Former Springbok fullback Conrad Jantjes says Laurie Mains needs to take a long, hard look at himself before accusing people of being dishonest.

This was in reaction to the former Golden Lions and Cats coach’s comments about Bok coach Rassie Erasmus being ‘a very dishonest person’ in a podcast last week.

NKOSI: I thought we had done enough

In his autobiography, Erasmus goes into detail about the tension between himself and Mains which stemmed from how Mains was managing the players and the team as a whole.

Jantjes told the City Press how Mains had told him as a 20-year-old in 2000, to fake an injury during a Currie Cup match between the Lions and the Cheetahs so that winger Dean Hall could be sent on without the Lions falling foul of a SARU quota directive at the time.

“Then Laurie says: ‘Listen, at half time let the doc sort you out.’ Sort me out? I asked. ‘Yes, yes, yes the doc will sort you out.’” Jantjes recalls.

“When the team went out for the second half, I got the message from Laurie: Put ice on the ‘injured’ leg and walk with a limp.”

Following the incident, the Lions were fined R50,000 and four log points, of which R20,000 and one log point were suspended. Jantjes and Mains’ relationship grew increasingly more fractious the following season.

Jantjes says he’ll always be indebted to Erasmus because he helped him rediscover the love for the game he almost lost under Mains.

“I am grateful to Rassie, though. I suspect it was he who told the stadium doctor that day in Bloemfontein that I wasn’t injured. I was very fortunate to experience him later as a coach [at the Stormers]. He felt bad about what happened to me.”

FULL STORY

Photo: Duif du Toit/Gallo Images