Elton Jantjies

Elton Thomas Jantjies (born 1 August 1990) is a South African professional rugby union player for the South Africa national team and Agen in the Pro D2.

He has received several significant sporting awards, including the SARU Young Player of the Year award (2010), and the SA U20 Player of the Year award (2010).

Jantjies made his professional debut with the Lions during the 2011 Super Rugby season, and his international debut with the Springboks during the inaugural Rugby Championship.

Jantjies gained a reputation as being a clutch performer after he successfully converted every goal attempt in the 2011 Currie Cup final, a match in which the Golden Lions defeated the Sharks 42–16.

This performance earned him the Man of the Match award.

Jantjies made his Super Rugby debut in 2011 for the Lions.

Jantjies made his international rugby test debut for the South Africa national rugby union team during the inaugural Rugby Championship against Australia on 29 September 2012, at Loftus Versfeld, however his debut for the Springboks came in a non-test, uncapped game against the Barbarians in the 2010 end-of-year tests.

He joined the Stormers for the 2013 season on a loan deal after the Lions were relegated from the South African conference.

His stint with the Stormers was largely unsuccessful compared to the previous season with the Lions where he had an 86% goal-kicking success rate.

He returned to the Lions who had won promotion back to the Super Rugby competition.

In June 2014 it was reported that Jantjies had signed a contract with Japanese side NTT Communications Shining Arcs who play in the Top League.

This move meant that he was ruled out for the Currie Cup competition in 2014.

The fly-half tested positive for the substance Clenbuterol which is a banned substance and subsequently received a 4-year ban from rugby, ultimately ending his career in a swarm of controversies.

Jantjies reached the finals with the Lions in both 2016 where the Lions lost to the Hurricanes in Wellington and 2017 where they lost to the Crusaders at their home crowd in Johannesburg, playing a huge part in getting them there.

Jantjies was also the highest points scorer in the competition in 2017, scoring 203 points that season.

Jantjies was named in South Africa's squad for the 2019 Rugby World Cup.

South Africa went on to win the tournament, defeating England in the final.

As of 15 June 2023.

He is the older brother of fly-half Tony Jantjies.

Weeks before he joined the Stormers, his father Thomas Jantjies died in hospital after being stung by a bee.

In previous interviews, Jantjies had described his father as his mentor and kicking coach.

Jantjies was suspended from the Springboks squad in September 2022 while in Buenos Aires after allegations surfaced of inappropriate behaviour with Zeenat Simjee, the Springboks dietician.

It was reported that he spent a night away from the team at a separate hotel during the test series against New Zealand (a highly unusual practice for athletes) where patrons allegedly heard the two having sexual encounters and then arguing.

He left without paying the hotel bill, only paying the outstanding charges weeks later.

Jantjies is married to Iva Ristic, who is the mother of his 3 children.

The Springbok press release on 11 September 2022 stated:

In May 2022, it was reported that Janties had been arrested at OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg, following his reported behaviour on a Emirates Airline flight from Dubai to Johannesburg.

He is reported as having: '... spent 10 minutes banging on the toilet door of an Emirates Airlines flight from Dubai until his fists bled.

A fellow passenger alleges that Jantjies could be heard saying “Komaan, my skat (Come on, my darling)”, to an air hostess hiding in the cubicle.'

In August 2023, Jantjies was suspended from playing rugby professionally as a result of a finding that he had used a prohibited substance, Clenbuterol.

His suspension was replaced with a four-year ban on 18 January 2024.