Libbok struggled off the tee for the entirety of the showpiece in 2023 and it all culminated in a nervous start to the semi-final, leading to Erasmus hooking the fly-half after 32 minutes.

Handre Pollard took over and ended up being the hero with a late kick before starting the final against the All Blacks and guiding the Springboks to their second consecutive World Cup title.

The Stormers man was given another run this year in the green and gold where he missed what would have been a match-winning kick against Argentina.

Deserves another chance

Erasmus defended Libbok and boldly threw him in the starting XV against Los Pumas the next week where the playmaker sparkled on attack.

“We always like to give players another chance like we did in Mbombela,” Erasmus told reporters.

“We know it wasn’t Manie losing a Test match in Santiago and we know as a team we lost that Test match.

“I’ve said it many times – a normal pass with three on two is much easier than a kick in front of the poles.”

Fly-half stocks

As revealed in Chasing the Sun 2 and in several interviews, Libbok took the early substitution well, with the team at the front of his mind.

Erasmus is excited to see him have a run but also pointed out that there are many options waiting in the wings at fly-half.

“It was also against England when we had to make the substitution [in the World Cup] and we like to give a guy a second chance,” he said.

“Again, if he doesn’t make it, he knows we are not going to be upset with him

“We know what his skill set is. If he gets through this like he did in the Argentina Test match, he will be a better player on the other side.

“If he doesn’t, we’ve got security on the bench with Handre and then we will still work on him.

“Then there is Sacha [Feinberg-Mngomezulu] knocking really hard, Damian [Willemse] and there is even Siya Masuku doing well at the Sharks.

“We’ve got Jordan [Hendrikse] in camp with us, and we would love to give him an opportunity on tour.”