I have often been very severe insofar as Jantjie's performances are concerned and has queried his abilities severely. Under the circumstances I think an objective assessment of Jantjies need to be done and I would like comments on my observations and assessment.
Jantjies initially came to the fore as a flyhalf in the Under 20 WC and was then seen as a major future star at higher level. There is no doubt that he did show promise in that competition. He was contracted to the Lions franchise and - whereas some youngsters never matured in playing on senior level Jantjies showed aan ability to move up the order and play on CC and Super Series level. The question always seems to be can he take up the step to test level - hence the need to look at him again - especially with due regard to his performances this year. There are definitely positive indications as well as negatives and the need for adjustment in some cases.
Passing Game
When Jantjies played at Junior WC level his passing game was his real strength. He played nearer to the gain line (was not playing deep in the pocket) and at times himself attacked that line. He put other players into space through his passing game and the way he played. That in itself ws a good start and reason that the good passing game scenario persist to the present time.
The question mark really was did he manage to transfer his early promise to higher level and look at what happened this year. His passing game at times continued to show some positives and I can clearly remember one Lions try where the same strategy used by him as was used in the case of the De Jongh try in the CC Final, oled to a Lions try.
The question remains did he maintain the same level of EXCELLLENCE in his passing game as he had in the Under 20 WC? He somehow seems to have gone backwards in that regard. I wonder whether Meyer had an impact on that one? I would like to use some examples of what was creeping into the Jantjies game that weakened his passing game.
Janjies stand as deep in the pocket as Morne Steyn and that has a serious impact on the efficiency of his passing game especially if the following is borne in mind:-
* Jantjies very rarely on senior level attacks the gain line and the off-load the ball effecively - something he did in the Under 20 WC. The problem is that he is too far back from the gain line when he recevies the ball and the opposition can easily line up their defences.
* I referred to a Lions try scored by the Lions following the same strategy used as was the case in th De Jongh try. In that case Jantjies himself was moving towards the gain line - same as Catrakillis did However, it was not the only time that Jantjies tried that strategy - it was used frequently in macthes throughout the season and never worked. Careful analysus indicated that Jantjies was too far back in the pocket when it was tried and the opposition had ample time to line up their defences and the strategy did not work as foreseen.
* Jantjies developed another problem on senior level. By standing deep in the pocket he got the ball and then ran a few sreps more or less sideways towards the center. He would then pass the ball to the inside center or pass it back to another player running at an angle. Neither of these strategies ever worked out - since the recipient gets the ball with the defenders virtually in top of them.
The question is what went wrong in the Jantjies passing game and why is he standing so deep in the pocket - making his passing game in the main ineffective or in extremely rare cases lead to effective backline attacks? It may be extraneous factors - such as what Meyer requirement from a flyhalf that caused that. In essence it is clear that the Jantjies passing game lost its sparkle. I am not saying he will not be able to overcome the problem - it can be solved, but it would be a hard task.
Strategic Kicking
This also was a strong point in the Jantjies arsenal and in the main remains a strong argument in his arsenal. He did make some strategic kicks that led to Lions tries. His line kicking is good - but he has developed a negative and that is some kicks were too far ahead and could not be followed up effectively by the Lions. That left the way open for counter-attacks. He also made a serious mistake in the Soweto test where he kiked the ball directly into touch - losing his side many meters of territory. On the whole defiitely a pass mark in this case
Goal Kicking
Jantjies no doubt has an excellent goal kicking ability and it rarely let him down. Under pressure he often enough made his kicks count - but there was also cases where under pressure he missed kcks . A definite pass marrk in this repect.
Fielding the Ball under High Kicks
This rarely happened during the past year - where he was not under pressure there was no problem - but under pressure he failed badly. A typical example was in a game against the Stormers where he made no effort whatsoever to catch the ball - which bounced about two meters in fromnt of him and was recovered by the Attacking Stormer players. He definitely fails insofar as this aspect of the game is concerned.
Defence
There are two aspects here - namely defence against players running into the channel (that is face-to-face defence where he has to tackle players from the front) and open field defence. There is really no problem as to his open field defence - it is in fact very good. His defence against players running twoards him is really totally ineffective and borders on the non-existent. Definitely a very weak part of his game that opposition international sides will exploit to the maximum.
Ball Handling Under Pressure
I can remember two clear cases here - both in games against the Stormers/Western Province. In both cases Jantjies made a farce of it and the end result was serious problems for the Lions. The one was an effort by bekker and the other the tackle by Aplon. In both cases Jantjies panicked and the result was extremely problematic for his team. Really bad under this category.
SUMMARY
Taking into account the above I think that Jantjies -
* pass the test insofar as goalkicking an strategic kicking is concerned;
* developed negatives in his passing game that needs urgent attention and needs major changes if he ever wishes to succeed on higher level; and
* failed on the issue of all elements of defence.
UNLESS THERE IS SOME DRASTIC UPGRADING IN EVIDENCE - JANTJIES AT THIS STAGE IS NOT AN INTERNATIONAL LEVEL FLYHALF - HE CAN ONLY BE IN CONTENTION IF HE CORRECT THE DEFICIENCIES AS POINTED OUT ABOVE.
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