Manie Libbok had an up and down game against Scotland. Picture: Gaspafotos/MB Media/Getty Images
Springbok captain Siya Kolisi has defended his flyhalf Manie Libbok following the No 10’s erratic goal-kicking display against Scotland in the teams’ World Cup opener in Marseille on Sunday.
Libbok missed two penalty shots and a conversion as the Boks turned a 6-3 half-time lead into an 18-3 Pool B win.
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The Bok No 10 enjoyed a good game in general play and set up wing Kurt-Lee Arendse for a spectacular second half try, after a pinpoint perfect cross-field kick, but his goal-kicking was a big talking point after the match.
Kolisi touched on the subject at the post-match press conference.
“This question gets asked quite a lot when he misses kicks. We play as a team … sometimes you’re not good at one thing on the day but the way he (Libbok) attacked today, the way he took control of the team, how he’s a general among us, people forget that,” said Kolisi.
“Faf (de Klerk) can kick, Cheslin (Kolbe) can kick, there are a lot of guys we can call upon.
“If someone is lacking in some way, someone else takes over.
“It’s the same with me, sometimes I don’t know what to call, (then) Duane (Vermeulen) will call, Eben (Etzebeth) will call, or Manie makes a call.
“If someone is lacking somewhere, someone else will pick up for them. He’s (Libbok) not going to be good at everything every single day … you can’t have everything on the day, you can’t stress about it, that’s why we work together. It’s the same as a skew throw, it’s not intentional, you go again the next time.”
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