Felipe Contepomi: ‘Brilliant’ Manie Libbok ‘fits perfectly’ into ‘predictable’ Springboks plans

Jared Wright
Springboks fly-half Manie Libbok and Argentina head coach Felipe Contepomi.

Felipe Contepomi believes that Manie Libbok fits perfectly into what the Springboks want to achieve on attack.

Argentina head coach Felipe Contepomi believes that Manie Libbok fits perfectly into what the Springboks want to achieve on attack and does not see him as a weak point in South Africa’s squad.

Libbok has come under fire this week after he missed a clutch penalty against Los Pumas in Argentina, ultimately resulting in South Africa losing the Rugby Championship clash 29-28.

Despite missing the shot at goal, Springboks boss Rassie Erasmus has put his faith in the playmaker for the final match of the tournament where South Africa require a single log point to seal the title.

Huge challenge awaits Argentina

Los Pumas have enjoyed massive success in Contepomi’s first year in charge, defeating the All Blacks, Wallabies and Springboks in the Rugby Championship – a tournament first since joining the competition in 2012.

A legend in his own right as a player for Los Pumas, the head coach hopes that his team can impress once again and produce another upset with the odds of them winning the tournament stacked against them.

“It’s South Africa at home, they are motivated by being home champions, they have already said that. It’s a huge challenge, we want to exceed our own expectations,” he said after naming his team for the match in Nelspruit which features seven changes to the starting line-up.

“Mathematically we have achieved the greatest amount of points, but today what we want is to improve, in each training session, and if that leads us to the best results, great.

“If we look at the last game, there are variables that one cannot control, Manie Libbok missed a penalty in the last minute that could have changed everything in terms of the result, but not in how we played.”

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Brilliant Manie Libbok

After highlighting Libbok’s missed kick as a deciding factor in the last Test match between the two sides, Contepomi did speak highly of the Springboks number 10 who has been following throughout his career.

The Pumas boss will have analysed the Bok during his time with the Jaguares, Leinster and now Argentina and believes that for what the Boks are trying to achieve on attack, he is a great fit.

“I don’t think that Manie Libbok is a weak point in the Springboks team, it’s the other way around,” he said.

“He is a brilliant player and I have been following him throughout his career. I’ve always rated him really highly and his selection is part of what South Africa want to do.

“They a very powerful pack, but they want to play a bit wider and Tony Brown’s hands are all over that and Libbok fits perfectly into what they want to do.

“Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu did it well but he is injured and Libbok is a good back-up. He is a strong player with a lot of character and I don’t see that as a weak point.”

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Predictable Springboks are hard to stop

Argentina require a bonus-point victory and need to deny South Africa a losing bonus-point in order to win the Rugby Championship for the first time, a task Contepomi says will be difficult as he does not see many weak points in the Springboks’ game.


“I see South Africa as a very strong team with not many weak links and no weak points in their whole structure so we need to be very smart and play at our top if we want to impose our game plan,” he said.

“We expect what they always do from them but improved.

“Sometimes they are predictable, but they do it so well that it is very difficult to solve. That is what I expect from this type of match.

“They are more accustomed to these encounters [title deciders], but every human being feels the pressure. Professional sport is lived moment by moment and if we manage to make them uncomfortable with our defence or attack, any team subjected to that will suffer.”

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