John Dobson confirms Stormers not looking to replace outgoing Manie Libbok
Dobson told the press this week that Libbok has received an “eye-watering” offer from a Japanese club that has all but decided his immediate future. While official confirmation is yet to be made, Dobson is looking to a future without the playmaker.
Manie is a big loss, we’ve had a fantastic journey with him.” said the coach of Libbok, who has scored over 600 points for the franchise.
“There were two pieces to it. Sacha [Feinberg-Mngomezulu], with good reason, is absolutely adamant to play flyhalf. It’s tricky because neither of them is sort of conditioned to be a No.2, and Sacha doesn’t want to be a guy coming off the bench.
“At the same time, Manie got an offer which I would describe as eye-watering. It will change his whole family’s life.
“We had a reasonably good deal with him to 2027, and he was prepared to respect it, but he just said, ‘Look at these numbers and understand what it could do for me and my family’.
“It just didn’t feel like it was the right thing for us to say, ‘No, you can’t go. You are going to forego this money, and you are possibly not going to be our No.1 flyhalf’.
“I know what happened last season. One of them was always unfit, or sometimes both of them were injured.
“So, Manie goes with our blessing and our thanks and an open invitation to return. We had a fantastic discussion around it. We couldn’t deprive him of this opportunity. It’s eye-watering money.”
Aside from Feinberg-Mngomezulu becoming the first choice, Dobson hinted a the development of Jurie Mathee and Jean-Luc du Plessis, who both have spent time running the show from flyhalf for Western Province and the Stormers.
“We want to back ourselves to coach Jurie and Jean-Luc as best as we can,” he added.
“They are both dedicated and they stick to the plan.
“Also, don’t forget, we do have Damian [Willemse] back when the Springboks are available. Going into the market for somebody who is not going to be very special for us wasn’t part of the plan.”
