The difference between Jean-Luc du Plessis and Jantjies

Looking at the game today there is one difference between the two players mentioned - Du Plessis has ball sense and a very good kicking game - while the game of Jantjies is programmed - not very effective and his kicking out-of-hand game lacks accuracy and purpose .   

 Mik I was impressed with Du Plessis. He has got a very good rugby brain. Educated boot. Punches above his weight physically and able to make things happen.

 He should play off the bench for the Boks in the RC. Starting 10 withinthe next 2 years.

 There was one incident in the game yesterday that confirms my point of view - the cross kick from which he scored a try himself.   Jantjies would never have been in the position to do what Du Plessis did.   That is what is called ball sense.  Draad is right - he should be groomed and gradually get into the Springbok set-up.   

 Jantjies goes about the same predictable pattern every match ... he may surprise you in the beginning ... but once you've worked him out he's an easy read and a liability to the team he plays for.
His place kicking is also unreliable. To throw 6 to 10 points away every match can hurt a team that's under pressure.
He is NOT the answer at test level.
Du Plessis also tends to disappear under pressure. It could be due to the lack of experience. He does however show a lot of promise and I think that bringing him into the fray at test level would be wise. He has much to learn.  
We need a 10 desperately ... Patrick Lambie is the best we have ... but in all honesty, he hasn't set the world ablaze yet ... and I can't really see that changing any day soon.    

 Pollard is the be st we have but Du Plessis looks classy.

 I want to add - Jantjies only makes circa 70% of the kicks at goal - but my main problem is his kicks out-of-hand is seriously defective and inaccurate.   For every one effective kick - there are 10 BS kicks.  His main strategy is inside passes - it can work - but the area is normally blocked and the effect is again a circa 5% success rate.  An example was the Mvovo try - successful inside pass.  However, although he made at least 15 such passes in  the test series - there was just one success and rest were blocked.   The opposition knows what is expected from him and they take counter-measures .     

 Look, JLDP is still hopelessly inexperienced, but he is a competitor. He had a great match yesterday,  but some lesser performances too, but he's learning fast.

 Du Plessis has BMT. Very, very alert to opportunity and reacts FAST.

 Pollard is over rated. He's shown nothing to make me think of him as anything other than just another average Joe.  
We've all seen him fall apart in test matches.
Du Plessis shines against lesser teams. He is not the finished article ... not by some way ... so please, Beandip ... don't turn him into a rugby god just yet ... ok??

 CC - I believe that Du Plesis is not ready yet - but there are definite signs that he is learning fast - unlike Jantjies  who have stagnated and not improving.   I think we really do not know about Pollard either - he came on the scene and had a very good test against the AB's in Johannesburg - but he was substandard since then and showed zip in the RWC in 2015.  Maybe the latter resulted from Meyer using the loosies as stand-in flyhalfs - but there was in fact no spark in Polard's perf ormances either.  He had no rugby this year - so what is really going on with him? 

 Jantjies has been around the block several times over and if he was going to be a world beater he would have shown it a long time ago.
The Jantjies of yesterday is the same Jantjies of last year and the year before.
I would much rather have Du Plessis for the Lions 10 (even as inexperienced as he currently is) than Elton "flippy flippy" Jantjies.
So yes, Mike ... I agree. Jantjies has stagnated and shown no growth these last few seasons. 

For every Jantjies pass which tests  the defence there are 2 that are momentum killers

 Why is it that some players excel at junior level but when they need to wear big panties they get cold-feet or just become an average Joe?
Pollard has not reached the competitive level he displayed in the juniors.  He was quite good in the last U20 series he played in but since then he has not set the field alight with innovative play.  Could that be a coaching thing?  
There have been a few players like that over the years.  Just like brilliant players who fail at any level of coaching..weird !

 Mozart - I stated above that Jantjies plays a programmed game.  He knows there are various passing methods inclusive of ordinary passes, skip passes, inside passes, etc, but he does not understand when to take which options and then end up with making the wrong passes at the wrong moment.   An example was in the third test - when De Allende ran at speed at an angle - a practised move - but Jantjies passed the ball to Mapoe and the result was a penalty to the Irish.  Insofar as his kicking game is concerned - Jantjies towards the end of the third test was so poor that Combrinck was used to make relieving kicks and not Jantjies.   

 Those are not the only differences - Jantjies is a "friend" of the system so even if another better "enemy" comes along, Jantjies will be the MAN.. live with it!  

 Machiavelli - remember what Machiavelli wrote in the Prince - A prince should not take the property of the people, etc.   Rugby does not belong to the Prince and I have a feeling in the event of certain failure - the system has a way to destroy the failures that let them down.  Jantjies always tried to use the system to enhance his own interests and not perform to prove his worth.  The system could yet "eat" him and that would be problematic for him.  Watch the RC and the EOYT.  If both are serious failures and there is every likelihood it would happen - then there are going to be serious consequences for the ravenous rats in Government.