Don't blame Elton for Lions' woes
Lions coach Johan Ackermann has fired a broadside at the critics of his struggling Springbok flyhalf Elton Jantjies.
The 23-year-old, who earned both his Test caps in 2012, has been widely criticised after the Lions slumped to a 30-point loss against the Chiefs last week.
However, Ackermann – speaking to rugby365 ahead of his team's trip to Dunedin on Saturday and a Round 13 encounter with the Highlanders – said the entire team under-performed last week.
Even though Ackermann reinstated Marnitz Boshoff as his starting No.10. and dropped the Bok pivot to the replacement bench, he is still backing the young flyhalf to come good.
"Many people blame him and puts the loss [8-38 to the Chiefs] solely on his shoulders, just as they did in our loss to the Sharks [earlier in the season]," Ackermann told this website.
"Elton is one of the players that works the hardest on and off the field – he is always willing to put in extra training.
"Did Elton make a few incorrect calls? Perhaps Bossie [Marnitz Boshoff] also made a few errors at fullback and Franco [Mostert] a few wrong calls in the line-outs.
"There were errors throughout the team in that match [against the Chiefs]," Ackermann said, adding that you simply can't put all the blame on just one player.
"I don't think Elton is where he should be," Ackermann said of the Bok's form – who missed the early rounds after he underwent shoulder surgery in the off-season.
"The fair thing would be to say to him [Jantjies] here is five or six games in a row in which he can play, regardless of the results," the Lions mentor told rugby365, adding: "Then you will get the best out of him.
"My biggest headache is that Bossie [Boshoff] also deserves that opportunity and he showed it at the start of the season when he had a run of games.
"That is the reality of the situation and something I have to deal with.
"You ask a lot of a player [like Jantjies] to come broad and perform against one of the top teams [Chiefs], especially when the entire team is having an off day.
"Elton will be the first to admit there are still a few things he can work on. Yes, every player wants some continuity and game time and Elton just hasn't had enough of those chances – so we should not judge him too soon."
Ackermann admitted that somewhere along the road he will have to make a call and say to his two flyhalves: 'You are No.1 and you are No.2'.
"They know that from this weekend they will be judged on form and the player who takes his chances will get the most game time.
"That said, in any Super Rugby squad you do need quality back-up as well.
"My expectation is that they will keep each other positive and also push each other to improve. So when the replacement comes on he will lift the game and the standard in the team.
"I expect the same of the prop who comes on [as replacement], the hooker, the lock, the flank and the wing.
"We can't afford to have a bench that doesn't make a difference.
"In that regard there is a lot of pressure on Elton. Where another player has 50 or 60 minutes to perform, he must do it in 20 or may 30 minutes and make a difference.
"But he understands that."
By Jan de Koning
