My boy Jantjies

Time to beat the drum again.

Far as I can tell he was the pick of our tens last weekend.

Looks easily our best positional kicker. Made some mistakes but generally dominated. 

Jantjies10 Pollard 12 Kriel 13 Willie 15

Combrink, Dayimani, Nkosi, Dyanti, Ismael

That back line could dominate. 

Pollard and Faf have never synergised like Jantjies and Faf. The difference was quite clear last year each time Jantjies came on and Pollard move up the line.

Pollard is cleverer, faster, better defender, better off loader and just above DDA in every single facet.

At the WC we want the BIP players and the best combos possible. On the evidence of last year I think the above is as good as it's gonna get. 

I am a Jantjies fan.

My reservation is, he hasn't stepped up as an international 10 for the Boks.

He has his moments, but makes too many errors at international level.

My thoughts...

I'd like to see Faf, Jantjies and Pollard at 9,10,12

It also allows Jantjies and Pollard to interchange as the role dictates during the game.

We've judged him largely on his performances under Coetzee. And/Or perhaps used that pe riod as solidifying evidence of his lack of BMT.

One weekend he would play the most horrible test match against a sub par test side(Argentina or Australia) and then the following weekend dominate a kiwi 10(Boudie, Richie) playing for the Canes, Saders, Lander etc...all better teams than the test sides that he apparently doesnt have the skill to navigate.

I keep reminding people that aside from Eben, nobody else had any BMT under Coetzee at all.

Under Erasmus and with Pollard outside him Jantjies lookd exactly like the SR dominating 10 that he has been for yonks now. He never looked bad or like he didnt belong for a single second last year. On the contrary he looked dangerous and much more likely to unlock the defense than Pollard did.

The problem has NOT been Jantjies. The problem has been the coaching and the game plan.

@Plum

I half agree.

Coetzee + Jantjies was always a shit combo.

Erasmus is a more enterprising coach and hopefully he will get the best out of Jantjies.

In saying that, whilst EJ is an entertaining player, even for the Lions, he tends to make a lot of mistakes. Those may be exposed more at the international stage.

But I too would also like to see him given an extended role there for a season, with HP outside of him.

The only problem I have with that 9,10,12,13 is who is going to straighten the attack. 

Jantjies and Pollard at 12 are both gonna go sideways naturally and Kriel also likes to go on the outside which will eat up the space for our wings. 

Serfontein is a good option for his ability to straighten the attack or Esterhuizen if you wanna just crash at 10/12 channel to draw defence in. 

I wouldn't like to see Pollard being run straight at those channels for an extended campaign cos it will strain the body.

Pollard to start and Jantjies comes on when it's a bit looser in the last 20.

Jantjies is very accurate with ball out of hand. Pinpoint accurate.

He's impressive at Super Rugby level and that's what got him his call up ... apart from being a player of colour.

I haven't seen a single test match of his that left me with a good impression. He's dead ordinary ... in fact I rate Robert Du Preez as the better 10 of the two.

Blaming the coach for his woeful showing isn't really fair. He didn't impress under Rassie last year either. NOT ONCE!!

How much longer are you going to kick this dead horse, Plum?

He's had more than enough opportunities to show us his magic ...

Pollard is not a 12 and playing him there so that Jantjies can come in is madness.  Rather leave our best 10 where he is ... and when I say our best 10, I mean mentally as well. Jantjies doesn't have the heart to play test match rugby.

Let's give someone else a shot.

Plum

Sorry to differ - but you may have Jantjies.  Not for me though.   I watched him in the Jaguars match and he was medium to poor.  His passing game was iffy and often nothing more than hospital passes with defenders on top of the recipients.    That means he should not have made the passes at all since the recipients knocked the balls on.

His kicking game was good enough - his defense questionable.

Sorry - but he is not what he is made out to be.   I know he kept Van der Walt out of playing for the Lions.   Van der Walt moved to Edinburgh and he is now one of the better flyhalfs in both the PRO 14 and the European Champions Cup.   If Jantjies played in those two series he would not have succeeded the way Van der Walt did.    

CC

My hope for him is centred around the idea that the Bok pack was on the front foot a lot more last year than ever in the last five.

The concern is that Jantjeis looks like our only 10 that can capitalise on that sufficiently.

Personally i hope Willemse and Rob Du Preez end up taking it to the next level. Nothing against any of those guys. Honestly, Rob's season was a tad dissapointing last year. I'm sure most agree.

Jean-Luc Dups looked better than all of them until he got injured. Still holding out a lot of hope for him too. Poor guy has been very unlucky.

On another note...Reinach aint looking too bad these days. Have seen a bit of him lately and while i might be very wrong, he looks to have stepped his game up a gear. The world is very very lucky that Faf wasnt born with Reinach's body.

Mike...ya okay guy.

Plum

In his latest match for Northampton Reinach scored two tries and was the key to the huge win recorded by the team.    

Reinach has had a great season for saints so far. Most of his tries have been down to his impressive athleticism. 

Fafs back up? Maybe, but epidermal tint could be an issue.

