Springboks embrace Elton 'insurance policy' at No 10: 'Great to fall back on a guy like him'

Not many international teams would be able to call upon a 47-Test, Super Rugby flyhalf of the past decade to alleviate an injury crisis in the No 10 jersey, which is why the Springbok setup is embracing Elton Jantjies' return.

The 33-year-old playmaker has joined the squad, which is in Pretoria preparing for a shortened Rugby Championship campaign, in what is an eye-catching if not exactly surprising lifeline thrown to him at the highest level.

Jantjies shifted down the pecking order following a scandal-plagued 2022.

He was accused of becoming embroiled in an altercation with an Emirates flight attendant and was sent home from the Springbok camp in Argentina following revelations of an alleged affair with team dietician Zeenat Simjee.

Yet a solid campaign in France's second division with Agen proved enough to remind national coach Jacques Nienaber of his worth as the Boks deal with injuries to Handre Pollard and Damian Willemse, which initially left the team with only one fit pivot in Manie Libbok.   

"Elton is like all the other players, like a Jean Kleyn for example," said Bok mentor Nienaber on Tuesday.

"We follow so-called roadmaps on almost 70 players and, obviously, with the two injuries last weekend - Manie being the only one still standing - how great is that to fall back on an experienced guy like him.

"Elton is close to 50 Test matches and he's been in our environment. It's nice to get him in the mix. In a week or two, we could have four flyhalves present.

"As you'd deduce, Elton was probably our fourth choice in the position [initially] and again, I'm saying how lucky we are to have the depth that means a guy of his standard is 'only' our fourth-choice option."

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