Jantjies ‘will be ready’ for Rainbow Cup

The Lions received a massive boost on Tuesday when it emerged that their talisman flyhalf and captain Elton Jantjies might be ready for the start of the Rainbow Cup.

Jantjies was in doubt for the opener against the Bulls at Loftus on 24 April, with the Lions fearing they might have to look for a replacement when he was provisionally ruled out for three to four weeks after he rolled his ankle in their last Preparation Series match against the Stormers in Cape Town last month.

However, a Lions spokesperson said Jantjies would be “ready for the first few matches” of the Rainbow Cup.

Jantjies was nonetheless set to be managed ahead of the Springboks’ series against the British and Irish Lions, and he might not play all the matches, which would force his domestic team to revisit other captaincy options.

Springbok flank and former Lions skipper Jaco Kriel would have been the obvious choice but he is set to start training again only in June following another ankle operation.

With the local sides scheduled to depart for the United Kingdom after the first three derby rounds of the cross-continental competition, Kriel will also likely miss the plane to England.

But with the final scheduled for 19 June, he might join the team later, though he will also have to go through the two-week isolation period like the rest of the team when he gets there.

Other captaincy options could include veteran lock Willem Alberts, centre Burger Odendaal and seasoned scrumhalf Ross Cronje.

Alberts is a former Lions captain and is widely respected by the team, while Odendaal is a former Bulls skipper, and Cronje is another former skipper and highly experienced team member.

It also depends if the Lions are looking at short-term success or have a long-term vision because then somebody like lock Reinhard Nothnagel could enter the captaincy race.

Nothnagel led the Lions with great success in their opening two Preparation Series matches against the Pumas and the Elephants when Jantjies and other senior squad members were busy with a conditioning program.

The problem, however, is that Nothnagel is not yet considered a first-choice selection with other locks such as Alberts, Wilhelm van der Sluys and Ruben Schoeman also in the mix.

As a flyhalf replacement for Jantjies the Lions will probably not look further than Tiaan Swanepoel and Fred Zeilinga.

With Gianni Lombard not expected to be back before October and James Mollentze probably out for the rest of the year, Swanepoel or Zeilinga will serve the Lions well.