Herschel Jantjies
Full nameHerschel Jerome Jantjies
Date of birth (1996-04-22) 22 April 1996 (age 27)
Place of birthKylemore, South Africa
Height1.66 m (5 ft 5+1⁄2 in)
Weight74 kg (163 lb; 11 st 9 lb)
SchoolPaul Roos Gymnasium
UniversityUniversity of the Western Cape
Rugby union career
Position(s) Scrum-half
Current team Stormers / Western Province
Youth career
2012–2017 Western Province
Senior career
Years Team Apps (Points)
2016– Western Province 26 (25)
2017 → Scarlets 1 (0)
2018–present Stormers 63 (65)
Correct as of 22 October 2023
International career
Years Team Apps (Points)
2019– South Africa 24 (25)
Correct as of 22 October 2023

Herschel Jerome Jantjies (born 22 April 1996) is a South African professional rugby union player for the South Africa national team and the Stormers in the URC.[1] His regular position is scrum-half.

Rugby career

Jantjies was born in Stellenbosch, where he attended Paul Roos Gymnasium. He represented Western Province at Under-16 level in 2012 and at the Craven Week tournaments in 2013 in 2014. He progressed to their Under-19 and Under-21 sides, and made his first class debut in Western Province's match against the Leopards in the 2016 Currie Cup qualification series.[2][3]

He made four appearances as a replacement for Western Province in the 2017 Rugby Challenge, a competition they would go on to win, before reverting to the Western Province U21 team for the latter half of the season. At the end of 2017, Jantjies was drafted into the squad of Welsh side Scarlets on their visit to South Africa during the 2017–18 Pro14 season,[4] and came on as a replacement in their match against the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein.[5]

He played in all nine of their matches in the 2018 Rugby Challenge, scoring his first and second tries in first class rugby in a 23–21 victory over the Boland Cavaliers in their Round Three match.[6] He scored a further try in their match against the Border Bulldogs[7] as his side progressed to the quarterfinal stage before being eliminated by Free State XV.[8]

Schoolboy rugby kicked off at his hometown of Kylemore where he attended P.C Petersen Primary from where he graduated to his high schooling career which initially started at Kylemore High School where his excellence was spotted. His constant game-changing performances got the interest from Paul Roos Gymnasium in Stellenbosch, where he started playing under 14 rugby for the D team. His size counted against him, but once he got game time, he grabbed the opportunity with both hands. At the tender age of 14, he undertook his first trip overseas where he represented a South African invitational side on a postseason rugby tour to Scotland in the UK. Jantjies' rugby master brain scored his constant features at WP Grant Komo and Craven week and constant 1st team starts for Paul Roos in the South African Premiere Schools league.

Jantjies was included in the Stormers' squad for their final match of the 2018 Super Rugby season against the Sharks,[9] and he came on as a second half replacement to make his Super Rugby debut.[10]

International rugby

In July 2019, Jantjies made his debut for South Africa in their opening match of the 2019 Rugby Championship against Australia in Johannesburg, scoring twice in a 35–17 win.[11] In their next match against New Zealand in Wellington, Jantjies scored his side's only try in the 79th minute to help them to a 16–16 draw for a total of 3 tries in his first 2 games.[12]

Jantjies was named in South Africa's squad for the 2019 Rugby World Cup.[13] South Africa went on to win the tournament, defeating England in the final.[14]

Statistics

Test match record

As of 12 November 2023
Opponent P W D L Try Pts %Won
 Argentina 2 2 0 0 0 0 100
 Australia 3 1 0 2 2 10 33.33
 British and Irish Lions 3 2 0 1 0 0 66.67
 Canada 1 1 0 0 0 0 100
 England 2 1 0 1 0 0 50
 Georgia 1 1 0 0 1 5 100
 Italy 1 1 0 0 0 0 100
 Japan 2 2 0 0 1 5 100
 Namibia 1 1 0 0 0 0 100
 New Zealand 5 1 1 3 1 5 20
 Scotland 1 1 0 0 0 0 100
 Wales 3 3 0 0 0 0 100
Total 25 17 1 7 5 25 68

Pld = Games played, W = Games won, D = Games drawn, L = Games lost, Try = Tries scored, Pts = Points scored

International tries

As of 12 November 2023
Try Opposing team Location Venue Competition Date Result Score
1  Australia Johannesburg, South Africa Ellis Park Stadium 2019 Rugby Championship 20 July 2019 Win 35–17
2
3  New Zealand Wellington, New Zealand Wellington Regional Stadium 2019 Rugby Championship 27 July 2019 Tie 16–16
4  Japan Kumagaya, Japan Kumagaya Rugby Ground 2019 Rugby World Cup warm-up matches 6 September 2019 Win 7–41
5  Georgia Pretoria, South Africa Loftus Versfeld Stadium Test match 2 July 2021 Win 40–9

References

  1. ^ "SA Rugby Player Profile – Herschel Jantjies". South African Rugby Union. Retrieved 14 July 2018.
  2. ^ "WP too strong for Leopards". South African Rugby Union. 6 June 2016. Archived from the original on 9 June 2016. Retrieved 9 June 2016.
  3. ^ "SA Rugby Match Centre – Leopards 34–43 DHL Western Province". South African Rugby Union. 4 June 2016. Retrieved 9 June 2016.
  4. ^ "Scrum-half Jantjies Signed On Loan" (Press release). Scarlets. 30 November 2017. Retrieved 14 July 2018.
  5. ^ "Cheetahs see off Scarlets to triumph at home again". Guinness Pro14. Archived from the original on 10 January 2018. Retrieved 10 January 2018.
  6. ^ "SuperSport Rugby Challenge - Match 15, Pool Stage". South African Rugby Union. 5 May 2018. Retrieved 12 May 2018.
  7. ^ "SuperSport Rugby Challenge - Match 41, Pool Stage". South African Rugby Union. 2 June 2018. Retrieved 3 June 2018.
  8. ^ "SuperSport Rugby Challenge - Match 64, Quarter Final". South African Rugby Union. 1 July 2018. Retrieved 4 July 2018.
  9. ^ "Leyds brings up DHL Stormers 50 at DHL Newlands" (Press release). Stormers. 5 July 2018. Archived from the original on 13 July 2018. Retrieved 13 July 2018.
  10. ^ "Stormers 27-16 Sharks". SANZAAR. 7 July 2018. Retrieved 9 July 2018.
  11. ^ "Match 1, Log". South African Rugby Union. 20 July 2019. Retrieved 28 July 2019.
  12. ^ "Match 3, Log". South African Rugby Union. 27 July 2019. Retrieved 28 July 2019.
  13. ^ "South Africa World Cup squad: Siya Kolisi wins fitness battle, Eben Etzebeth backed, Aphiwe Dyantyi dropped". Independent. 26 August 2019. Retrieved 3 November 2019.
  14. ^ "England 12-32 South Africa: Springboks win World Cup for record-equalling third time". BBC. 2 November 2019. Retrieved 3 November 2019.

External links

Stormers – current squad
Western Province – current squad
Squads
Categories