Banned World Cup-winning Springbok handed potential lifeline by former club
Elton Jantjies of South Africa Springboks celebrates kicking a penalty goal to seal a win against the New Zealand All Blacks during the Round 6 Rugby Championship match at the Cbus Super Stadium on the Gold Coast, Saturday, October 2, 2021.
World Cup-winning Springboks fly-half Elton Jantjies could be returning to professional rugby despite his four-year doping ban.
Jantjies was slapped with a four-year doping sanction by the SA Institute for Drug-Free Sport (SAIDS) in August last year.
The 33-year-old tested positive for Clenbuterol, a drug that many bodybuilders use to cut weight and increase muscle mass, in June 2023.
Fresh twist in Elton Jantjies saga
He was given until January of this year to exercise his right to have his case heard before an Independent Doping Hearing Panel (IDHP) which he never did.
But in a fresh twist, he could still return to professional rugby after the World Anti-Doping Agency suspended the accreditation of the South African Doping Control Laboratory in Bloemfontein.
It is reported that it was the Bloemfontein lab that produced the results that led to Jantjies’ ban, which is now being brought into question.
According to a report by Rugby Pass, Jantjies’ former club, the Lions, are lining up a swoop for the playmaker if he is able to return to rugby.
Jantjies started his career with the Lions back in 2011 before going on loan to the Stormers when the Johannesburg-based outfit were relegated from Super Rugby in 2013.
Dr Rassie Erasmus: ‘Visionary’ Springboks boss rewarded for ‘unifying a nation’
He returned to the Lions and went on to make over 100 appearances for the side, reaching two Super Rugby finals.
The ban will end his career if it is upheld, but if not, the Lions are eager to secure his return to the red jersey, particularly with Jordan Hendrikse joining the Sharks next season. The report adds that the Lions were keen on bringing Jantjies back before his ban.
Whirlwind
It’s been a whirlwind period for Jantjies, who won the World Cup with the Springboks in 2019 and was part of the 2021 squad that defeated the British and Irish Lions.
In mid-2022, he allegedly damaged property on an Emirates flight and was arrested and charged with malicious damage to property and a contravention of the Aviation Act.
This was followed by him being sent home from the Bok camp during their trip to Argentina during the Rugby Championship after an alleged affair with team dietician Zeenat Simjee made headlines.
He was recalled to the Springboks squad as injury cover during the Rugby Championship last year but did not add to his 46 Test caps.
READ MORE: Springboks captain Siya Kolisi sidelined after another operation
