OPEN LETTER: Dear Springbok fans, your ABUSE of Manie Libbok is disgusting

Springbok fans need to check themselves or at least take long and hard look at themselves and their shameful treatment of Manie Libbok.

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The last time Manie Libbok posted on social media was on 1 September when he shared an image carousel on Instagram, featuring four pictures of himself, three while he’s in action for the Springboks against the All Blacks and a fourth of him in full kit smiling and holding up a peace sign pointed at (presumably) South African fans in the crowd inside Twickenham Stadium.

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That was a little over three weeks ago and since then he has been inactive on social platforms, or he hasn’t been actively sharing anything on the internet. But take one glance at the comment sections on any one of his posted content, and you’ll find yourself in a minefield of online hatred directed at Libbok.

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WHY? WHAT HAS HAS LIBBOK DONE, YOU MAY WONDER

The Springboks are currently in the midst of gigantic battle to retain the Rugby World Cup title they conquered four years ago and throughout this campaign Libbok has been used as the chief playmaker.

But while he has done remarkably well in open play for someone who’s playing in his maiden World Cup tournament, his previously questionable goal-kicking has now transformed into a full-scale dilemma.

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After three rounds of Rugby World Cup action, Libbok has a lowly 37.5% success rate from the kicking tee. For context, that is a worse accuracy rate than all the primary kickers of every other top 10-ranked Test side in the world (Ireland, France, New Zealand, Scotland, England, Wales, Fiji, Argentina and Australia) as well as those from tier-two and/or emerging nations Italy, Japan, Tonga, Samoa, Portugal and Uruguay.

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So if he’s been a below-par goal-kicker all along, what exactly set off South Africans’ vitriolic attacks on Libbok this past weekend? Well, the Springboks’ kicking woes finally came back to bite them when they lost 13-8 against Ireland with Libbok (a penalty and conversion) and Faf de Klerk (two penalties) missing four kicks between them.

Just for the record, goal-kicking wasn’t the only reason why the Springboks lost and Libbok certainly wasn’t solely to blame for the result either, but that’s a topic for another day.

The purpose of this piece is to address the keyboard warriors.

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SPRINGBOK FANS NEED TO DO BETTER

With so much at stake, fans’ frustrations are not without merit and it is understandable why many would want Handre Pollard to start at No 10 for the Springboks ahead of Libbok going forward. But there is a better way to bring that message across than unfiltered personal attacks on Libbok.

No Springbok season goes without its supporters going into total meltdown. We all know that abuse will happen, it’s just a question of when, who is targeted, the scale and viciousness of the abuse and the scale of the harm it will cause. 

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It’s happening now, Libbok is the target, the sheer volume of people harassing the intended target makes this a canon event of cyberbullying, and it could cause even greater harm to Libbok’s already shot confidence, not to mention the impact this could have on his mental wellbeing.

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On Instagram, Libbok, the Springboks, Pollard and even Pollard’s wife Marise’s comment sections are filled up messages from angry supporters badmouthing Libbok in the most unwarranted and disgusting way. On Facebook, a number of memes mocking Libbok and in some instances his family, have gone viral.

On TikTok, content creators have gone out of their way to make sure videos about Libbok reach as many people as possible. On X (formerly Twitter), many tweets disproving of Libbok even being a Springbok have been released onto many a timeline for the world to see.

Since the loss to Ireland at about 11pm on Saturday night, there’s just been a relentless onslaught on Manie Libbok. And make no mistake, this isn’t your run of the mill ‘make player x the butt of everyone’s jokes’ type of cyberbullying, this is a full-on character assassination. The detractors are prodding, poking and picking him apart with the laser-like precision that he lacks in his goal-kicking.

Hell hath no fury like a Springbok fan scorned.

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This level of abuse mirrors language that has become normalised online among South African sport fanatics because a culture of impunity has developed on social media with a lack of meaningful consequences.

Based on his performances, Libbok deserves (constructive) criticism, but he also deserves understanding.

What he doesn’t deserve, is to be pitted against or compared to Pollard. They are different players with different skill sets and both can and should co-exist and flourish in the Springboks’ set-up.

What Libbok also doesn’t deserve is to suffer savage online abuse from people that supposedly only want the best for the Springboks.

This fanbase needs to get its act together and to do better, and be better.

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