Manie Libbok
Libbok in 2022
Full nameImmanuel Libbok
Date of birth (1997-07-15) 15 July 1997 (age 26)
Place of birthHumansdorp, South Africa
Height1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)[1]
Weight80 kg (12 st 8 lb; 176 lb)[1]
SchoolHTS Daniël Pienaar, Uitenhage
Hoërskool Outeniqua, George
Rugby union career
Position(s) Fly-Half
Current team Stormers / Western Province
Youth career
2013 Eastern Province Kings
2014–2015 SWD Eagles
2016–2018 Blue Bulls
Senior career
Years Team Apps (Points)
2016–2018 Blue Bulls XV 7 (17)
2016–2019 Blue Bulls 16 (129)
2018–2020 Bulls 35 (67)
2020–2021 Sharks 11 (18)
2020–2021 Sharks (Currie Cup) 7 (0)
2021– Stormers 45 (417)
2023– Western Province ()
Correct as of 1 November 2023
International career
Years Team Apps (Points)
2015 South Africa Schools 2 (0)
2016–2017 South Africa Under-20 10 (42)
2022– South Africa 14 (87)
Correct as of 1 November 2023
Medal record
Men's Rugby union
Representing  South Africa
Rugby World Cup
Gold medal – first place 2023 France Squad

Immanuel Libbok (born 15 July 1997) is a South African professional rugby union player. He plays internationally for the Springboks, as well as for the Stormers in United Rugby Championship and Western Province in the Currie Cup.[2]

Rugby career

2013–2015: Schoolboy rugby

Libbok was born in Humansdorp. He attended HTS Daniël Pienaar in Uitenhage, and earned his first provincial selection in 2013, representing Eastern Province at the Under-16 Grant Khomo Week, scoring tries in matches against the Blue Bulls[3] and the Golden Lions.[4]

Libbok moved to George for 2014, where he attended Hoërskool Outeniqua. He represented the George-based SWD Eagles at the premier South African high schools rugby union tournament, the Under-18 Craven Week, in both 2014 and 2015. In the first match at the 2015 tournament held in Stellenbosch, Libbok scored two tries, four conversions and one penalty for a personal points haul of 21 points in his side's 31–41 defeat to former side Eastern Province.[5] He followed this up with a try and four conversions against the Golden Lions[6] and a third try and two conversions against KwaZulu-Natal in their final match.[7] He scored a total of 43 points in three matches, making him the top scorer at the competition,[8] while his four tries were the joint-second most in the competition, one behind Western Province's Nico Leonard.[9]

At the conclusion of the tournament, Libbok was included in a South Africa Schools team that played in the 2015 Under-18 International Series on home soil against their counterparts from Wales, France and England. He started on the left wing in their 42–11 victory over Wales in their first match,[10] but dropped to the bench for match against France, not getting any game time in their 12–5 victory.[11] He returned to the starting line-up for their final match against England, helping them to a 23–16 victory to finish the series with a 100% record.[12]

2016–2017: Blue Bulls / South Africa Under-20

After high school, Libbok moved to Pretoria to join the Blue Bulls academy. In March 2016, he was included in a South Africa Under-20 training squad,[13] and made the cut to be named in a reduced provisional squad a week later.[14]

Libbok was also named in the Blue Bulls squad for the 2016 Currie Cup qualification series and he made his first class debut on 8 April 2016, starting as a fullback in their 16–30 defeat to Western Province in Round One of the competition.[15] He also started their match against a Free State XV a week later, scoring his first senior points by slotting a penalty in the 15th minute of the match, and scoring his first try in the final ten minutes which proved decisive as the Blue Bulls won the match 20–17.[16] He also started their next match against Gauteng rivals the Golden Lions[17] and played off the bench in their defeat to the Eastern Province Kings in Port Elizabeth.[18]

