John Dobson says Stormers door will always be open for departing Manie Libbok

Manie Libbok leaves with the blessing of the Stormers, and the Cape side will welcome him back with open arms once he leaves Japan and returns to South Africa.

Those were the words of the director of rugby John Dobson after he confirmed that Libbok would leave the side he helped to United Rugby Championship (URC) glory in the inaugural season.

Libbok will reportedly take up a contract with the Kintetsu Liners after being released early from his deal with the Stormers. It stretched up until 2027, but with the emergence of Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, they decided to part ways with the gifted flyhalf.

Now, they only have Feinberg-Mngomezulu and Jurie Matthee as flyhalves in the senior system, with utility back Damian Willemse who can also provide cover in the pivotal position.

Willemse and Feinberg-Mngomezulu will likely both be away with the Springboks during the start of the new URC season when they face champions Leinster. It means the Stormers will rely on Matthee to hold the fort.

“Manie is a big loss,” Dobson said on Friday.

“We had a fantastic journey with him, and we would’ve liked to keep him. However, there are two aspects to consider. Sacha, and with good reason, is absolutely adamant about playing flyhalf and he is entitled to it. I just saw the last couple of weeks, and it was tricky, but none of them are conditioned to be a number two flyhalf.

“Sacha also doesn’t want to be a guy who comes off the bench as a fullback. It was going to be tricky. At the same time, Manie received an offer from Japan that would be described as eye-watering. It would change his whole family.”

Dobson says they had a good deal with Libbok until 2027 and the flyhalf was prepared to respect it. But he said (in their conversation) to look at the numbers (of the Japanese deal) and what it could be for me and my family.

Dobson added that they didn’t feel it was the right thing to stand in his way and tell him that he couldn’t take up the offer in Japan.

“We were entitled to do so. But we weren’t going to say it and tell him to forego the money, and that he will no longer possibly be our first-choice flyhalf.

“Manie is going with our blessing, thanks, and an open invitation to return which we had a fantastic discussion around it. When he comes back, he will return here. We could not deprive him of this opportunity.

“We don’t have another flyhalf (in that mould) on the radar. We would want to bring in someone with an X-factor that suits our game model, but that is not on the cards.”