Lockdown good for injured Jantjies
• Bok scrumhalf suffered fractured leg when rugby was put on hold, but now he is ready to play
The timing of the Covid-19enforced lockdown was not all bad — at least not for Springbok scrumhalf Herschel Jantjies. “My situation was a blessing in disguise‚” said Jantjies. “I had a fractured leg going into lockdown. I had time to recover and came back when rugby restarted.” /
The timing of the Covid-19enforced lockdown was not all bad at least not for Springbok
—
scrumhalf Herschel Jantjies.
His breaking a leg came at a time in which mending recu
‚
peration and rehab coincided with rugby s extended hiatus.
’
My situation was a blessing
“
in disguise said Jantjies. I had a
“
fractured leg going into lockdown. I had time to recover and came back when rugby restarted said the scrumhalf who was
‚”
garlanded with a Rugby World Cup winner s medal in Yoko
’
hama, Japan, in 2019.
He told of his road to recovery. It took six to seven weeks
“
to recover from the fracture. I had to go through all the rehab to get fit again. That took quite a bit of time with lockdown and stuff. Everything panned out the
“
way we wanted for me to be ready when we started full contact again. When we started full contact training, I was full out
‚
ready to go.”
His first game back was last weekend in the Stormers clash
’
with the Lions in the second Super Fan match at Loftus. I couldn t wait for the past
“’
weekend to get out there and play some rugby Jantjies said.
‚”
It didn t come without dis
’
comfort. Physically, my lungs
“
were burning. We played at altitude, and it is never easy espe
‚
cially in our first game after such a long break. It was definitely challenging. I spoke to Elton [Jantjies] after the game, and his first question to me was: How
‘
did that feel with the altitude?’ This phlegm is going to be on
“
my chest for a while. It was nice. There was still a lot of stuff that we can improve on and that I can improve on.
It was just nice to be out
“
there because you forget how tired you are because you just want to play rugby.”
Being separated from the game proved challenging.
Unlike some of the more robotic box-kicking half-backs at the other franchises the
‚
Stormers No 9 is one of the most expressive players in his position. The best scrumhalf in the country could not wait to terrorise the opposition. I m really
“’
excited to be back,” he said ahead of this weekend s Spring
’
bok Showdown clash at Newlands.
Nice to be playing some rug
“
by again. I m looking forward to
’
this week and taking in as much as I can.”
● Mzwandile Stick and Deon Davids have put together formidable green and gold squads in what is a Springbok trial in everything but name.
Stick understands the need to get the guys in the groove for future rugby that will be played in the form of Super Rugby Unlocked that starts on October 9 but it is also about easing back
‚
into rugby. The first thing for us
“
is to be able to get back on the field to play the beautiful game of rugby,” said Stick. We also
“
know the players are going to be struggling with their fitness. Being off the field for six
“
months is something I ve never
’
thought about. With how we ve
’
managed to select the teams
‚
we ve been able to bring in the
’
youngsters that everyone has been talking about.
We want to give those guys a fair run and an opportunity. We also have the duty to
“
guide the guys through Springbok processes so they can understand the standards that we attain to. With the experienced guys around it also
‚
boosts them immeasurably.”
Additional reporting Tshwaku