‘Go chat to Naas Botha’ – Rassie Erasmus addresses Manie Libbok’s kicking woes

Springboks boss Rassie Erasmus has addressed Manie Libbok’s struggles off the tee following South Africa’s 64-21 victory over Portugal.

Libbok returned to the starting XV for the Boks for the first time since the Rugby Cup semi-final when he got the shepherd’s hook before half-time.

The playmaker impressed in open play throughout his 44-minute cameo against Os Lobos as the Springboks carved the Portuguese defence open, scoring five tries in the first half despite being a man down after Andre Esterhuizen’s red card in the second minute of the match.

Manie Libbok’s kicking woes

The 27-year-old came up with a try assist while also gaining 61 running metres, beating four defenders, making one clean break from his five carries and completing 13 passes and three kicks from hand.

However, his struggles off the tee is what is of concern to the Springboks coaching staff and fans with the fly-half missing three of his five conversion attempts in Bloemfontein.

This after he had similar issues at the World Cup and more recently during the tail-end of the Stormers’ 2023/24 season.

Erasmus confirmed that Libbok is working closely with ex-All Blacks fly-half Tony Brown, who is the side’s new attack coach, to rectify his issues off the tee but praised the playmaker’s ability around the park.

The Bok boss also highlighted that these kinds of ‘dips’ happen to all kickers, suggesting that even Springbok great Naas Botha went through a rough patch during his career.

“I’m not a kicking coach,” Erasmus admitted when asked about Libbok’s struggles, adding: “Tony [Brown] is trying to help him.

“Go chat to Naas Botha and he will tell you that he had a spell when his game dipped.

“So Manie is going through a dip but his general play is still good so it is a tough one to handle.”

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‘Proper pressure’ on Springboks tens as Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu shines

Adding to the selection headache for the Springboks coaches is the performance of Libbok’s club-mate Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu who has yet to miss from the tee in his first four appearances for the side knocking over all eight of his shots at goal including five against Portugal.

Damian Willemse is also set to return from injury at some point this year while Handre Pollard bounced back from his kicking woes in Test One against Ireland to shine in Test Two, almost steering the Springboks to victory.

“Sacha comes on and he slots everything and he passes well and creates tries; so there is some proper pressure on all the tens, Manie, Handre [Pollard], Gaza [Damian Willemse] and Sacha,” Erasmus added.

“There are some new guys in the team that can do the things but no I can’t fix his goal-kicking – he will have to.”

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Focus turns to the Rugby Championship

After defeating Wales in their opening game of the year and drawing the series with Ireland and defeating Portugal, Erasmus now turns his attention to the Rugby Championship.

The Bok boss says that many of the young players will get another opportunity against Australia in the tournament but may not play against the All Blacks.

“We will definitely be slowly integrating some of these players into the squad, some might play against Australia,” he explained.

“But then not play against New Zealand and then come back against Argentina.”

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