Pressure on Jantjies as Lambie back from injury
SPRINGBOK flyhalf Patrick Lambie’s subtle return to the field for the Sharks at the weekend might apply more pressure on Bok incumbent Elton Jantjies to pull up his socks.
It is one of the subplots emerging in the performances of the national team and domestic ones.
Jantjies has two Rugby Championship Tests remaining to convince head coach Allister Coetzee he is still the man to lead the Bok backline come the end-of-year tour, despite his error-ridden performance against the All Blacks on Saturday.
Lambie returned to the field after three months out with concussion suffered when the Boks lost to Ireland in June. The Michaelhouse old boy also has two games to show he has dusted off the cobwebs: the clash with the Golden Lions at Ellis Park in a fortnight and a possible home semifinal a week after.
Sharks Currie Cup coach Robert du Preez was pleased with Lambie’s return to the field during their 53-0 rout of the EP Kings in Durban, even if it meant he was stuck with a selection headache.
Flyhalf Innocent Radebe, who scored a try at the weekend, has impressed at pivot in his rookie senior year and Curwin Bosch has been sensational at fullback.
“I’m very happy for Pat and that he’s back,” said Du Preez.
“It was not ideal for him to come back and play in conditions like we had but he did well. Competition for positions in our squad is exactly what we want.”
The Sharks, second on the table behind the Free State Cheetahs, are gunning for a home semifinal, alongside the Blue Bulls and Griquas, in with an outside chance.
The log has become congested at the top, with the Sharks and Bulls tied on 25 points, while Griquas are fourth on 19.
Griquas and Western Province (18), who got a bonus point win over the Pumas on Saturday, each have a game in hand on the Bulls and Sharks and could apply pressure on the teams above them.
The Cheetahs are peerless at the top and look dead certain to cement a home semifinal and possible final.
The final round robin clash between the Lions and Sharks in Johannesburg on September 30 has now taken an altogether more serious complexion.
“Our last game is against the Lions up in Johannesburg and it’s going to be a massive game,” said Du Preez.
“We have a bit of a break now and we will give the boys the week off before it’s back to the drawing board. We have guys coming back from injury like Keegan [Daniel], Philip van der Walt and Steph Lewies, who were starters before they were out.
“We want to select the best team to face the Lions and if they are ready then they’ll have a good chance to be in the starting lineup.
“And the fact that we haven’t changed the team too much has helped with consistency in performance. We only made enforced changes because of injury.”
Province have put themselves in the reckoning with a somewhat dry but necessary 31-23 win over the Pumas at Newlands.
The performance by Scottish centre Huw Jones was the highlight of the game. Playing at inside centre, Jones scored and assisted a number of tries as WP went to within one point of a playoff place.