He’s not in the starting team but Manie Libbok is ready to step into the breach should the Springboks experience a repeat of their place-kicking problems when they face France in Marseille on Saturday night.
Libbok was included on a reconfigured bench for the game against the world’s No2 ranked team, with coach Jacques Nienaber doing away with the usual bomb squad 6/2 split between forwards and backs in favour of the more conventional 5/3 split. That is surely a reflection on Nienaber’s need for a reliable frontline kicker to be present should place-kicks be required in a close game in the second half.
Not that place-kicking is all that Libbok will be expected to bring to the mix at the Stade Velodrome in the French port city, for Nienaber stressed that he has encouraged Libbok to play his natural game. That might just make Libbok’s attacking skills the perfect addition to the Bok mix should they be chasing the game in the second half and require X-factor on attack.
“I’d like to see from Manie what he does best and I have encouraged him to do back his specific skill set and play how he likes to play,” said Nienaber in an online press conference conducted from Marseille on Tuesday.
“I really hope things pan out in a way that will enable us to give Manie some game time on the field. If you look at the flyhalves we have available to us, you will note that they are all pretty experienced at United Rugby Championship level, but they do not have international experience. That is the nice thing about having South Africa A touring concurrently with our tour.
“The nice thing about Manie is that he has now had time to settle in. From my perspective he is now a lot more comfortable about running the show and he now understands the language we use. By that I means he understands the words we use when we are looking for a skip pass or certain actions in certain areas of the field. He’s now trained with us for three weeks and has become comfortable about running the show and is now settled in and ready to play.
“He is now in a space where I am confident if he does get an opportunity to play he won’t have to think too much about it and just be natural in executing what is required,” added the Boks coach.
WILLEMSE WILL GAIN FROM EXPERIENCE
Nienaber’s decision to continue with Damian Willemse as the starting flyhalf means the Boks are without a recognised, consistent frontline place-kicker, and Willemse is also still relatively inexperienced in the pivot position at international level. But Nienaber backs him to grow with the experience he is picking up by wearing the No10 and by kicking for posts at test level.
“We started out in 2018 with Handre (Pollard) and Elton (Jantjies) as our flyhalves and they have played in almost all the games, while Frans Steyn, as the utility back on the bench, was always the established back-up in the position,” explained Nienaber.
“Unfortunately we are now in a situation where none of those three are available. I don’t want to call Gazza (Willemse) our fourth choice as we know his quality, but yes, although he is a seasoned international player now with 25 caps or more, it is also only the fourth time he is playing flyhalf and also only the fourth time he is being asked to kick for posts at this level.
“There have always been other guys there to fulfil those duties in the other games he has played for the Boks. We measure all the kicks in training, the kickers work incredibly hard at it, and we know what percentages they are managing on the training field. But obviously it is very different in a test match, when you have the Springbok emblem on your chest and you are kicking in front of 85 000 people.
“The only way to get better is to play and kick in those situations. Unfortunately the most senior international flyhalf we have available to us at the moment is Damian, and after four international games in the position he is still getting into it. There are other things we expect from the flyhalf apart from goalkicking.
“If he can kick goals that is awesome, particularly if there is no-one else to do it, but he is the guy who has to drive the forwards forward, who has to attack space and establish where the space is that needs to be attacked. We know where we are with him with that. Unfortunately injury has dealt a hand but the guys are working their socks off to get it right, I can assure you of that.”
FAF REWARDED FOR BRINGING ENERGY
While there was no change at flyhalf, there was a change to the starting team at scrumhalf, as well as fullback, where the Boks have returned to the more experienced, World Cup winning options of Faf de Klerk and Willie le Roux ahead of Jaden Hendrikse and Cheslin Kolbe (who moves to wing) respectively.
“Jaden took his opportunity when other players, like Cobus Reinach, who returns this week on the bench, were injured. But he has played I think six or seven games as the starting scrumhalf respectively and I thought Faf brought great energy off the bench last week.
“And as I have mentioned in the past, we do have several world class scrumhalves. Cobus played his part in the World Cup, he also played his part for us in the series against the British and Irish Lions. There are aspects of his game we will need against the French, like his sniping around the rucks. So there is a bit of rotation at scrumhalf, with Faf having brought energy onto the field with him last week.”
RETURN OF WILLIE’S EXPERIENCE SHIFTS MAPIMPI TO THE BENCH
The return to the starting team of Le Roux means Makazole Mapimpi, scorer of the first try for the Boks in a World Cup final in Japan in 2019, has to make way for fellow World Cup hero Cheslin Kolbe on the wing. Mapimpi does though find a place for himself on the bench and could still play a crucial role for the Boks late in a game against a French team that showed potential defensive weaknesses out wide against Australia last week.
And there was also no denying Le Roux’s positive impact on the Bok attacking game when he came on to dovetail the first receiver responsibilities with flyhalf Willemse as the Boks chased the game in the second half last week against Ireland at the Aviva Stadium.
“Willie brought good direction for us in the second half, and he also brings all that experience he has picked up over the years,” said Neinaber.
“He is a well seasoned and experienced fullback, while the likes of Cheslin and Kurt-Lee can bring what we are looking for from the back three against the French, who have a particular style of play (related mostly to their kicking game) that is very different to other countries. We felt the back three we have selected now is the best combination to face the specific threats of the French.”