Libbie becomes a star on the international stage
The local women's rugby star, Libbie Janse van Rensburg, spoke shortly after her remarkable performance for the Springbok women's team against Samoa about the new twists in her career.
The scoreboard will not remain static for long… This is the one sure thing that supporters of the women’s Springboks team can count on when Libbie Janse van Rensburg dons the number 10 jersey for the Springbok women’s rugby team.
The Bok’s game against Samoa last Friday in Cape Town is proof for this statement. The Boks won 33-7. Janse van Rensburg scored a hat trick of tries and succeeded with four conversions for a personal points tally of 23.
It is a remarkable feat. The game against Samoa was the 20th time the TuksRugby administrator played for the Boks. She has scored 199 points (10 tries, 55 conversions, 12 penalty goals and 1 drop goal) to be the all-time top points scorer in women’s Springbok rugby.
Janse van Rensburg holds the distinction of being the first local female player to score 100 points in test rugby.
Photo: Reg Caldecott
In a game against Namibia, she scored 36 points (two tries and 14 conversions). It is another record for South African women’s rugby.
One cannot help but note that she has succeeded with a drop goal. Janse van Rensburg gets quite excited when asked about the drop goal.
“It was against Spain playing in Potchefstroom that I got the drop goal. I stand to be corrected, but I might be the only Springbok female player to have done so. I even think in international women’s rugby, there are not many players who have succeeded with a drop goal. It is not really part of the women’s game,” said a proud Janse van Rensburg during an interview after the test against Samoa.
She explained that she is constantly working to improve her drop goal kicking skills as those three points could make the difference between winning or losing a game.
Photo: Reg Caldecott
Janse van Rensburg is quick to credit the Springbok women’s coach, Louis Koen, for the way her game as flyhalf keeps improving.
“My aim is to be all full on allrounder when playing flyhalf. That is why it is great to have Louis as a coach, especially since he has also played flyhalf for the Springboks,” she remarked.
She also believes the exercises she got to do at the Eye Gym genuinely helped her this season.
“My hand-eye coordination has improved, and my on-field decision-making is better. The one thing that I still need to improve on is my tactical kicking. At times, I tend to get it wrong,” she explained.
Janse van Rensburg might get a call-up to play for the Blitzboks in the World Series Tournaments in Dubai and Cape Town in December.
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