Bulls coach Jake White happy to see Manie Libbok flourish at the Stormers

He has tasted international rugby, having made his debut as a substitute against France last year, and if he continues with his red hot form there is little doubt he will add to his three Bok caps.

As he continues to impress for the Stormers under coach John Dobson, White said he is happy to see him flourish away from Loftus.

“When I look at him, he is playing well, and he wins the game for them,” White said.

“It’s almost like he loves playing against the Bulls because he has played well against us every time. It is almost like it is his way of showing me we should have kept him at the Bulls.

“I can mention names like Rudolf Straeuli, Hannes Strydom, Gavin Johnson, Johnny Roux and the list goes on and on. Those guys all left Northern Transvaal to go to the Lions under Kitch Christie, and they all became Word Cup winners.

“Sometimes that’s what happens — some players leave the franchise and they get a chance to play at another franchise and play well.”

In a tongue-in-cheek response, White said maybe Libbok must thank him for letting him go.

“Maybe he should thank me for releasing him because at least now he is playing well and he wouldn’t be playing for us because we had Morné Steyn, Chris Smith and Johan Goosen.

“Sometimes you have to make a call and sometimes you get it right and sometimes you get it wrong. Sometimes a player needs a change of environment.

“I have seen many players go from here to another place and not play well. I have also seen guys come to us and play well. I am not taking anything away from him; he is playing really good rugby at the moment.

“Whatever they are doing with him at the Stormers is working. He seems to gel nicely with that backline, he seems to gel nicely with either Warrick Gelant or Clayton Blommetjies at ‘15’.”