Manie Libbok is 26 years old and Damian Willemse a year younger. As Test players, Willemse is the ‘eldest’, with 40 appearances compared to Libbok's 14.
Neither are kids any more, but neither are old either.
As rugby players, they were certainly in between ages pre the 2023 World Cup in France.
Both have always had the magic, the genius and the licence to thrill, and both played more like kids than men in always seeking out the wonder pass, the improbable run or the impossible kick.
Both lacked consistency in performance, in that the maturity seemed to want to stay away, despite so many attempts to invite it into their careers.
Then it aii changed in France in the latter part of 2023, at the sport's pinnacle event every…
