Cape Town – “From a defensive viewpoint, he really impressed me, for his age. He certainly doesn’t look afraid or bang – he stood his ground in the 12 channel.” That was the view of Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber on new sensation Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, who earned his first selection to the national team on Friday.
The 20-year-old Stormers playmaker was joined by franchise teammate Manie Libbok in the 34-man group that will take on Ireland in Dublin next Saturday, followed by France (Marseille), Italy (Genoa) and England (London) on consecutive weekends.
Due to the unavailability of Handre Pollard, Elton Jantjies and Frans Steyn, it was expected that Bulls No 10 Johan Goosen would be the most likely back-up to Damian Willemse, who is now the first-choice pivot.
But minimal URC game-time since returning from an 11-month knee injury layoff has counted against Goosen, who was named in the 19-man SA A squad that will face Munster (November 10) and Bristol (November 17) on tour.
“The three guys that we used consistently since 2018 were Handre, Elton and Frans, and they are unfortunately not available. But Damian has done a great job for us at flyhalf this year,” Nienaber said on Friday.
“We earmarked Johan Goosen when we had our discussions in February. He was the guy that we said, ‘Who is the next flyhalf if we do get an injury?’, and we earmarked him. He spent some time with us in the whole preparation camp before the Wales Tests, and also before the Rugby Championship.
“He’s been with us on the field and he helped Stokke with some coaching stuff. So, he has a fairly good idea of how we operate and do things.
“But unfortunately, he played a total of 160 minutes over the URC. We would’ve liked some more minutes, but it didn’t do that way. That’s why we’ve got some exciting young flyhalves in South Africa – three young flyhalves that are all producing for their franchises in the URC.”
Libbok got a well-deserved call-up after producing a number of outstanding performances for the Stormers over the last 14 months, with his skill-set, kicking game and determination winning over the Bok management.
“Myself and Stokke (Bok assistant coach Mzwandile Stick) probably came with Manie since 2016/17, I coached Manie at SA Schools, when him and Damian Willemse were together,” Nienaber said.
“And at one stage, Manie was almost where Sacha is probably now – he’s the next prodigy, he’s the next guy coming through. Then he went to the Bulls, and then he got signed by the Sharks, and then the Sharks released him.
“Then eventually he came to the Stormers, and then the mental growth that he had to go through… Everybody expected from every game that Manie Libbok must do this magic, because he is this magical player.
“The criticism sometimes when things don’t go his way, is hard. So, hats off to Manie. He’s matured since I’ve worked with him, and obviously he’s shown his quality in the URC last year and this year – he has matured a lot.”
But the big major talking point is the selection of Feinberg-Mngomezulu, who has only featured in a handful of games for the Stormers.
He captained the Junior Springboks to a tournament victory in Italy earlier this year, and excelled in the Capetonians’ victory over Zebre a few weeks ago.
It seems as if his versatility has also influenced the Bok management to catapult him above the likes of Lions duo Gianni Lombard and Jordan Hendrikse, as well as Sharks No 10 Boeta Chamberlain.
“The fortunate thing for us now with having the SA A side and Springboks together – we had the coaching teams together at the camp. Bafana (Nhleko, Junior Bok coach) has coached Sacha for some time, and it was nice to tap into his experience of him, and all the stuff that they worked on him in the junior ranks,” Nienaber explained.
“So, it was nice to get that feedback. But the thing that stood out for me from Sacha is that he is obviously athletic. He’s an athletic player, he’s fast, he’s agile. He’s got good skills. I think he had to make a decision between soccer and rugby, so he’s a really skilful guy.
“I think Sacha is probably now (at that point) – everybody’s ‘Sacha, Sacha’. He’s a brilliant rugby player, but sometimes you are going to disappoint people.
“And you have to mentally battle through that, and you are going to pick up injuries and battle through that. He’s a brave player, Sacha, but we will have to see. It will be nice to see him perform at this stage (on tour), almost a step higher to the URC.”
Director of rugby Rassie Erasmus added about Feinberg-Mngomezulu: “Sometimes we go with a six-two split, and sometimes you need a 10-15 cover, or a 10-12 cover or 10-12-15 cover. If Cheslin is in the team, there’s another cover at 10 for you, but Cheslin was injured. If Frans Steyn is in the team, you’ve got a 10-12-15 cover.
“The nice thing about Sacha is that he can play 10 and 12. Manie covers 10 and 15. People sometimes wonder why do you have both flyhalves from the Stormers? It’s because one covers different positions after his primary position.
“A guy like Damian, in our eyes now, is a flyhalf. We see him going to the World Cup as a flyhalf. People forget that last kick he kicked over against Wales to win us that Test match. We have been working hard on the goal-kicking.
“Sacha is brave. I don’t want to reiterate it over and over. It’s about the 10-15 and 10-12 utility. We know Manie really well and what he can do. Sacha will get to learn now he handles himself in physical situations, how does he attack when the pressure is on…”
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