Schalk Burger has hailed Springboks fly-half Manie Libbok after the playmaker’s performance for the Stormers in the Investec Champions Cup victory over Sale Sharks.
Libbok produced a sterling outing as the Stormers romped to a statement 40-0 victory over the Premiership outfit with the playmaker scoring a long-range try.
His placekicking woes have often been the main subject of his performances but he nailed six of his seven attempts in the win for a 13-point haul and enjoyed another fine shift with the ball in hand.
Legendary Springboks flanker Burger was certainly impressed by the 27-year-old’s showing and pinpointed his bravery as a trait that sets him apart from so many other fly-halves.
Underrated part of Manie Libbok’s game
Burger pointed to Libbok’s long-range try against Sale as proof of this. After the Stormers secured a turnover inside their 22, the number 10 called for a box kick from his scrum-half Stefan Ungerer which Libbok regather himself before stepping the on-rushing Sale defence and cantered away for the try.
“The underrated part of Manie Libbok is how brave he is in his decision-making,” Burger explained on the Boks Office podcast.
“That for me is something that you can never take away from him.
“I think sometimes you look at playmakers and it’s easier for them to say. ‘no, it is not on, let the forwards truck it up another time’, not be in motion and take the easy option.
“He would rather go the other way. He does the work, opens up the space behind the pod off nine and then that try he scored on the weekend, he calls the dink over the top, backs himself to catch it and put the little footwork on.”
The Stormers have enjoyed an upswing in form of late after a torrid start to the season but Burger is excited about what his former team can do when they have a fully-fit backline at their disposal.
He continued: “Libbok is incredible in that regard and you think we don’t have a Damian Willemse and don’t have Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu at the moment. You put all of them on the field and we are going to have some serious firepower come the back end of the season.”
Jean de Villiers’ take
Fellow former Springbok Jean de Villiers warned that it is “almost getting the mix right” once they are all fit, hinting to the positional flexibility of Willemse and Feinberg-Mngomezulu with fellow Bok Warrick Gelant also in the mix at full-back.
De Villiers also weighed in on the performance of Libbok stating that he was “good value” in the victory but raised concerns around him and Gelant’s inability to execute the basics.
“The thing that I always say about Manie and Warrick Gelant is that the X-factor is always there and they are amazing at that,” he said.
“But it’s being able to do the easy, simple stuff right 10 out of 10 times, it’s that they struggle with.
“But when they are on form and they get it right, it’s spectacular. Manie is a confidence player and he is more confident when Warrick is on the field.”
Stormers boss John Dobson will be hoping for another strong outing from his charges as they go toe-to-toe with French giants Racing 92, with a place in the Investec Champions Cup knockout stages on the line.
