The return of the "magnificent" Elton Jantjies

It was clear for all to see that the Lions looked like they had more direction and ability when Jantjies left the field.

Yes, the Sharks may have taken their foot of the throat(becoming a way too common occurence for the Sharks) but someone still needed to direct the Lions around the park and god knows that wasn't Jantjies. Faf de Klerk had no choice but to be a stand out player when his flyhalf was not taking any pressure off him.

 

What makes me most pissed off about Jantjies though is that South African rugby players are not soft cocks and not known for hating contact. Some of Jantjies attempts at tackles are gutless and embarrassing. He clearly tries to avoid contact wherever possible and offers no resistance to any attacker. I am a Sharks man and its good for my team to have him on the park but it grates me that an oke like that, has Bok caps and so many first class caps. He is not a good rugby player at all.

 

With him on the park, the Lions looked like the Lions of 2 to 3 years ago and have taken 10 steps back on their current season. Ackerman will do best to free up Jantjies place on the roster and bring in another flyhalf under Boshoff. Jantjies is a waste of time and how much longer is it going to be until coaches see this and forget about him as a player.

I said this a long time ago. He is nothing more than a club rugby player. Possibly vodacom cup. Maybe he should try his hand at rugby league as he wont need to tackle there and can just get involved on attack (although even his attack is not all Saffex cracks it up to be) and hide on defence as its usually hit ups the middle. You can not hide any player in rugby union.

 

Frans Steyn has not played 10 in years. He is a 12 yet he still made Jantjies look stupid and to be fair, I dont think Frans Steyn was that great on attack. He threw a few wide balls that found grass. Frans loves to pass long but sometimes, the skip pass/wide ball is not on or not the best option and it just needs to go through the hands.

Frans was solid without being great but a better opposing flyhalf might have made things a lot more difficult for Fransie but seeing Jantjies in front of him and knowing there will always be easy metres inspires confidence.

 

So to sum it up, we have had Hougaard, JJ and Jantjies all flop under Saffex word. Who will Saffex ear mark next and totally fuck their career up ;-)

boklogic 
When Jabtjies came on the scene as a youngster playing Under 20 rugby 0 he showed some touches that could be regarded as promising signs and there were some who said he was one to watch for the future.
However - like in any profession you get the cadets/apprentices (call them what you like)  that needs to learn and develop into useful performers in the work sphere.  In the case of rugby players it is the Under 20's where that learning and develooment process really get momentum.   It is at that stage were the cream is really identified for future development.
Jantjies was one of those youngsters who showed early promise and he was contracted by the Lions and used in their CC and Super 15 teams.   He was the subject pf a massive media hype scenario and was praised sky high for even the most minute endeavours.
People were consistently writing about Jantjies on this Forum and I got vary and started to look carefully what he was about.   Frankly I was not impressed by what I saw. Insofar a ball distribution is concerned - he was in fact predictable - by the way he ran his first few steps opponents can precisely predict his passes.  Since he stood so deep in the pocket thee predictions could be made timeously and defenses organized  accordingly.   
It was also clear at that stage that he tries to avoid contact and he was bery poor under high balls when charge downs occur.   The avoidance factor was always in evidence.  However, one would never read negatives about Jantjies anywhere and no doubt Meyer was influenced by the hype when he select him to the squad.   However, the hype evaporated at the Soweto test in 2012 and it did not recur in 2013.   
I wrote a number of messages that the Stormers made a mistake in contracting him for the 2013 Super series and I think that my prognosis was correct.  My main problem with Jantjies remains - he did not develop positively since hos junior years and did not fulfill his early promise.
Besides that Jantjies in the senior environment got badly hurt in matches and he some negatives emerged.   He started to try and avoid contact and that shows up especially in defense.
Since he did not develop in the senior rugby environment - he was promoted well past his level of competency.  Like other similar players who ends up playing Vodacom Cup or even club rugby - that is the level where he should actually play,  Higher levels are way beyond his level of competency.                  

 It was so shokingly clear when Jantjies left the field that the gears started to turn in favor of the Lions.Bosshof showed him up big time a long with Steyn that played a blinder of game.Honestly,I think he should go play in Japan or in Europe.What does he have to loose?Is he gonna push for the ten shirt?I dont think so.Matfield has a better chance for selection then this kid. 

 I never liked Jantjies as a player, seemed more worried about his looks than putting in a nice clean hit but thats personal opinion, i think that overall i think he could maybe have suffered from the fact he wasnt prepared for the level of super rugby when he was so young and that it stunted his growth as a player, then the whole issue of the shocking season with stormers really hurt his confidence just needs to get back on track and maybe go play in a different league for a bit were he can rebuild a little you just never know!  

Keagan
I tend to agree with you.   Jantjies should not have gone from Under 20 rugby straight to Super 15  and CC rugby.  It may help if he start to rebuild his career from Vodacom Cup level and see whether it works.
At this stage what is happening is destroying the youngster.  He lost confidence in himself last year and the refusal of the Stormers to give him a contract would not have helped either.  T o keep on trying him on Super 15 level would not solve the problem.   

 agreed and this is the issue facing a lot of younger players in all sports, an example is young dean elgar, was pushed into the test side when he wasnt really ready to step up and lost all confidence in him stayed away for a fews worked his way back and now got back into the side and played pretty well all things considered, which is why im worried for the likes of PSDT DA jan and de kock dont want to rush them in and there a bust but rather groom them and all things you could say about meyer he has done a pretty good job of grooming the youngsters, i think he is a manager looking for the long stay. 
Also for some who dont bieleve that you can be rushed into sports at a young age to early look at the NFL many times a year kids who are reagurded the best prospects in college level are rushed into the NFL level and just cant keep and in turn it ruins there whole career! 

 agreed and this is the issue facing a lot of younger players in all sports, an example is young dean elgar, was pushed into the test side when he wasnt really ready to step up and lost all confidence in him stayed away for a fews worked his way back and now got back into the side and played pretty well all things considered, which is why im worried for the likes of PSDT DA jan and de kock dont want to rush them in and there a bust but rather groom them and all things you could say about meyer he has done a pretty good job of grooming the youngsters, i think he is a manager looking for the long stay. 
Also for some who dont bieleve that you can be rushed into sports at a young age to early look at the NFL many times a year kids who are reagurded the best prospects in college level are rushed into the NFL level and just cant keep and in turn it ruins there whole career! 

 Well enough of excuse as to why he flopped.
Basically in life you either take the bull by the horns and and do what you have to do or fail.
Unfortunately Jantjies took the latter.