would play with confidence, calmness and the flair with which he played before he put on the Bok jersey.

Coetzee spoke about producing a ’10 out of 10′ performance, winning the set-piece battle before anything else, as one cannot score 70 metre tries in test rugby.

That does not sound like the game plan that Elton likes to play and would flourish from.

Perhaps he and Coetzee are just not a good fit.

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