Can Elton be the man to give Lions teeth?

24 February 2015 - 02:11 By Sbu Mjikeliso
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Lions second-string flyhalf Elton Jantjies looks sharper than the incumbent, Marnitz Boshoff, and he has inside information on this week's opponents, the Stormers
Lions second-string flyhalf Elton Jantjies looks sharper than the incumbent, Marnitz Boshoff, and he has inside information on this week's opponents, the Stormers
Image: STEVE HAAG/GALLO IMAGES

Before they slide into irreversible decline, the Lions have to find ways of unshackling their attackers, starting against the Stormers at Ellis Park on Saturday.

One way could be to reintroduce Elton Jantjies as the starting flyhalf. He not only looks slightly sharper on offence than Marnitz Boshoff - at least from the minutes he's played off the bench - but has inside information on the Stormers.

Jantjies spent the 2013 Super rugby season on loan to the Cape side and he knows a lot more about them than anyone else in the Lions dressing room.

He started 11 games under Allister Coetzee's tutorship.

In the interim, Boshoff's outstanding 2014 season has made him, justly, the incumbent flyhalf.

Although Boshoff could hardly be faulted in last weekend's 29-12 loss to the Sharks - facing Pat Lambie in wet weather is like racing a black marlin in the ocean - it has been a while since he owned a game.

Against the Hurricanes the previous week, Boshoff's backline was static. Jantjies provided a bit of impetus, especially in the move that created their only try this season.

Before the Sharks game, coach Johan Ackermann was not worried about Boshoff's form in the early parts of the season, but he admitted that the 26-year-old is under pressure, like the rest of the squad.

"The whole team is experiencing pressure because last year we were nobodies and no one gave us a chance," he said.

"We won a few games and we were in the Currie Cup final, meaning now everybody has high expectations.

"Now that people out there see Marnitz not performing the same way he did at the start of last year, they want to judge him. That's wrong, because people do occasionally lose form.

"He's going to regain his form. It's a question of time and we must back him."

By this time last year Boshoff had accrued 50 points in just two match-winning performances against the Cheetahs, away, and the Stormers at home. A change at pivot could allow him to recharge his batteries and at the same time curb the Lions' predictability on attack.

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