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Rugby World Cup

Libbok sends message to kicking critics amid contest with 'world class' Pollard

South Africa's fly-half Manie Libbok prepares a kick during the France 2023 Rugby World Cup Pool B match between South Africa and Tonga at Stade Velodrome in Marseille, south-eastern France, on October 1, 2023. (Photo by CLEMENT MAHOUDEAU / AFP) (Photo by CLEMENT MAHOUDEAU/AFP via Getty Images)

Going into the World Cup, there was a question mark over fly-half Manie Libbok’s kicking, and that question has not necessarily been answered as the tournament has progressed.

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The 26-year-old looked to have turned a corner against the All Blacks in South Africa’s final match before the World Cup, but the loss to Ireland at the Stade de France opened that wound again. Handre Pollard was drafted into the Springboks’ World Cup squad soon after and could well start against France this Sunday in the quarter-finals due to his superior goal kicking percentage. He is not the best kicker in the world, but many feel he is the more reliable option with the boot than the Stormers No10.

But Libbok does not seem to be paying any attention to the outside chatter surrounding his kicking, rather he is solely focusing on himself and improving.

“I don’t watch what is going on in the media,” he said this week. “I know what criticism is out there when it comes to my kicking but for me I am focusing on myself. I am focusing on getting it right, it is something I have to get right especially at this level where the margins are so small. I am just working hard and trying to get it right.”

Head-to-Head

Last 5 Meetings

Wins
1
Draws
0
Wins
4
Average Points scored
24
27
First try wins
40%
Home team wins
20%

Though the 2019 World Cup winning fly-half Pollard is breathing down Libbok’s neck ahead of the France clash, the 12-cap Springbok says it is “awesome” having his “world class” teammate in camp.

He said: “First and foremost it is nice to have Handre back in the camp. Him and I work nicely together, we pick each other up. It’s awesome to work with him. It doesn’t matter who is going to start. If he is going to play, if I am going to play. I know he’ll do a good job, a great job. He is a world class player, he has been there and done that so for me it’s awesome to have him back in the camp. He helps me a lot and we work nicely together.”

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Comments on RugbyPass

J
JW 34 minutes ago
The constant in the All Blacks’ struggles is not the coaches

It was clear when Razor started his tenure his intention was to not use Beauden, how quickly things changed.

104 Go to comments
J
JW 45 minutes ago
The constant in the All Blacks’ struggles is not the coaches

Why have you given up on Jordie at the back?

104 Go to comments
G
GodOfFriedChicken 59 minutes ago
The constant in the All Blacks’ struggles is not the coaches

Looking back at it, it was the second test and what I was referring to was the Kyle Sinckler jump into Charlie Faumuina that gave them the game winning penalty. As Read said, by that logic, players should just jump into every pass to bait the penalty.

That team still dominated its opposition in that span. As I said in another comment here, they made a tactical gamble in that semi and choked.



...

104 Go to comments
E
Easy_Duzz-it 1 hour ago
The constant in the All Blacks’ struggles is not the coaches

Both player selection and style of play … we've gone backwards . Razor was just keeping us a float .

We are lucky to be 2nd in the world



...

104 Go to comments
c
cw 1 hour ago
The constant in the All Blacks’ struggles is not the coaches

Agree with the head drop point. A just to clarify, the stats show a steady improvement against tier 1 (other top 5 teams) teams over the last 5 years:

2021 25%



...

104 Go to comments
J
JW 1 hour ago
The constant in the All Blacks’ struggles is not the coaches



while the remainder of the spots are selected on form.

Not even. Leicester was straight in on his contract alone, and he’d only be mid tier, perhaps in the top 20 contracts.



...

104 Go to comments
c
cw 1 hour ago
The constant in the All Blacks’ struggles is not the coaches

Hey PMcD we normally agree - and you have identified the flaws but just for a small bit of balance the ABs this year beat France B x 3 (but with a pack that bore little or no ressemblance to the first choice pack at the end of 2024 - 5 members out with injury from memory for the first test and a completely differently configured pack in the third test) Argentina, South Africa, Australia (x 2), Ireland and Scotland. They did this with some the most potent set piece striking of all the teams - the way they opened up opposition in their 22 was quite remarkable. Did they overdo this - definitely - but they were not irredeemable especially if they sorted the third quarter malaise. Part of that has to be owned by the players.

104 Go to comments
J
JW 2 hours ago
The constant in the All Blacks’ struggles is not the coaches

The NH leagues have just done a better job at understanding whats happening I think. There isn’t a whole lot that needs to go into an AB attack though, if theyre allowed to just let loose they can click. Then the cat and mouse can begin again.

PB is trying to call out the players, thinking Razor was on the right track. Your post was agreeing with him. Maybe you mean to reply to GodChicken?



...

104 Go to comments
c
cw 2 hours ago
The constant in the All Blacks’ struggles is not the coaches

Yeah the under 20s have not looked great for a while, though they made the final last year (or was that a different youth team?). But I wonder whether that reflects priorities in NZ rugby rather than a generational decline. Some of our best players are the younger guys.

104 Go to comments
J
JW 2 hours ago
The constant in the All Blacks’ struggles is not the coaches

I think that was the second test. What you are referring to was that Romain we have an deal, international grab at the ball while offside reverse call. He absolutely deliberately caught the ball. Obvious by mistake, and to his credit he knew it fast enough to confuse the officials interpretation of the law. They absolutely got that wrong.

The point that you seem to be missing due to your Crusader bias is that that team struggled in new modern football with Beauden at the helm. They did not look more cohesive at all, they looked, as they did against England in 2019, absolutely bereft of idea’s against todays modern defences.