On 10 May 2016, Libbok was included in the final South Africa Under-20 squad for the 2016 World Rugby Under 20 Championship tournament to be held in Manchester in England.[19] He started their opening match in Pool C of the tournament in the fly-half position, scoring a try as South Africa came from behind to beat Japan 59–19.[20] He switched positions with fullback Curwin Bosch for their second pool match, a 13–19 defeat to Argentina,[21] but reverted to fly-half as South Africa bounced back to secure a 40-31 bonus-point victory over France in their final pool match, with Libbok scoring his second try of the competition just after the hour mark.[22] The result meant South Africa secured a semi-final place as the best runner-up in the competition, and Libbok started their semi-final match as they faced three-time champions England. The hosts proved too strong for South Africa, knocking them out of the competition with a 39–17 victory,[23] and they also lost the third-place play-off match against Argentina, with the South American side beating South Africa for the second time in the tournament, convincingly winning 49–19[24] to condemn South Africa to fourth place in the competition. Libbok scored his third try of the competition in the defeat, to finish the competition with three tries, the joint-most by a South African player with Zain Davids and Edwill van der Merwe.[25]

Libbok returned to domestic action for the Blue Bulls U19 team in the 2016 Under-19 Provincial Championship. He made seven starts in the competition, scoring three tries during the season – one against Leopards U19[26] and two against Eastern Province U19[27] – as well as 35 points with the boot through 16 conversions and one penalty. He finished the competition as the Blue Bulls' second-highest points scorer,[28] and helped them to second place on the log[29] to secure a semi-final spot, at which stage they lost to Golden Lions U19.[30] He also made a single start for the Blue Bulls U21 team in the 2016 Under-21 Provincial Championship, scoring a try in a 52–38 victory over Leopards U21.[31]

In November 2016, he was named in the Bulls Super Rugby team's extended training squad during the team's preparations for the 2017 Super Rugby season.[32]

2020–2021: Sharks

2021–: Stormers

National team

In October 2022, he was included in the squad for the Springboks' year-end tour.[33]

Statistics

Test match record

As of 22 October 2023
Opponent P W D L Try Pts %Won
 Argentina 2 2 0 0 1 26 100
 Australia 1 1 0 0 0 9 100
 England 2 2 0 0 0 3 100
 France 2 1 0 1 0 4 50
 Ireland 1 0 0 1 0 3 0
 Italy 1 1 0 0 0 10 100
 New Zealand 2 1 0 1 0 10 50
 Scotland 1 1 0 0 0 6 100
 Tonga 1 1 0 0 0 6 100
 Wales 1 1 0 0 0 10 100
Total 14 11 0 3 1 87 78.57

International tries

As of 6 August 2023
Try Opposing team Location Venue Competition Date Result Score
1  Argentina Johannesburg, South Africa Ellis Park Stadium 2023 Rugby Championship 29 July 2023 Win 22–21