Jantjies reminds me of Beale in that he likes to drift out on attack. Is he better than Pollard? For the Boks? No. Pollard was the better 10 throughout last season. Jantjies' best spell was in the second half of the away NZ test for a couple of attacks. We have a problem creating space out wide and Jantjies compounds this problem. We end up being stuffed around midfield. Most of the ball that did find itd way wide resulted in our wings kicking or cutting back inside where they'd be greeted by two to three defenders. Pollard gets the team going forward. Jantjies cannot compete with Pollard's ability to play directly. 

The real issue for me though is how do we free up our distribution chain? Willie is now feeding our centres who die with the ball. Inside centre received 6.3% of total team possession, which is almost as much as flyhalf. We don't put the ball in the hands of our 10 enough, our wings received 3.9% and 3.0% of possession last season. This is roughly 40% less than New Zealand. Our 14s combined for 10 passes and 78 runs, whereas NZ got 78 passes and 127 runs. Jantjies didn't solve this problem. In fact, our clunkiest attacking play involved him. Review the Aussie test in Brisbane. The EOYT was scarcely better. We're relying on ball carriers who cannot sustain an attacking sequence, who pose little to no threat of an offload or deft pass, or sense of defensive shape and pressure. Damian and Steph are prime culprits. The latter, while being excellent in some tests, he is still a blunt instrument. He had a total of 177 possessions and distributed 23% of that. NZ have their primary forward carriers achieve roughly a 60/40 split either way. They like to play through their locks more. So, Jantjies fanning out didn't create space or amplify the threat of these carriers. Pollard did. For this season, we need more ball in 10s hands and we need a centre pairing which can create that space. Once NZ get the ball to 13 their back three come into the game wide. Kriel had numerous opportunities to do the same, but failed. There is an over reliance on Willie to be that connector, but under Rassie he is feeding dead-end runners. 

This!!

Nice posts guys.

Moz, all the kiwi SR teams have been using rush defense against Jantjies/Lions and he's come out on top more often than not.

Willemse does look like a real talent. He could play at 15 as well.

Jantjies is my boy and I'll back him until he drops to second in SA at SR level.

I'd like to see him start a game this year for the Boks.

Plum

The problem is you start a thread dealing with flyhalf play and the orcs turned it into a discussion of De Allende, Kriel, Du Toit  and everything bar line-out discussion.   It is always wise to ignore their BS.

Nkosi is an open highway on defence. Mapimpi is better. So too Kolbe. Duhan is an interesting prospect. He is too white to be a Bok; Rassie will never cap him. Kriel has potential, but is hopeless between the ears. 

Damian's 2018 can be summed up thus: 

Brain.exe has encountered an error and needs to close

@ Auge

I disagree with you about Nkosi and Mapimpis defence.  

Have you maybe switched them accidentally. Mapimpi seems work shy and reluctant on defence.

While reviewing the EOYT I saw horrendous moments on defence from Nkosi. He seems to struggle to keep up with play. He is the best of our wings in the air, though not perfect. Dyantyi is the worst under the high ball. I think Mapimpi had a better campaign in the RC than Nkosi had at any point in the season. Overall, I really would like to see Duhan. Mapoe reads play very well, I think that part of his game is underrated. 

Perhaps it would be fruitful to review the influence of Am in relation to the wings. He was more assured defensively. There were instances where Nkosi was isolated. I might review this at some point. 

Nkosi the Durban Bullet Train

Getting a little hot under the collar Rump. Why so flustered? Remember to count to 100 before posting, or else your wife is going to cancel your internet subscription again. She doesn't appreciate stepping on broken keys either. The aftermath of following Mozart around last week: 

Dyantyi often rushes up out of the line. I like him, but his EOYT was quite poor. Rushing out of position has been a common thing throughout the test season. Nkosi was comprehensively outclassed by Kolbe. The only wing who genuinely threatened to break defences on his own. Unless you can cite some references. 

So stupid, yet you have been able to refute nothing. Always a sign of weakness and incompetence. Hence you end up frothing at the mouth, again. If you have something rugby related you can refute, then do it. Any game of last test season. Any player. I dare you.

Dave

Don't ever get into a discussion with the moronic orcs.   The main one is 95% rugby ignorant and is constantly lying about players and his sidekick is 100% so.    

On one hand we have bitter and angry members who consistently tell everyone who threatens their bubble they are stupid etc; the other, members who provide considerable information for open ended discussion. The former becomes irrationally aggressive because they feel a sense of entitlement punctuated by narcissism. Managing the board, determining who can and should post, who can and should be interacted with, what's right and acceptable. When anyone threatens their hierarchy, they respond with aggression. All I see is blood in the water, a wounded little animal. You can say I am stupid, you can say whatever you want about me, it really doesn't matter. It doesn't change reality, only your feelings and your perception of said reality. You also can't explain my information away. You can n ever form any kind of retort. 

The three stooges have never been able to accomplish such a feat. When pressed for something remotely resembling rugby acumen, they twist and turn to weasel their way out of the discussion each and every time, turning the discussion into a mud slinging contest. That's what it's all about. 

You think I am wrong Lügnerin, what inspired your username?