Argentina coach Felipe Contepomi cannot understand the fuss over Manie Libbok’s missed kick in Santiago del Estero last week, and says the flyhalf will be a big dangerman in tomorrow’s Rugby Championship decider in Mbombela (5pm kick-off).
Libbok has been crucified by Springbok supporters, but has been backed this week by his coach Rassie Erasmus – and Contepomi agrees with his counterpart.
“I don’t think Manie Libbok is a weak point in the South African team,” Contepomi said.
“It is the other way around … I think he is a brilliant player, and I have been following him throughout his career. I have always rated him very highly as a playmaker.”
Contepomi knows a thing or two about backline play. He played 87 times for Argentina as a flyhalf and centre. He played 116 times for Leinster, on 60 occasions for Bristol, and had stellar stints with Toulon and Stade Francais.
“The way Manie plays is an important part of what the Springboks want to do,” he explained.
“South Africa has a very powerful pack, but they want to play a bit wider, and Tony Brown’s hands are there – and you can see that Libbok fits perfectly into what Tony wants to do.
“With Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu injured, Libbok is an excellent back-up, and they know what they want to do,” said Contepomi, who coached the Leinster backline for five years before taking over at the Pumas at the beginning of this year.
“He is a strong player with a lot of character. I don’t see that as a weak point.
“I see South Africa as a very strong team with not many weaknesses in their whole structure, so we need to be very smart and play at our top if we want to impose our game plan,” the coach warned.
That said, statistics released by Sanzaar ahead of the last weekend of the Championship reveal that the Boks have not been at their clinical best as they transition their attack and defence under the influence of Brown and Jerry Flannery.
The Boks have the worst tackle completion in the tournament (84%), with New Zealand top (87.7%) and Argentina and Australia in between.
The Boks have been saved on the defensive front by their magnificent cover tackling, but the first prize would be for them to make their first-time tackles so that they don’t have to do so much scrambling.
South Africa have the third-best lineout success (85.4%) and, surprisingly, their scrum is the worst in the Championship – 78% success rate with New Zealand on top at 90%.
Pumas sueltos en Sudáfrica. 🇿🇦#SomosLosPumas pic.twitter.com/JZsx81BhxA
Perhaps the biggest concern for the Boks is that despite having a full-time refereeing advisor in Jaco Peyper, their discipline is the worst. This includes seven yellow cards.
The All Blacks have six, Australia three and, in a shock to many, the Pumas are yet to have a player yellow-carded.
This is undoubtedly down to Contepomi, who has a reputation for being a strict disciplinarian. He has even managed to reign in the world champion card gatherer Tomas Lavanini, who is starting in the second row tomorrow.
¡Día de alta en Mbombela! 🏉#SomosLosPumas pic.twitter.com/dpILFydm1L
— Los Pumas (@lospumas) September 25, 2024
Lavanini has received three red and nine yellow cards in his career.
As Contepomi said: “If we keep our heads tomorrow, we have a chance of winning this match. A slim chance, but we can do it if we back our game and show improvement from last week because the Boks will go up a notch.
“Yes, we won last week, but we also made many mistakes, so we have had plenty to work on this week too.”
“Know that we’re playing for you” 🧬🇿🇦#Springboks#ForeverGreenForeverGold pic.twitter.com/82uy0KsH2z
— Springboks (@Springboks) September 26, 2024
Teams For Mbombela
Springboks: 15 Aphelele Fassi 14 Cheslin Kolbe 13 Jesse Kriel 12 Damian de Allende 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse 10 Manie Libbok 9 Jaden Hendrikse 8 Jasper Wiese 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit 6 Siya Kolisi (captain) 5 Ruan Nortjé 4 Eben Etzebeth 3 Frans Malherbe 2 Bongi Mbonambi 1 Ox Nche.
Bench: 16 Malcolm Marx 17 Gerhard Steenekamp 18 Vincent Koch 19 Elrigh Louw 20 Kwagga Smith 21 Cobus Reinach 22 Handré Pollard 23 Lukhanyo Am.
Argentina: 15 Santiago Carreras 14 Rodrigo Isgro 13 Matias Moroni 12 Santiago Chocobares 11 Mateo Carreras 10 Tomas Albornoz 9 Gonzalo Garcia 8 Joaquin Oviedo 7 Santiago Grondona 6 Juan Martin Gonzalez 5 Tomas Lavanini 4 Pedro Rubiolo 3 Joel Sclavi 2 Julian Montoya (captain) 1 Thomas Gallo.
Bench: 16 Ignacio Ruiz 17 Ignacio Calles 18 Pedro Delgado 19 Franco Molina 20 Pablo Matera 21 Lautaro Bazan Velez 22 Lucio Cinti 23 Juan Cruz Mallia.