Rassie told Manie to kick miss
A cheeky Rassie Erasmus has taken credit for Springbok flyhalf Manie Libbok’s 100% success rate from the kicking tee against the Barbarians in Cape Town.
Libbok’s goal-kicking inconsistencies have been regularly highlighted, yet the Stormers playmaker nailed all five of his conversions in a 54-7 Bok win at Cape Town Stadium on Saturday, after replacing Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu in the second stanza.
The 27-year-old is one of three flyhalves in the current Bok camp, along with the versatile Damian Willemse, and the competition for the No 10 jersey to face Italy and Georgia over the next three weeks will be fierce.
Speaking post-match, Erasmus hailed attack guru Tony Brown and Stormers kicking coach Gareth Wright’s efforts behind the scenes with Libbok, while praising the World Cup and Vodacom URC-winning pivot’s professionalism.
“Tony worked hard with Manie, Gareth Wright also shadowed him for a week or the few days he was with us,” the Bok boss said.
“But I told Tony I wanted the credit, because I told Manie to try to miss his kicks because then balls would go over!
“Manie is in a good headspace, he’s a competitor and a good team man,” Erasmus added. “Sacha is a younger guy who still has much to learn.
“It’s good to have Manie there to help Sacha, with Tony, Handre [Pollard] and Damian Willemse.
“We are very fortunate to have this group of flyhalves working together, and I can see quite a bit of determination [among them].”
Rassie on Manie’s kicking performance last night. Love this
(Rassie said Tony worked a lot with Manie, with the Stormers kicking coach shadowing him for a week. Rassie told Tony he wanted the credit because he told Manie to try to miss his kicks because then balls would go over) pic.twitter.com/IIiVYiKoXa
— Boet Spencer 🏆🏆🏆🏆 (@Spring_n_Boks) June 29, 2025
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