Take a look at Elton Jantjies 2016 highlights so far

Video link - http://streamable.com/thf2
 
I see there are still some critics who are not entirely convinced that Jantjies is test level material. Can one give us clear reasons as to why? Not based upon 3 or 4 years ago but the present.  

Jantjies has came a long way and is on top form as my video showed. When was the last time we saw a SA flyhalf flourish like this on high form in SR? Pollard and Lambie has never maintained this kind of form in Super Rugby in their career, they had good moments but never quite had a season that amazed me like this. Don't get me wrong, I do appreciate what both Pollard and Lambie bring to the game as well. 

To me what signifies test material player is one that is consistent and can tick all the boxes of what is needed, Jantjies is doing just that. No doubt.

 What signifies test material, is performance under pressure. The fact that Jantjies folded under pressure against the Canes  is not encouraging. Many of the Jantjies' critics  were clearly saying he was the leading 10 so far this year, myself included. But you can't just wave away the hesitancy, poor decision making, and poor kicking of last week. It was a reminder that the old Jantjies is still in there.
To be honest I think Lambie also crumbles under pressure...witness Japan and Wales on the YE tour in 2014. So for me, in the absence of our best flyhalf Pollard, Jantjies still has a shot. But he can't produce another mare like last Saturday.
In a year or so we may be deciding between, du Preez, Jean Luc du Plessis and April who is far more dangerous ball in hand than Jantjies

 I am not sure he is test material but he is not as bad as some make out & IMO he is improving. Here are the stats comparing him to Barrett.

Defense

Jantjies                                                                    Barrett

Tackles   made             43                                          45

Tackles missed            20                                            15

Tackle success            68.3%                                    75% (Not great for either player)

Turnovers conceded  9                                              14 (Advantage Jantjies)

Summary: On defense both show weaknesses in tackling. Barrett has committed more turnovers.

Attack

Jantjies                                                                      Barrett

Tries                         2                                                 5

Points                       111                                             115

Carries                      51                                               64

Meters                 134                                              487 (advantage Barrett)

Clean breaks             2                                                 11 (advantage Barrett)

Defenders beaten   12                                                 20 (advantage Barrett)

Offloads                    13                                                6 (advantage Jantjies)

Try assists                  7                                                5

Passes                     229                                               257

Open play kicks        53                                                  79  (Barrett kicks more)

Summary: Barrett makes many more meters on attack; many more clean breaks and defenders beaten. Jantjies does well in try assists. Barrett kicks more.

Conclusion: Jantjies isn't doing too badly, not a disaster at all. Give him more time.

Stats extracted from the NZ Herald database

 Nice stats JW, they highlight the differences....although I think Jantjies has a substantial kicking advantage as well.

Most of his best touches were against the Cheetas and Kings with poor defences. The other cross kick stuff would probably be intercepted against the better teans
He is certainly good in space- to get a backline running. 
He is performing better than other SA tens week on week and deserving his spot. 

Nice vid JV - you do good work.
Agree with you that a test flyhalf needs to be consistent. Jantjies season had been an improvement on his usual inconsistency until the Hurricanes game. Line speed really threw his game off. The bye comes at a good time for him. 
Barrett and Jantjies are both mercurial, but Barrett has shown he has big game kahunas. Blazing speed for a flyhalf that is beneficial in the latter stages of the game. I would start Sopoaga/Cruden and have Barrett for the last 25 or 30 mins.
Barrett converting 64% of his kicks vs Jantjies 74%. Rating of 3.32 vs 4.83 on goalkickers.co.za

Please explain what exactly Jantjies did that was bad against the Canes.....what utter fucking rubbish.....name the incidents.....I have the game recorded.....dont give me the shit about an intercept pass.....that pass was the right option, the fact that Jane was offside and grabbed it is of little consequence.
How exactly did Jantjies fold under pressure.....name the passages of play where he cracked under pressure.....its a pack of lies.
Did Jantjies crack under pressure against the win over the Chiefs or the narrow loss to the Saders?

Moz you have to be kidding....one break by April and now he is better with ball in hand than Jantjies.....what a laugh.....April has been crap until that game......the guy is going nowhere.....aged 24 is hardly a new boy on the block.....is about as good a prospect as Swiel turned out to be
So the choice is going to be between du Preez, du Plessis and April......where does Pollard disappear to?  

i dont know how consistency can be issue with janties, theres no flyhalf in SA that has been more consistent for the last two years.

janties would at this moment be my starting Bok, and to help with the combinations id start faf which is not too shabby a choice.

my Bok backline right now would be...

