Springboks statement: Two team members sent home
The Springboks have sensationally sent two members of their team home to South Africa to minimise distractions for the team.
Boks flyhalf Elton Jantjies and dietician Zeenat Simjee have both been told to pack their bags and return to the Rainbow Nation following reports of an affair between the pair in South African media.
Jantjies, who is married with three children, and Simjee have been told to return to South Africa to ‘attend to these personal reports’, although no official breach of team protocols has happened according to SA Rugby.
Rapport in SA describes how a father and son who were staying in a B&B prior to the All Blacks match spotted [and heard] Jantjies and Simjee after they booked into the room next door to them. According to the father and son duo, the pair initially sounded as if they were getting on particularly well. It turned sour however when the two then locked horns in a heated discussion that saw staff being called to the room in the middle of the night.
The front page splash was enough for SA Rugby to act and they have now pulled the plug on the pair’s participation with the squad, for the time being at least.
“The Springbok management are aware of reports regarding Springbok flyhalf 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.
“No further comment will be made at this time.”
It’s another sorry chapter in what has already been a busy year for Jantijies off the pitch. The 32-year-old was arrested in May for allegedly causing damage to an aeroplane on a flight home from a holiday.
Die stout seun van Springbok-rugby, Elton Jantjies, is al weer in die sop. Dié keer oor ‘n gefuif met ‘n vrou voor die toets in Mbombela en ‘n gastehuisrekening van derduisende rande. pic.twitter.com/c2a0jipUOy
— Rapport (@RapportSA) September 10, 2022
Jantjies was arrested at Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg for an incident on flight from Dubai to Jo’burg in which it was alleged that he had damaged property of the airline that was transporting him.
Those charges were ultimately not pursued. In June Kempton Park Magistrate’s Court heard that the case was being withdrawn on the orders of the senior state prosecutor, with no justification given publicly.
Jantjies, capped 45 times by the Boks, was a member of the victorious Bok squads at the 2019 World Cup and against the 2021 British and Irish Lions.
Comments on RugbyPass
The Harlequins team must be in minus figures. Did the reporter actually watch the game?
2 Go to commentsHow on earth did Walker escape a red card? Not dangerous? Dupont has his face in a mask earlier this season. Shocking decision. What is the point of TMOs? We had the Fassi ‘non-penalty try’ yesterday and now this.
2 Go to commentsCould have been a different result but yet again French tv able to affect the result by not showing the very clear high shot on harlequin centre if this would have been on a French player would have been on screen at least five times
2 Go to commentsAmazing. The losing team’s ratings are higher than the winning team’s. Mallia definitely didn’t deserve a y. What game were you watching? Should have got a w or an x. ADP hardly featured in that second half. At one point I wondered when he’d been subbed. Seems to me as if he gets an automatic 9 just for getting onto the team sheet.
2 Go to commentsI’m sorry. That second half was far from enthralling. It was painful to watch.
2 Go to commentsVery generous! If you’d missed the game, reading this you’d conclude that it was the Quins front row that cost them the game. Marler getting a blanket 6 for his demented contribution to the game. Puzzling.
2 Go to commentsCan’t see Toulouse beating Leinster at this rate.
7 Go to commentsADP was having a very average game until winning that penalty for Toulouse, sticking his big head in the way. “The head of God”?
7 Go to commentsHarlequins doing their best to do as little damage as possible with all the possession. Looks like they skipped catch and pass drills this week.
7 Go to commentsSeeing pictures of Jacques high-fiving it with Irish players breaks my heart. Too soon. I need more time.
1 Go to commentsquins is all over the place. The minute they get the ball they panic. Quins can still win tho just need to win all rucks otherwise just don't bother.
7 Go to commentsGreat wins for the male & female kiwi sides. Ireland not far away..
1 Go to commentsWhy is this dude getting so much coverage? Usually knobs like this get cancelled.
2 Go to commentsWow. What was that? A 3 million word meandering article about what exactly?
2 Go to commentsNice piece of writing. And yes the Sharks pulled a rabbit from the hat and were a little lucky with that penalty try that wasn’t given… however the Sharks (with their resources) should be way more consistent and should be putting teams like Claremont away for breakfast. I expect more from them and hope they kick on now.
8 Go to commentsJust what the Sharks needed to get things going in the right direction Defence on the outside really creates havoc for the whole team and needs to be addressed.
8 Go to commentsWell done guys both teams will be ready to play knockout rugby.
1 Go to commentsSurprised that Ramos isn't starting at 15. But what a squad of galacticos!
2 Go to commentsWhy is it a snub? What journalistic garbage is that? Sure the guy is a great player, but there are plenty of loose forwards and not all of them can be Springboks. Also, I know of no-one who doubts Rassie’s judgment. South Africa has a conveyor belt of loose forwards that just keeps producing, so the competition is intense. I certainly wish him well, but there is no entitlement and there is no snub.
17 Go to commentsSkelton may be brought back for the Wallabies so that would be the only reason that may hinder Wilson. Easily the form, most skilful and game IQ of any Oz 8. Valentini’s best and favourite position is 6, but lineouts may be an issue with Skelton, Valentini and Wilson. Will be interesting what Schmidt goes for but for me Wilson should be picked on form. Schmidt rewards work rate, skill and consistency. All that glitters every so often won’t be in contention. Greely is one of those players that has a knack of making the right decision. A coach is going to love him because he knows week in week out he’s going to get the job done. The second try Greely wasn’t the guy who made the initial break it was Flook, Greely was at the bottom of the ruck when Flook was off along the sideline. Greely got up and made the effort to catch up with play but also read the play nicely and hit the pass from Campbell at pace and then held the pass beautifully to Ryan.
6 Go to comments