Andy Capostagno rugby
It might not have occurred to anyone in a position of power in South African rugby, but Conrad Jantjes has just had his life rearranged. The Lions utility back, with Blue Bulls wing Rayno Hendricks, is at the centre of the row over quota manipulations. Jantjes is one of those rare talents who was spotted early, played for his country at age group level and was quietly slotted into the Lions starting line-up this season. This year promised to be one of quiet achievement
until he was substituted in the second half against the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein two weeks ago. Until then Jantjes’s talent was a secret among the cognoscenti, some of whom knew he had
also represented his country at age-group level at soccer and cricket, and that he and the coaching staff of the Lions was still working out which position on the rugby field suited him best. If it all sounds a little like the early life of Herschelle Gibbs, then the coincidences go deeper still. For while Jantjes may never feel the need to take a bribe before taking the field, he shares with Gibbs a family background which is classified as “coloured”, with a white skin.
To put Jantjes’s current position into perspective remember what happened to Gibbs. Picked early for the Proteas he was a tried, tested and failed middle-order batsman by the time the West Indies arrived in this country for a five-Test tour in November 1998. In the first Test at the Wanderers South Africa fielded an all-white team for the first time in nine Tests and the politicians had a field day. Two weeks later, bowing to the pressure, the selectors picked Gibbs to open the batting, which was the first time most cricket supporters had realised the former Bishops pupil was not white. In most countries that simple fact would be utterly irrelevant. In this country at this time, the racial backgrounds of Gibbs and Jantjes seem to be all that matters. It is a long walk back to common sense from here. The arguments are so familiar as to hardly bear repeating. Transformation is not happening fast enough, so the South African Rugby Football Union (Sarfu) has forced a quota system upon the Currie Cup provinces. Something similar was attempted in cricket last season. A host of black and coloured cricketers who would not otherwise have been selected got the chance to shine at a higher level and some took the opportunity well, while others learned the painful truth of professional sport: many are called, few are chosen. In rugby, for the provinces not blessed with reserves of non-white talent, it has been a case of first find your player, second find a place to hide him. The traditional strongholds of non-white rugby in the Cape have been plundered, but not too many tight forwards have been found. You could select an entire team of black and coloured wingers to represent the Springboks right now, although it goes without saying that such an outfit wouldn’t win too many games. Provinces have discovered that wings can be successfully hidden on the field of play, although a few of the breed who risked dying of exposure in the days of 10-man rugby will tell you there is nothing new in that. Jantjes is different: the Lions don’t have to find a place to hide him. He has come up through the system, excelled at every level and could reasonably expect in these days of 13 Tests a year to become a Springbok soon.
But now Sarfu has chosen to put his colour above his ability he probably wonders why he bothered to choose rugby. He is no longer, “wing, Conrad Jantjes” he is “coloured wing, Conrad Jantjes”. And we thought that judging a man by the colour of his skin had been consigned to the dustbin of history. Wednesday’s 10-hour Sarfu disciplinary hearing achieved precisely nothing in terms of scaring either the Lions or the Bulls. Nothing short of throwing a province out of a competition is likely to have the desired effect.
Suspended fines and suspended point dockings don’t add up to 10 hours of talk and they’d have to sit for a good deal longer to come up with any kind of credible apology for shouting from the rooftops: “Hey! You know that white kid, Conrad Jantjes? Well, he’s coloured!”