Boyd – ‘Jantjies best fly-half in SA’

Hurricanes coach Chris Boyd maintains that Elton Jantjies is the best fly-half in South Africa despite his below-par performance against the Sharks.

The Lions beat the Sharks 23-21 in the quarter-finals last Saturday securing a mouthwatering semi-final against the Hurricanes in Johannesburg on Saturday in a repeat of last year's final.

Jantjies could have cost his side the game as he missed three routine penalties and has come in for his fair share of criticism for his performance in the ensuing week.

Luckily for Jantjies and the Lions, winger Ruan Combrinck spared their blushes with his 78th minute long-range penalty.

However, Jantjies is the competition's top points-scorer by a margin of 20 with a tally of 181 for the season and has orchestrated a backline that has been largely responsible for the Lions' 84 tries this season.

That team tally for the season is bettered only by the Hurricanes who have scored 93 tries. And there is no doubt that the fly-half battle between Hurricanes pivot Beauden Barrett and Jantjies will be crucial to the sides' success or failure come Saturday.

And Boyd knows one bad performance doesn't make a bad player and Jantjies is a player you underestimate at your own peril.

“Elton's a quality footballer and probably the best flyhalf in the country at the moment," Boyd told Times Live.

"He's got a bag of tricks we've got to watch out for and he's a potent force for them.

“We were wondering if they were going to bring back their inside centre (Rohan Janse van Rensburg but the fact they've got an unchanged side is not a surprise.

"Each team has got motivating factors and Johan Ackermann has done a wonderful job with the Lions. I also said the Lions didn't quite get their preparations right for the quarterfinal.

"They wouldn't have taken the Sharks lightly but the Sharks played very well.”