Manie Libbok

Immanuel Libbok (born 15 July 1997) is a South African rugby union player for the Bulls in Super Rugby and the Blue Bulls in the Currie Cup.[1] He is a utility back that can play as a fullback, fly-half, winger or centre.

Manie Libbok
Full nameImmanuel Libbok
Date of birth (1997-07-15) 15 July 1997
Place of birthHumansdorp, South Africa
Height1.84 m (6 ft 1⁄2 in)
Weight76 kg (12 st 0 lb; 168 lb)
SchoolHTS Daniël Pienaar, Uitenhage
Hoërskool Outeniqua, George
Rugby union career
Position(s) Utility back
Current team Bulls / Blue Bulls / Blue Bulls XV
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–present Blue Bulls 16 (129)
2018–present Bulls 17 (55)
Correct as of 25 August 2019
National team(s)
Years Team Apps (Points)
2015 South Africa Schools 2 (0)
2016–2017 South Africa Under-20 10 (42)
Correct as of 13 April 2018

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[2] and the Golden Lions.[3]

He 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.[4] He followed this up with a try and four conversions against the Golden Lions[5] and a third try and two conversions against KwaZulu-Natal in their final match.[6] He scored a total of 43 points in three matches, making him the top scorer at the competition,[7] while his four tries were the joint-second most in the competition, one behind Western Province's Nico Leonard.[8]

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,[9] but dropped to the bench for match against France, not getting any game time in their 12–5 victory.[10] 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.[11]

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,[12] and made the cut to be named in a reduced provisional squad a week later.[13]

He 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.[14] 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.[15] He also started their next match against Gauteng rivals the Golden Lions[16] and played off the bench in their defeat to the Eastern Province Kings in Port Elizabeth.[17]

On 10 May 2016, he 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.[18] 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.[19] He switched positions with fullback Curwin Bosch for their second pool match, a 13–19 defeat to Argentina,[20] 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.[21] 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,[22] 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[23] 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.[24]

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[25] and two against Eastern Province U19[26] – 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,[27] and helped them to second place on the log[28] to secure a semi-final spot, at which stage they lost to Golden Lions U19.[29] 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.[30]

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.[31]

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References
  1. "SA Rugby Player Profile – Manie Libbok". South African Rugby Union. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  2. "SA Rugby Match Centre – Blue Bulls 30-26 Eastern Province". South African Rugby Union. 1 July 2013. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  3. "SA Rugby Match Centre – Eastern Province 29-10 Golden Lions". South African Rugby Union. 4 July 2013. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  4. "SA Rugby Match Centre – Eastern Province U18 41-31 SWD Eagles U18". South African Rugby Union. 14 July 2015. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  5. "SA Rugby Match Centre – SWD Eagles U18 28-19 Golden Lions U18". South African Rugby Union. 16 July 2015. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  6. "SA Rugby Match Centre – KZN U18 19-24 SWD Eagles U18". South African Rugby Union. 18 July 2015. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  7. "SA Rugby Top Scorers – 2015 U18 Craven Week". South African Rugby Union. Retrieved 29 November 2016.
  8. "SA Rugby Try Scorers – 2015 U18 Craven Week". South African Rugby Union. Retrieved 29 November 2016.
  9. "SA Rugby Match Centre – South Africa U18 42-11 Wales U18". South African Rugby Union. 7 August 2015. Retrieved 29 November 2016.
  10. "SA Rugby Match Centre – South Africa U18 12-5 France U18". South African Rugby Union. 11 August 2015. Retrieved 29 November 2016.
  11. "SA Rugby Match Centre – South Africa U18 23-16 England U18". South African Rugby Union. 15 August 2015. Retrieved 29 November 2016.
  12. "Large group invited to Junior Springbok trials camp". South African Rugby Union. 24 March 2016. [{{{archiveurl}}} Archived] Check |archiveurl= value (help) from the original on 31 May 2016. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
  13. "Theron names provisional Junior Springbok squad". South African Rugby Union. 1 April 2016. [{{{archiveurl}}} Archived] Check |archiveurl= value (help) from the original on 31 May 2016. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
  14. "SA Rugby Match Centre – DHL Western Province 30-16 Vodacom Blue Bulls". South African Rugby Union. 8 April 2016. Retrieved 29 November 2016.
  15. "SA Rugby Match Centre – Vodacom Blue Bulls 20-17 Toyota Free State XV". South African Rugby Union. 16 April 2016. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  16. "SA Rugby Match Centre – Xerox Golden Lions XV 38-17 Vodacom Blue Bulls". South African Rugby Union. 23 April 2016. Retrieved 29 November 2016.
  17. "SA Rugby Match Centre – EP Kings 19-14 Vodacom Blue Bulls". South African Rugby Union. 7 May 2016. Retrieved 29 November 2016.
  18. "Ward to lead Junior Springboks in England". South African Rugby Union. 10 May 2016. [{{{archiveurl}}} Archived] Check |archiveurl= value (help) from the original on 31 May 2016. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
  19. "SA Rugby Match Centre – South Africa U20 59-19 Japan U20". South African Rugby Union. 7 June 2016. Retrieved 20 June 2016.
  20. "SA Rugby Match Centre – South Africa U20 13-19 Argentina U20". South African Rugby Union. 11 June 2016. Retrieved 20 June 2016.
  21. "SA Rugby Match Centre – South Africa U20 40-31 France U20". South African Rugby Union. 15 June 2016. Retrieved 20 June 2016.
  22. "SA Rugby Match Centre – England U20 39-17 South Africa U20". South African Rugby Union. 20 June 2016. Retrieved 27 June 2016.
  23. "SA Rugby Match Centre – Argentina U20 49-19 South Africa U20". South African Rugby Union. 25 June 2016. Retrieved 27 June 2016.
  24. "SA Rugby Try Scorers – 2016 World Rugby U20 Championship". South African Rugby Union. Retrieved 29 November 2016.
  25. "SA Rugby Match Centre – Blue Bulls U19 65-15 Leopards U19". South African Rugby Union. 15 July 2016. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  26. "SA Rugby Match Centre – Blue Bulls U19 40-21 EP U19". South African Rugby Union. 2 September 2016. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  27. "SA Rugby Top Scorers – 2016 SA Rugby U19 Provincial Champs". South African Rugby Union. Retrieved 29 November 2016.
  28. "SA Rugby Log – 2016 SA Rugby U19 Provincial Champs". South African Rugby Union. Retrieved 29 November 2016.
  29. "SA Rugby Match Centre – Blue Bulls U19 24-34 Golden Lions U19". South African Rugby Union. 15 October 2016. Retrieved 29 November 2016.
  30. "SA Rugby Match Centre – Leopards U21 38-52 Blue Bulls U21". South African Rugby Union. 10 September 2016. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  31. "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.
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