SA Rugby Director of Rugby Rassie Erasmus hinted on Monday that Manie Libbok is still the first choice at flyhalf after fly-halves Handre Pollard and Manie Libbok both had good games against Tonga.
"Unfortunately for Handre, it's only the one game he has played. Manie had proved himself the way he has played in general play for us. Handre made four kicks and Manie three kicks so we kicked seven out of seven. It's a tough call we will have to make. If we go five-three, maybe both can be in the mix. If we go six-two it's a possibility, if we go seven-one then things might look a little different.
"But tries also win games and the way we play is to try and score tries. I really think we have been attacking much better, like the country has asked us to do and the supporters are always wanting us to be more creative and not just have this kicking game."
"Manie brings that to us. He certainly has worked hard with Handre and maybe it's Handre who gave him a tip or two. I don't think the shot clock was ever an issue with him and Manie is a very interesting character when it comes to something like that."
"It doesn't bother him for the rest of his game and that is something special to have. It would be nice to have him on the park for that general play and if he is on song and fantastic with his kicking, but somebody else who can back him up if he does have a bad day."
"Internally, we will only announce the team (if in the quarter-finals) next Sunday, then as quickly as we can in the test match week. On Saturday, after the Scotland v Ireland game, we will know exactly who we will play. If we are in the first place we play the following Saturday, if second we play the next Sunday so we will have a seven-day turnaround."
Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber praised the team’s effort and echoed Erasmus' opinion regarding Pollard's role in the Springbok team.
"Handre, the important part is he had 30 minutes at Premiership Cup level, which is a little bit below international [level], tonight he got 50 minutes against a proper Tonga side that has got better as the tournament has gone on.
"I think he will just get better. I think he was solid. You look at his ball carries, that was decisive and good. His defence, I thought his level changed well and he put some proper shoulder hits in. I thought his off-the-ball work was good and his kicking game in general was good. The fundamentals [for which] we wanted him to tick the boxes, I think he ticked tonight."
