Assistant coach Denis Leamy says Munster have concocted a plan to nullify the threat of DHL Stormers flyhalf Manie Libbok when the teams clash in Cape Town on Saturday.
Libbok has rediscovered his confidence in the highs and lows of helping the Stormers progress to a second consecutive Vodacom United Rugby Championship final.
He scored 23 points as the defending champions battled to a 43-25 win over Connacht at Cape Town Stadium in the semi-finals, and his performance came a week after he helped the Stormers down his former team, the Vodacom Bulls, with a 100% effort from the kicking tee.
The 25-year-old playmaker is the top scorer in the 2022-23 URC, and voted the Fans’ Player of the Season, so Munster are wary of his game-breaking ability.
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“What a player! We’ve been watching him closely over the last while and he’s such a talent that boy,” Leamy said.
“You could just watch reels of him. Just his ability to pass, his kick-passing, he’s just world-class. He can put the ball through a low trajectory and put it through the air quickly.
“That’s really special and he’s such a special player is Libbok. He’s the type of player that we have to try and take time and space away from him.
“We will go back to our fundamentals and framework in terms of how we want to control the speed of the ball and how we nullify him in terms of how we defend together.
“It’s a huge task and he’s definitely a massive player for them. He’s a player we’ll try and curtail through our framework.”
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