References

  1. ^ a b "Manie Libbok player profile". rugbyworldcup.com. Retrieved 22 October 2023.
  2. ^ "SA Rugby Player Profile – Manie Libbok". South African Rugby Union. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  3. ^ "SA Rugby Match Centre – Blue Bulls 30–26 Eastern Province". South African Rugby Union. 1 July 2013. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  4. ^ "SA Rugby Match Centre – Eastern Province 29–10 Golden Lions". South African Rugby Union. 4 July 2013. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  5. ^ "SA Rugby Match Centre – Eastern Province U18 41–31 SWD Eagles U18". South African Rugby Union. 14 July 2015. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  6. ^ "SA Rugby Match Centre – SWD Eagles U18 28–19 Golden Lions U18". South African Rugby Union. 16 July 2015. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  7. ^ "SA Rugby Match Centre – KZN U18 19–24 SWD Eagles U18". South African Rugby Union. 18 July 2015. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  8. ^ "SA Rugby Top Scorers – 2015 U18 Craven Week". South African Rugby Union. Retrieved 29 November 2016.
  9. ^ "SA Rugby Try Scorers – 2015 U18 Craven Week". South African Rugby Union. Retrieved 29 November 2016.
  10. ^ "SA Rugby Match Centre – South Africa U18 42–11 Wales U18". South African Rugby Union. 7 August 2015. Retrieved 29 November 2016.
  11. ^ "SA Rugby Match Centre – South Africa U18 12–5 France U18". South African Rugby Union. 11 August 2015. Retrieved 29 November 2016.
  12. ^ "SA Rugby Match Centre – South Africa U18 23–16 England U18". South African Rugby Union. 15 August 2015. Retrieved 29 November 2016.
  13. ^ "Large group invited to Junior Springbok trials camp". South African Rugby Union. 24 March 2016. Archived from the original on 31 May 2016. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
  14. ^ "Theron names provisional Junior Springbok squad". South African Rugby Union. 1 April 2016. Archived from the original on 31 May 2016. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
  15. ^ "SA Rugby Match Centre – DHL Western Province 30–16 Vodacom Blue Bulls". South African Rugby Union. 8 April 2016. Retrieved 29 November 2016.
  16. ^ "SA Rugby Match Centre – Vodacom Blue Bulls 20–17 Toyota Free State XV". South African Rugby Union. 16 April 2016. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  17. ^ "SA Rugby Match Centre – Xerox Golden Lions XV 38–17 Vodacom Blue Bulls". South African Rugby Union. 23 April 2016. Retrieved 29 November 2016.
  18. ^ "SA Rugby Match Centre – EP Kings 19–14 Vodacom Blue Bulls". South African Rugby Union. 7 May 2016. Retrieved 29 November 2016.
  19. ^ "Ward to lead Junior Springboks in England". South African Rugby Union. 10 May 2016. Archived from the original on 31 May 2016. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
  20. ^ "SA Rugby Match Centre – South Africa U20 59–19 Japan U20". South African Rugby Union. 7 June 2016. Retrieved 20 June 2016.
  21. ^ "SA Rugby Match Centre – South Africa U20 13–19 Argentina U20". South African Rugby Union. 11 June 2016. Retrieved 20 June 2016.
  22. ^ "SA Rugby Match Centre – South Africa U20 40–31 France U20". South African Rugby Union. 15 June 2016. Retrieved 20 June 2016.
  23. ^ "SA Rugby Match Centre – England U20 39–17 South Africa U20". South African Rugby Union. 20 June 2016. Retrieved 27 June 2016.
  24. ^ "SA Rugby Match Centre – Argentina U20 49–19 South Africa U20". South African Rugby Union. 25 June 2016. Retrieved 27 June 2016.
  25. ^ "SA Rugby Try Scorers – 2016 World Rugby U20 Championship". South African Rugby Union. Retrieved 29 November 2016.
  26. ^ "SA Rugby Match Centre – Blue Bulls U19 65–15 Leopards U19". South African Rugby Union. 15 July 2016. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  27. ^ "SA Rugby Match Centre – Blue Bulls U19 40–21 EP U19". South African Rugby Union. 2 September 2016. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  28. ^ "SA Rugby Top Scorers – 2016 SA Rugby U19 Provincial Champs". South African Rugby Union. Retrieved 29 November 2016.
  29. ^ "SA Rugby Log – 2016 SA Rugby U19 Provincial Champs". South African Rugby Union. Retrieved 29 November 2016.
  30. ^ "SA Rugby Match Centre – Blue Bulls U19 24–34 Golden Lions U19". South African Rugby Union. 15 October 2016. Retrieved 29 November 2016.
  31. ^ "SA Rugby Match Centre – Leopards U21 38–52 Blue Bulls U21". South African Rugby Union. 10 September 2016. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  32. ^ "Pollard to return to training next month" (Press release). Bulls. 18 November 2016. Archived from the original on 26 November 2016. Retrieved 26 November 2016.
  33. ^ South Africa: Manie Libbok and Sacha Mngomezulu named in Springbok squad for end-of-year Tests[1]

External links

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