9 f de klerk, 10 e jantires, 11 c kobe , 12 j serfontein, 13 l mapoe, 14 w le roux, 15 j kriel

my understanding is that de allende is on 7s dutites??? can anyone confirm pls.

and also, whats the story with pollard??? will name my triple B (Bok backline bench) when i have the following info,

 Pollard hasn't disappeared Dave, I'm simply naming the challengers.

 Jantjies best of impressive crop of 10s in SA Planet Rugby

When Springbok coach Allister Coetzee picks his squad for his first Test there's little doubt who he will pick to start at fly-half.

Since the start of the Super Rugby campaign, Lions fly-half Elton Jantjies has had the inside lane to be the Boks' starting pivot against Ireland at Newlands on June 11. 

This of course is after the Boks' first-choice number 10 at last year's Rugby World Cup, Handré Pollard, suffered a season-ending knee injury.

Pollard's back-up, Pat Lambie, was also out with a shoulder injury and is on the road to recovery, but he will have to play out of his skin over the next month if he wants to be picked ahead of Jantjies.

But despite being the favourite to be named as the Springboks' preferred pivot against Ireland, since the start of the season, Jantjies first had to go out and deliver the goods consistently in Super Rugby to force the incoming Bok coach's hand to select him at Test level.

And Jantjies' head coach at the Lions, Johan Ackermann, deserves plenty of credit for the form of his fly-half over the past two seasons. 

Unlike previous years, where Jantjies and Marnitz Boshoff alternated in the Lions' number 10 jersey, Ackermann has, since the latter part of the 2015 tournament, backed Jantjies as his first-choice pivot in Super Rugby.

And that has played a big role in the two-Test Springbok's improved performances for the Lions. Ackermann was facing a dilemma at the start of this season as both Jantjies and Boshoff had legitimate claims to be his preferred fly-half.

Jantjies had guided the Johannesburg-based outfit to their best-ever finish in Super Rugby in 2015 but then headed to Japan where he played for the NTT Shining Arcs in the Top League.

This meant Boshoff was pulling the strings in the Lions' backline as they went on an unbeaten run to win the Currie Cup last year. But whereas Boshoff is a better goalkicker than Jantjies, the latter is a far better playmaker, who brings out the best in his outside backs on attack and also links well with his forwards, especially his back row.

Jantjies is a confidence player, who is at his best when his coach backs him, and that's just what Ackermann did at the start of the season when the Lions kicked off their campaign with back-to-back victories on the road against the Sunwolves and Chiefs.

By leaving Boshoff out of his touring squad, Ackermann was telling Jantjies indirectly that he was the side's general and the coach reaped the rewards with those two results.

It hasn't been all plain sailing though. Results haven't always gone their way and there are still questions over his defence, which needs to be addressed before he returns to the Test arena.

Coetzee is capable of fixing that though as he has worked with Jantjies before but hopefully he won't stifle the pivot's style of play like he did when he coached him at the Stormers in 2013.

What Bok supporters will find delightfully reassuring is that, unlike at the start of the season, suddenly there's plenty of depth at fly-half in their country.

Apart from Jantjies, Lambie and Pollard there are now at least four young fly-halves who have the ability to wear the Bok jersey one day. 

In the injured Robert du Preez and Kurt Coleman, as well as incumbent Jean-Luc du Plessis, the Stormers have three talented fly-halves who have all delivered superb performances at various stages this season.

Du Preez showed promising glimpses during the Stormers' season-opener against the Bulls and finished with a 23-point haul in his side's 33-9 triumph and Coleman played arguably his best-ever game for the men from the Cape in their 31-11 win over the Brumbies in Round Four.

Du Plessis started the season as the most inexperienced of the trio but he – with Du Preez and Coleman both crocked – has grabbed his chance. Yes, like any youngster, he makes mistakes, but he has a wonderful skill-set which keeps defences guessing.

The Sharks also seemed to have unearthed a quality player, in Garth April, who showed with polished performances against the Highlanders and Chiefs that he belongs at Super Rugby level and is destined for greater heights. 

It will be interesting to see how far each of them develops. South Africa's cupboard of fly-halves though is far from bare.

by David Skippers

 The young man is coming along but still needs to build his confidence. For sure he is behind a fit Pollard & maybe Lambie but I haven't seem much of him lately.