Springbok flyhalf Elton Jantjies was sent home from Argentina ahead of a Rugby Championship match, the South African Rugby Union (SARU) said on Sunday, after media reports about an affair with the team’s dietician.
“The Springbok management are aware of reports regarding Springbok flyhalf Elton Jantjies and team dietician Zeenat Simjee,” SARU said in a statement.
“No team protocols were breached, but the individuals are returning to South Africa to attend to these personal reports and to eliminate any distractions to the team’s preparations for the Test against Argentina,” it said.
Photo: AFP
The Springboks are due to play Argentina on Saturday in the Rugby Championship.
South Africa are tied on points (9) in second place with Australia and Argentina, with all three teams trailing New Zealand who lead with 10 points.
South African media reported Jantjies, who is married, spent time at a guesthouse with a woman last month, as the team was in Mbombela, South Africa, to play New Zealand.
Jantjies, 32, is not new to making news off the pitch.
In May he was arrested on charges of malicious damage to property of an airline he had flown with from Dubai to Johannesburg.
The case against him was provisionally withdrawn in June.
Jantjies, who made his professional debut in 2011 with Johannesburg’s Lions, this year joined Japan’s NTT Red Hurricanes.
Tainan TSG Hawks slugger Steven Moya, who is leading the CPBL in home runs, has withdrawn from this weekend’s All-Star Game after the unexpected death of his wife. Moya’s wife began feeling severely unwell aboard a plane that landed at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Friday evening. She was rushed to a hospital, but passed away, the Hawks said in a statement yesterday. The franchise is assisting Moya with funeral arrangements and hopes fans who were looking forward to seeing him at the All-Star Game can understand his decision to withdraw. According to Landseed Medical Clinic, whose staff attempted to save Moya’s wife,
The Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday acquired Taiwanese-American outfielder Stuart Fairchild from the Atlanta Braves for cash considerations to fill the roster after All-Star second baseman Brandon Lowe was placed back on the injured list. Fairchild was designated for assignment by the Braves on Monday after hitting .216/.273/.333 in 28 games for Atlanta, with most of his work coming as a pinch runner or defensive replacement. He joins Tampa Bay as a versatile fourth outfielder option. To make room for Fairchild on the 40-man roster, the Rays transferred relief pitcher Manuel Rodriguez (forearm strain) from the 15-day injured list to the 60-day
Ukrainian coal miner Andrii’s face lit up when he talked about meeting Oleksandr Usyk. “Wow,” the 36-year-old said in English. Andrii and more than a dozen other war veterans were on hand when Usyk beat Daniel Dubois at Wembley Stadium on Saturday night to become the undisputed world heavyweight champion. It was a rematch of their 2023 bout that Andrii viewed under vastly different circumstances. “I watched this fight on the front line on my phone,” he said through an interpreter during a stop on Friday at the Ukrainian Embassy in London. “We were watching very quietly, but when he won there was loud
PENALTY MISS: ‘We practiced penalties,’ Spain coach Montse Tome said, while both her team’s spot-kicks were saved by Switzerland’s goalkeeper Livia Peng Spain ended Switzerland’s dreamy midsummer run through its home Women’s European Championship in a 2-0 win in the quarter-finals on Friday despite missing two penalty kicks. Swiss resistance was broken by the world champion’s two goals in a five-minute spell midway through the second half. Athenea Del Castillo slotted in a shot from Aitana Bonmati’s flicked assist in the 66th, just four minutes after coming off the bench, and Claudia Pina curled a shot from the edge of the penalty area in the 71st. Spain are to play France or Germany in the semi-finals in Zurich on Wednesday. The winner would face defending