Elton Jantjies wants the other Springboks to look good

Springboks flyhalf Elton Jantjies plays in a position where he’s easily visible and can grab attention.

But it’s not about scoring tries, kicking vital goals or being named the Man-of-the-Match for him.

Also read: Is Curwin Bosch going to be Elton Jantjies’ Bok back-up?

Rather, Jantjies lives to create opportunities for the players around him, who looks to him to make vital decisions.

“To create that space for my outside backs is really something I pride myself on. It’s very rewarding  to create a bit of room for the players next to me,” Jantjies said at a windy Kings Beach ahead of the Rugby Championship opener against Argentina in Port Elizabeth on Saturday.

“There’s a few things I’ve been working on every single day I go out on the training pitch. It’s about making the right decisions at the right times. I have to strike a balance between taking the defence on and kicking. I’ve challenged myself with making the best decisions for the team.”

Goal-kicking on the other hand is just trusting his body and technique.

“It’s something you put a lot of work on, repeating the same routine the whole time. It’s all about self-belief when you kick it and eventually it becomes an instinctive thing,” said Jantjies.

A sell-out crowd of 46 000 people is expected on Saturday at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium.

“It’s always nice to have a lot of support behind us but it won’t win us the game. We’ll have to pitch up and play for 80 minutes,” he said.

“It’s not going to be easy against the Argentineans but we will be well prepared, we had a good week last week and we are still building into the game.”

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