Erasmus explains why Jantjies hasn't gotten a Springboks recall

South Africa director of rugby Rassie Erasmus has explained why the Springboks will not be recalling the out-of-favour Elton Jantjies for their upcoming European tour. The No10 was sent home from Buenos Aires on September 11 following media reports romantically linking him to team dietician Zeenat Simjee.

It was reported last week in France that the Japanese-based Jantjies was likely set for a switch to the Top 14 and would be joining Toulon. That club has been on the lookout for cover for Ihaia West, the out-half they signed in the summer from La Rochelle.

This proposed move from Japan to France has yet to happen and, in the meantime, the Springboks have ignored the temptation to recall Jantjies to their fold, excluding him from the upcoming three-day training camp in Stellenbosch – which features nine Japanese-based players in the 26-man squad – and also ruling him out of the four-Test November tour of Europe which also included South Africa A team games versus Munster and Bristol.

Johan Goosen of the Vodacom Bulls is the only specialist out-half chosen in the Springboks training squad while the injured Handre Pollard isn’t expected to be fit for the tour after he was injured on his Leicester debut earlier this month. However, that situation hasn’t been enough to leverage Jantjies back into the selection picture.

“Elton, it is well documented we mutually agreed with him that there was that reporting on him while we were on tour just before an important Test match that we would allow him to go back to his home and go and handle these personal reports which we didn’t know what was true and what was not true,” explained Erasmus in response to the first question asked at a Springboks media briefing that lasted more than an hour on Tuesday.

“We did that and since then he hasn’t played any rugby so for us to be able to select him currently, we just haven’t seen him play. What we would love to do is just compare him to the other fly-halves on pure play and his form as we keep road maps on every single player. Unfortunately, we couldn’t have done this on Elton because he hasn’t played since so no, he won’t be up for selection.”

When the story broke in September that Jantjies was being sent home from Argentina, an SA Rugby statement at the time read: “The Springboks management are aware of reports regarding fly-half Elton Jantjies and team dietician Zeenat Simjee between the training camp in Sabie and the Test match against New Zealand in Mbombela earlier this year.

“No team protocols were breached, but the individuals are returning to South Africa to attend to these personal reports and to eliminate any distractions to the team’s preparations for the Test against Argentina.”