Springboks: SARU boss Mark Alexander says Elton Jantjies saga is ‘hearsay’ while Damian Willemse will start at 10

Dylan Coetzee

Elton Jantjies of South Africa during the meet the Springboks press conference at Southern Sun Hotel, Pretoria on 23 June 2022 ©Samuel Shivambu/Sports Inc

South African Rugby president Mark Alexander insists that the saga surrounding Elton Janjties is only “hearsay” at this point.

The Springbok fly-half was sent home along with team dietitian Zeenat Simjee after reports in South Africa claimed the pair were having an affair.

The duo allegedly spent two evenings together in Mbombela around the All Blacks Test in Nelspruit, where the Springbok left his accommodation without settling the bill.

This is the second hiccup involving Jantjies after he was arrested earlier this year for damaging an aircraft.

Still rumours

Alexander insists the story is still gossip and called for the anonymous sources to come forward and go on record about their accusations.

“We have very strict team rules and the management team will deal with the issue,” Alexander said.

“I don’t want to dig into anyone’s personal life because all the information is hearsay right now. It’s still just gossip.

“If people are so serious about what happened, they should go on the record about what they know.”

Meanwhile, in Argentina, the squad is preparing for their tricky Round Five clash in Buenos Aires. Assistant coach Deon Davids confirmed that Damian Willemse will start again at fly-half with no ‘specialist’ fly-halves within the squad.

“In the last round, Damian started as Elton was injured and we felt that Damian had a good game. So, we are very happy with where we are with him,” said Davids.

“We are also lucky to have with us in the team the experience of Frans Steyn, who has played at fly-half before. Faf has also played one or two games there.

“As a team, we adapt to the circumstances. We’ve done it in the past few games. We are really happy with where we are and with Damian in that position.”

Focus on Argentina

“We have dealt with the situation in a professional manner. As a team, we understand where our focus needs to be. I can assure you that it’s on to the big challenge that awaits us against Argentina,” added Davids.

“We have had some mixed results against them here. They are a tough team to beat. All of our focus has gone into our preparation to get the reward we want from this game.

“We know the competition is quite close among the teams. The next two games are going to be like finals. That is how we are approaching it. So, we have needed to be clear cut in terms of our preparation and what will be important for us.”

READ MORE: Springboks: Elton Jantjies and team dietician Zeenat Simjee sent home from Argentina after reports of affair