Stormers and Springboks fly-half Manie Libbok is edging closer to leaving the Cape Town-based outfit to take up a sabbatical with a Japanese club, according to reports in the South African media.
The 27-year-old is contracted to the Stormers until the end of the 2027 Rugby World Cup but could miss a large part of their 2025/26 United Rugby Championship (URC) campaign if he makes the move to Japan.
Set to spend a full season in Japan
According to Rapport, the Stormers have agreed for the Boks playmaker’s sabbatical to go ahead for the full duration of the Japanese season, although it has not been confirmed yet which team he will be joining.
Japan’s club rugby season kicks off in December and finishes at the end of May, but Japanese sides usually ask players to play in some of their warm-up matches.
The URC campaign usually starts in late September and ends in June, which means Libbok should realistically only be available for the Stormers for about three months of the 2025/26 campaign.
He has been sidelined for the Stormers since sustaining a Posterior Cruciate Ligament (PCL) injury during a URC clash against Leinster at the Aviva Stadium in January.
Libbok avoided surgery and has been rehabilitating the injury with an eye on returning before the close of the Stormers’ current URC campaign, and has seemingly done so successfully.
The men from the Cape have two more league matches left ahead of the URC play-offs and are currently in sixth position in the standings.
They have a bye next weekend before facing the URC’s bottom-placed team the Dragons and fifth-placed Cardiff in home matches on May 10 and 16 respectively.
Close to a return to action
The Stormers clinched an emphatic 56-5 victory over Benetton at the DHL Stadium in Cape Town on Saturday, and their director of rugby John Dobson said he expects Libbok to return to action soon.
During Libbok’s stint on the sidelines, fellow Boks playmaker Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu has been shining at fly-half for the Stormers in recent victories over Benetton and Connacht.
“Manie could be back for Dragons, certainly back for Cardiff,” Dobson told reporters after the Stormers’ victory over Benetton.
“And obviously being out so long, he’ll be on the bench to start. We’ll see him a bit later. It’s great for our attack. It’s fantastic.”
READ MORE: Stormers’ healthy headache as Springboks star Manie Libbok set for timely return
Src: Planetrugby.com - https://www.planetrugby.com/news/springboks-fly-half-edging-closer-to-south-africa-exit-report
