The injury to Handré Pollard has thrown the cats amongst the pigeons and when it comes to World Cup rugby not having a consistent kicker in the team can be costly, especially when it comes to the knockout stage of the competition.

Manie Libbok has been taking care of the kicking duties, but he has missed quite a number of attempts on goal this season, while Faf de Klerk, Damian Willemse and Cheslin Kolbe are also more than capable.

In the past Libbok has also proven that he call slotted over from all corners of the park in big games as in the 2022 United Rugby Championship final between the Stormers and Bulls in Cape Town.

Nienaber feels that Libbok has got what it takes, especially when it comes to the mental side of things.

“When it comes to the goalkicking, I don’t think there is ever a guy who goes out to kick poorly,” said Nienaber.

“Maybe to reference the end of year tour when we played Ireland, we missed a couple of kicks off the tee, but when we went to France, we used three kickers and kicked seven out of seven.

“They train as hard as they can and they are kicking well in training.

“I must say in Argentina, I thought it was massive for Manie. We did discuss with him if he wants to give the kicking duties over at halftime to Damian Willemse, who had been kicking well in the warm-ups.

“He said no, he’s fine and I thought he came back strong, that just shows his mental strength and attitude.”

Meanwhile, on Saturday the Boks will jet off to Europe for their last two games and the World Cup. Next week Saturday they will tackle Wales in Cardiff, while the following week they will be up against the All Blacks at Twickenham in London.

Morgan Piek OFM Sport