Springbok scrumhalf Herschel Jantjies has snuck in the back door before and could well make a bold claim for a place ahead of next year’s Rugby World Cup again if he impresses against Australia on Sunday.
While wisdom would say that Morne van den Berg, Cobus Reinach and Grant Williams are all odds-on favourites to go to the World Cup and that the Boks are unlikely to take a fourth scrumhalf, Jantjies’ form made him an irresistible choice back in 2019.
Now 30 and having been away from the Boks for a few years, Jantjies comes into the side as Grant Williams hasn’t recovered from injury and has watched from the sidelines as Van den Berg took his chance against the All Blacks. Now Jantjies has a chance of his own.
Jantjies said this week that the fire is still burning bright inside to perform for the Boks, and that all starts with this Sunday’s game against the Wallabies.
“Making my debut in 2019 against Australia, there are a lot of special memories. But also, it’s a long time down the line now,” Jantjies said, referring to his brace of tries in a big win in 2019.
“I’ve been out of the mix for about three years now and I don’t think the team I play against or get my opportunity against matters that much. I’m just really grateful for the opportunity and hopefully I can go out this weekend and play to the best of my ability.”
MORE COMPETITION
Things are very different to 2019, and the competition is greater, and Jantjies knows all about that.
“Obviously, lots has changed. It’s incredible working with coaches like coach Tony (Brown) and coach Jerry (Flannery) and coach Felix (Jones) I’ve worked with before. So there’s been a lot of learnings from them, seeing how they see the game and how they want to play the game – it’s a very exciting time for me.
“The opportunity is here now to show what I’ve learned and, obviously, being in the squad and not playing, I’ve learned a lot in training and sitting in team meetings and taking from the other scrumhalves,” he said and referred to Van den Berg’s impressive outings against the All Blacks.
“I mean a guy like Krappie playing in the last test against New Zealand and having an amazing game, it was great to see how he came on and went about his work. I would love to think that I could go on this weekend and take the opportunity in a similar fashion.”
The one-off test against the Wallabies comes after the Boks beat the All Blacks 3-1 in Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry, and a few weeks before the Australians face up in two tests against their neighbours in the Bledisloe Cup.