Everyone is saying the same thing after latest Manie Libbok blunder

Manie Libbok’s kicking woes were again in the spotlight after the Springboks’ narrow defeat to Argentina in the Castle Lager Rugby Championship in Santiago del Estero on Saturday night.

With the match on the line, Libbok’s last-minute penalty attempt went wide, costing South Africa a crucial win. This isn’t the first time his kicking has faltered under pressure at the international level.

While he has performed well for the Stormers in the United Rugby Championship, the intensity of Test rugby seems to affect him. Fans on social media have now widely expressed the same view: Libbok is not a Test-level kicker.

Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus absolves replacement flyhalf Manie Libbok of the blame

Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus absolves replacement flyhalf Manie Libbok of the blame

South African rugby journalist Brendan Nel wrote on X: “You can point to the dodgy lineout, the poor tackling, game management and how good Argentina were. That is all true. But a 10s job is to kick those penalties. And that wasn’t a difficult one. Boks could have won playing poorly. But Manie should have kicked that. That doesn’t mean he should be thrown away. Boks could have lost vs ABs in both games. Their attack and game management needs work. And they didn’t look settled. They will win the Rugby Champs but this was an opportunity lost.”

Welsh rugby writer Paul Williams wrote: “I love Manie Libbok for the Stormers. But there’s only so many times that you can miss those, sadly.”

Thomas Mlambo, a South African TV news anchor with Super Sport posted on X: “Manie Libbok, for all the good work he did, messed up the bread and butter bit he is actually meant to do… That’s why he won’t see major game time when it counts. points win matches and his placekicking just doesn’t cut it.”

Fixture

Rugby Championship

Argentina

29 - 28

Full-time

South Africa

All Stats and Data

One fan wrote: “Manie Libbok is not a kicker. How many years do I have to keep tweeting. And I don’t care what Rassie and Siya say. Boks lose when he has to kick winners, and they certainly do not beat France, England or New Zealand at the 2023 Rugby World Cup if he plays. End of story.”

Another fan wrote: “It’s heartbreaking to see what has happened to Manie Libbok, couldn’t be nicer guy, a fighter, a magician with ball in hand and open play BUT this question has been asked and answered enough times. Sometimes, even when it’s sad, if reality keeps serving up the same answer, you have to change! We can only play Libbok when SFM [Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu] can play at 15 or anywhere really.”

Another observed: “Manie Libbok is at 42 per cent this season from the kicking tee… The strange thing about Manie Libbok’s goalkicking is that a lot of his missed kicks for the Boks are easier short distance kicks from not too wide out either.
I’ve seen him make harder kicks directly on the touchline in Stormers blue. Once he puts that green jersey on idk man.”

Another rugby fan remarked: ‘Manie Libbok I love you but you simply cannot be allowed on goal-kicking duties any more.”

In the post-match press conference Rassie Erasmus refused to place the blame on Libbok: “If we didn’t miss the penalty kick in the end, there would have been smiles all around. But if you look at the game, there were a few things that didn’t go our way.

“Our lineout didn’t function as well as we would have liked, but there were also a lot of other things we could have done better that would have ensured that the match didn’t come down to that kick, so we have a lot to work on next week.”