No last tattoo for Elton Jantjies
Bok flyhalf knows he must make an impact in World Cup debut but being in second home Japan puts him at ease
Few players are as comfortable in their skin as Elton Jantjies. His take-it-or-leave-it assuredness manifests itself in his swagger‚ while his extensive body art is on a canvas where he is not yielding to convention.
Few players are as comfortable in their skin as Elton Jantjies. His take-it-or-leave-it assuredness manifests itself in his swagger‚ while his extensive body art is on a canvas where he is not yielding to convention.
He really does walk to the beat of his own drum, which means in Japan‚ where body art is frowned upon‚ Jantjies struts around in shorts and T-shirts. It is a place he considers home.
“I’ve been here five years‚” he said about his involvement with the NTT Shining Arcs. “It’s been good. It’s exciting because it is my first World Cup and it is in Japan‚” Jantjies said on Tuesday.
That he is likely to make his Rugby World Cup debut against Namibia at his ripe old age says more about one-time Bok coach Heyneke Meyer than about the 29-year-old flyhalf.
Jantjies knows he needs to make an impact.
“It is an exciting week‚” he said. “We didn’t get the result last week but there are a lot of positives we can take out of that‚ and a lot of things we can build on in the game against Namibia.
“We need to grow as a team and make sure we are in the right head space for the latter stages.”
To get there, they are going to need to tick a few boxes.
“Our kicking game‚ defence‚ attack‚ aerial skills‚ things that we have developed quite a lot over the last two years, we can still improve‚” he said. “Those are things for which we need to get eight or nine out of 10.
“It’s things we are good at but we get six out of 10. We should stop looking at the negatives.”
The two players Jantjies is likely to have either side of him on Saturday cannot be further apart. At 23‚ scrumhalf Herschel Jantjies represents the face towards which Springbok rugby is moving.
“He [Herschel] is my roommate,” Jantjies said. “Things have gone really well. I’ve always said he is a special player. He is a young player who embraces a lot of expectations. He is very ambitious and whenever there is an opportunity, he uses it.
“He is also growing a lot every time he goes on the park. It is good to see he gets negative when he makes mistakes‚ which means he wants to grow and he doesn’t want to make mistakes. He wants to improve.”
The man most likely to wear the No 12 jersey on Saturday is veteran and World Cup winner Frans Steyn. Asked what he might expect of the big centre‚ Jantjies said: “We’re very comfortable around Frans.
“He puts the group at ease. He always has a joke around. He also has a switch when we need to get the job done.
“It is good to have Frans, he is so versatile. He has a lot of experience but he still has that youthfulness about him. He brings a lot of energy to the group.”