Feinberg-Mngomezulu still finding his feet in Springbok squad

Rising Springbok star Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu is working towards feeling at home in the Bok system, after making his debut last month and being heavily involved in the two-Test series against Ireland.

The 22-year-old made his first appearance off the bench against Wales at Twickenham in June, and followed that up with bench appearances in both Irish Tests in Pretoria and Durban.

However, it was this past weekend when he received a massive baptism of fire, having to replace the concussed Wille le Roux in the second minute of the game at Kings Park, and he put in a very accomplished performance in testing circumstances.

With three Bok caps to his name, Feinberg-Mngomezulu was asked whether he felt at home in the national team setup, but he admitted he still had plenty of work to do.

“It is definitely a step up, so I still have a lot of work to do to feel at home at Test level. I haven’t started a game yet, so I am sort of a bench player at the moment and I really appreciate what the coaches are doing, easing me into this level of rugby,” explained the former Junior Bok captain.

“I am working hard with the coaches and they are showing faith in me, so hopefully the results will start showing and I will feel at home at Test level soon.”

Playing 78 minutes against a top-class Ireland team was a superb test for Feinberg-Mngomezulu and he answered perfectly with an impressive showing.

Slow start

He got off to a bit of a slow start in the first half in Durban, when he was constantly tested with the high ball, but he eventually found his feet and in the end looked very dangerous, especially on the counter attack in the second half.

“I just wanted to do my job. Coming on so early in the second minute wasn’t expected, but it is what it is. It’s just a great privilege to get to play for so long,” said Feinberg-Mngomezulu.

“I had great players around me and it was a proper Test match experience. So I was extremely happy to be out there, but the result was unfortunately not what we wanted.

“It was obviously quite intimidating coming on so early, so it took me some time to find my feet and in the second half I felt like I eased into it a bit more. Rassie (Erasmus, Bok coach) spoke to us at half-time about what he wanted and I kind of just thought that’s what I needed to do, but I still made some errors.”

Future position

Looking ahead, it will be interesting to see where the Boks will look to play Feinberg-Mngomezulu, as he is at home at flyhalf, fullback and inside centre.

He was unconcerned, however, claiming he would play wherever they wanted him to.

“I just want to play rugby, that’s my job and all I want to do is contribute properly,” said the utility back.

“It is a cliché but I jut want to contribute and push this team forward. Whenever I get an opportunity to do that, even if it’s on the flank, I’ll do what I need to do.”