Springbok assistant coach Deon Davids believes that the Elton Jantjies saga has been dealt with and that the teams full focus was now on their Rugby Championship clash against Argentina in Buenos Aires on Saturday.
Jantjies was sent home from Argentina on Sunday, after reports surfaced about an alleged extra-marital affair with the Boks’ dietician ahead of their Test against the All Blacks in Mbombela last month.
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Before Monday’s usual press conference, which always features Davids and a player, this time Malcolm Marx, media were informed that the Bok coaches and players would not be answering any questions directly relating to Jantjies and the allegations.
However Davids was asked if the incident had impacted the team, with him claiming that it had had a minimal effect and that the matter was now closed.
“We’ve dealt with the situation in a professional manner. We understand where our focus needs to be as a team and I can assure you it’s completely on the big challenge that awaits us against Argentina,” said Davids.
“We’ve had mixed results against them here in the past and they are a tough team to beat here. We need all our focus in our preparation in order to get a good reward. We all know that the competition is quite close amongst the teams.
“The next two games are going to be finals and that is how we approach it. To do that, we need to be clear-cut in our prep and what’s important for us.”
Willemse to continue
With Jantjies out of the squad and no other frontline flyhalves available, Damian Willemse will continue in the role, after he was named man-of-the-match in the position in the Boks last outing against the Wallabies, while he also played a full half at flyhalf against Wales earlier in the season.
“Damian played at flyhalf against Australia while Elton Jantjies was injured and had a really good game, so we are quite happy at where we are with him in that position,” admitted Davids.
“We are also lucky to have an experienced guy like Frans Steyn who has played (flyhalf) before. Faf (de Klerk) has also played some games at 10 (for former side Sale Sharks), so as a team we adapt based on the circumstances.”
Pieter-Steph du Toit, who missed the Boks last game due to an injury niggle, was also given a clean bill of health by Davids, with him saying he was available for selection for this weekend’s game.
