Wright gets a kick out of Libbok

Manie Libbok’s success off the kicking tee since returning from the Springboks is the result of the flyhalf putting in the work in training, says Stormers kicking coach Gareth Wright.

Libbok started the 2023 Rugby World Cup as South Africa’s only fit out-and-out flyhalf and took his opportunity to impress in the early rounds of the tournament in France.

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However, with Handre Pollard returning to fitness and form, coinciding with a struggling performance in the semi-finals against England, Libbok was out of the matchday-23 for the final.

Hardly put a foot wrong

Since returning to action with the Stormers, Libbok has hardly put a foot wrong. He held his nerve to slot a match-winning conversion from the touchline in the Champions Cup victory against defending champions La Rochelle.

The World Cup winner also missed just one of his seven kicks – a first-half penalty from 40 metres on the angle – in a 13-point haul against the Vodacom Bulls in Cape Town and kicked very well out of hand, as the Stormers claimed a seventh successive win over their rivals.

“People don’t know how hard he works on his kicking,” Stormers kicking coach Wright told Sunday newspaper Rapport. “Manie is probably the hardest-working player I have ever coached.

“We only worked on one or two technical things.”

Following the match against La Rochelle, Stormers coach John Dobson said that Libbok had returned to Cape Town as a better player.

Wright agreed, saying that the Stormers are delighted to have their playmaking general back in action.

“Manie came back as a deeper thinker about the game,” Wright said. “He has always been a true student of the game and eager to learn. What he learned at the Boks and in the World Cup helped us at the Stormers and we are very grateful that he is back with us.”

This article first appeared on sarugbymag.co.za. It is republished with permission.