Braam van Straaten believes Elton Jantjies’ body positioning during the lead-up to his goal kicks is to blame for his recent struggles.

Jantjies missed four crucial kicks in the Lions' quarter-final against the Sharks last Saturday, which nearly cost them the game. Ruan Combrinck took over the kicking duties and landed a late 55m kick to clinch a 23-21 win.

But Van Straaten says Jantjies’ kicking troubles started as far back as the Springboks’ three-Test series against France in June.

‘Elton has lost his space towards the ball,’ the former Bok goal-kicker told Netwerk24.com.

‘I picked it up in the final Test against France already when he hit the right upright and with the next kick he pushed the ball wide past the left upright. He comes too close to the ball when he moves forward to kick and then ends up leaning too far over to his right.

’The two primary reasons why kickers miss are either they lean over on their toes when they strike the ball or they lean towards one side too much. Elton does the latter by leaning towards the right side of his body, so there is no fluidity when he strikes the ball,’ explained Van Straaten.

‘And as we've seen with Elton, when you struggle with your place-kicking it affects your general play as well.’

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