SA Rugby president downplays Elton Jantjies scandal

There has been a naturally widespread and dramatic reaction to the news that Springboks flyhalf Elton Jantjies and team dietician Zeenat Simjee have been sent home from Argentina following reports of an alleged affair.

READ: WHY BOKS CAN BE CONFIDENT OF MOVING ON FROM ELTON JANTJIES

According to an article in Sunday newspaper Rapport, Jantjies and Simjee were involved in an alleged tryst at a bed and breakfast in the week leading up to the Test against the All Blacks in Nelspruit in August.

READ: SPRINGBOKS RELEASE STATEMENT ON JANTJIES SCANDAL

It’s cast a considerable shadow over any possible return to the Springboks for Jantjies, with plenty of reaction on social media suggesting that the 32-year-old should not return to the team after this latest indiscretion.

However, SA Rugby president Mark Alexander has suggested that they still needed to accurately gather all the facts before deciding whether further action would be taken, while he also questioned the anonymous sources who disclosed the information to Rapport.

“We have very strict team rules and the management team will deal with the issue,” Alexander said. “I don’t want to dig into anyone’s personal life because all the information is hearsay right now. It’s still just gossip.

“If people are so serious about what happened, they should go on the record about what they know,” added Alexander.

The Boks are currently preparing for a Rugby Championship clash against Argentina, and have insisted the shocking case has not been a distraction.

“We have dealt with the situation in a professional manner,” assistant coach Deon Davids commented. “As a team, we understand where our focus needs to be and I can assure you that it’s on the big challenge that awaits us against Argentina.”

Understandably, though, the reaction on social media has been more emphatic.

Late on Sunday night, Jantjies made an interesting social media post on Instagram, sharing an image to his story that states: “I prefer to distance myself whenever I’m mad to calm my mind otherwise I become the most heartless person you’ll ever meet.”

Jantjies has over 110 000 followers on Instagram, with his bio reading as follows: “Sportsman of Loyalty, Respect and Honour”.

Jantjies has been in the news for all the wrong reasons this year

This latest shocking story comes just months after Jantjies was detained at OR Tambo International Airport for a widely-publicised incident on board a flight back to South Africa.

At the time, the Springboks stated that Jantjies had to be viewed as “innocent until proven guilty”, but it was never a good look as he remained part of the squad.

JUST IN: SHOCKING DETAILS EMERGE INTO ‘BLOODY’ JANTJIES IN-FLIGHT INCIDENT

The fact of the matter is that Jantjies has also continued to struggle purely from a rugby perspective, with the flyhalf having endured a nightmare performance in the season-opener against Wales as he returned from injury, while he featured off the bench in the recent losing cause against Australia.

Jantjies is now 32-years-old, and his position as the ‘back-up flyhalf’ to Handre Pollard has effectively already been conceded to Damian Willemse, while Johan Goosen will soon be back in selection contention.

After this latest incident, which is truly a blight on the Bok brand and team values, it’s certainly difficult to see how Jantjies could be welcomed back into a squad environment that he so clearly disrespected if the Sunday reports prove to be true.

Jantjies won’t be involved in the final two Rugby Championship Tests, and his services may no longer be required on the end-of-year tour.

With the 2023 World Cup fast approaching, and the Springboks surely determined to avoid any unnecessary distractions, this could well be the end of the road for Jantjies’ Test career for the foreseeable future.

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On Sunday, the Springboks have released a statement in relation to the report, but suggested that ‘no team protocols had been breached’.

“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.”

According to the Sunday newspaper report, Jantjies and Simjee were spotted by a father and son from Pretoria who were booked into the room next door.

“(My son) told me it wasn’t Elton’s wife because he knows what she looks like,” the father told Rapport. “We have lost the last ounce of respect for Elton.”

The Pretoria man apparently even recorded “sounds of pleasure” coming from the room in the afternoon. Reportedly, though, a heated argument then followed in the early hours of the following morning.

“It was terrible, terrible swearing and shouting,” said the Pretoria man. “I heard Elton plead at one stage: ‘Please, my baby. Please, my lovey’.”