By Lucky Vince Pienaar
Will there still be room for Manie Libbok now that players like Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu and Siya Masuku (among others) are available to play for the Springboks?
Manie Libbok is without a doubt a good player and as committed to the Springbok cause as anybody on the pitch.
But the pressure is building as the international tour approaches. Nobody can still claim that Libbok is a kicker.
Famously, after the match against Scotland at the World Cup, where Libbok had a great match but missed vital kicks, an interviewer asked Jacques Nienaber if he was worried about Libbok’s poor kicking performance.
Nienaber replied: “Not if he wins man of the match.”
That was in October 2023 and to this day, nobody can deny that Libbok has a kicking problem. When they played the Glasgow Warriors just last week, Libbok had four shots at goal – and missed them all.
Sure, conditions were tough. It was raining, the ball was wet and the wind was howling, but that didn’t stop George Horne of the Warriors from kicking two penalties and three conversions.
The reality is the Stormers were on the back foot to the tune of ten wasted points. Horne scored 12 points for his team. It could not have been a more disastrous exit from the Vodacom United Rugby Championship (VURC) for the Stormers and for Libbok the timing could not have been worse ahead of a tough Springbok season.
Included in Rassie Erasmus’ squad are several players who are considered to be good flyhalves who can also kick, but there is one name that keeps popping up.
Siya Masuku has proven himself as an outstanding flyhalf at the provincial level doing a remarkably good job behind a Sharks squad that was often less than effective. And he seems to have ice in his veins when it comes to kicking for posts. Where Libbok is always tentative, leaving the entire nation holding their breath when he steps up to kick, Masuku seems to be a “no-problem” kind of guy, slotting the kicks seemingly without fuss.
He has come through the ranks, taking every step up in his stride. The only question that remains is can he step up to Springbok level? Is the match against Wales, now little more than ten days away, not the right place to put that to the test?
Rassie has some interesting and exciting decisions to make and one of the toughest has to be what he is going to do with Libbok.
Don’t forget that Manie is a legend in South Africa and he carries the hopes and dreams of every person who lives in his hometown of Humansdorp in the Eastern Cape on his shoulders.
But Rassie still has a team to put together – and test matches to win. A headache indeed.
Pictured above: Manie Libbok.
Source: Springboks/X