...

104 Go to comments
G
GodOfFriedChicken 2 hours ago
The constant in the All Blacks’ struggles is not the coaches

He tried to get the team winning without trying to understand what he was working with and that’s why he was rejected. Hansen got his players to win, even as I mention below, during a rebuilding period where they struggled to find replacements for gold standard players like McCaw, Kaino, Smith, Nonu and still managed to win with solid but not world breaking players like Cane (when not injured), Squire, Crotty and late career SBW.

I’ll still argue that the choke in the semifinal vs England was more due to a tactical miscalculation where they tried to go tall in the lineout with Scooter at 6, expecting to play more set pieces, while England went with 2 opensides and had a lot more speed to the breakdown, keeping possession away and leading to the team choking it away for the second half. Was the team as strong as 2015? Definitely not. But I disagree with that loss being evidence of Hansen losing his players. He gambled and not all gambles work out - it’s not like the players gave up because they didn’t like the game plan.



...

104 Go to comments
J
JC 2 hours ago
'Ireland are consumed by chaos, but Andy Farrell's choice of 10 is becoming clear'

100% Eric. Not a shred of, honestly, decency or integrity. Lies and constantly avoiding answering the actual questions. Just deflection and being morally outraged. However, the softest bunch of trolls you’ll likely encounter on a forum, It’s like winding up an angry thin skinned jack russell….

22 Go to comments
J
JW 2 hours ago
The constant in the All Blacks’ struggles is not the coaches

And the halves, the back three. He changed philosophy of his f/r.

Whitelock, Retallick, and Scooter, as lock, and Smith at halfback were the only well oiled parts of that team.



...

104 Go to comments
J
JW 3 hours ago
The constant in the All Blacks’ struggles is not the coaches

The topic is the ‘quality’ of the players. Nothing to do with whether they ‘led’ or not.

The point is that Razor was trying to get this team winning, and well, I suppose you can construe that the players didn’t like that, now that Razor has been rejected (by whowever, who is not the point of this article) it undeniably rests on the players.



...

104 Go to comments
J
JC 3 hours ago
The Springboks' biggest critic might be right on this one

It’s as simple as this the top European clubs don’t want the marquee or regular bok internationals because they’re basically not getting their money’s worth and getting fleeced. They’ve learned their lessons at a cost. You just have to look at the amount of top SA internationals playing in France, England and Ireland. Gone are the days of Matfield, botha, Kolbe etc….smashing it up for Toulon, Toulouse etc….Bar Synman at Leinster and Thomas du toit at bath there isn’t any more. Klyen and Dweba are on the fringes. You have alot of good pro’s or possible unfounded rough diamonds these are better value. France was always the go too for the money but the kolisi debacle has definitely made owners and investors cuter and wiser. You can understand from a SA point of view not wanting top internationals getting flogged in the top 14 and i’m sure that’s why management have been steering the players towards a sabbatical in Japan playing tag rugby. In fairness it’ll prolong their careers and the Japanese clubs will get money through these players on sponsorship deals, selling products and endorsements. However from a sporting perspective on the pitch they’re getting very little out of alot of them. It seems at the moment this is the best for both sides as the SA international team are flourishing, keeping players fresh and the focus away from club rugby.. While the European teams know where they stand and can invest their money more wisely on commited, consistent and reliable players.

49 Go to comments
c
cw 3 hours ago
The constant in the All Blacks’ struggles is not the coaches

Agree PMcD. Its about balance across the whole team. We have some of the tallest props / lifters in world rugby (Williams 195, Tosi 196, Lomax 193, de Groot 190). This I think offsets the lack of height for most oppositon. Note also that Englands main crop of loosies are not much taller if at all than these three Curry 185, Pollock 188, Underhill 186, Earl 183 vs Savea 188, Sititi 187, Lakai 186. And like you this combination should have started in London because of England’s newfound intensity. But the ABs must look to match up more closely when playing the Boks and France. This is where your 6-2 is critical. I don’t think Jacobson is the answer - he is too small at 192cm/ 108 kgs to make the necessary power impact. We need more mass - this is where Parker (197cm / 117kgs), Papali’i (193cm/113kgs) and Vaa’i (198 cm / 118 kgs) et al come in. They key is then how you configure the combinations etc.

104 Go to comments
J
JW 3 hours ago
Scott Robertson's biggest mistake as All Blacks coach

As an All Black supporter, I can understand that.

118 Go to comments
J
JC 3 hours ago
The Springboks' biggest critic might be right on this one

Unhinged, thin skinned and paranoid. Great to see the stereotype is still strong and true!

49 Go to comments
J
JW 4 hours ago
The coaching conundrum part three: Time is running out for Australia and New Zealand

One of many ways to skin a cat.

579 Go to comments
c
cw 4 hours ago
The constant in the All Blacks’ struggles is not the coaches

All of that makes sense JK. But if a player is consistently underperforming they need to be managed out of the starting 23. Wellington was a shocking performance by the senior cohort. They disappeared. England was not so bad, but the same lack of onfield leadership was evident (though in fairness losing players likeTaylor, BB and Roigard in the span of minutes would have affected most teams.) A coach must be able replace / stand down players who repeatedly underperform or are a negative influence whatever their contract terms. Rassie dumping Pollard, de Allande, Kriel, Eben, Le Roux et al for the Wellington test is testament to that. And it seems to me Robertson did not wield the axe enough. Joseph has had his own problems with man management but that experience has him ideally placed to apply the surgical knife as needed.

104 Go to comments
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