Look who’s back — Sacha ready to rock and roll

Springbok bolter and World Rugby Breakthrough Player of the Year nominee Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu is back from injury and set to front up for the Stormers against the Sharks in their United Rugby Championship (URC) clash in Durban on Saturday.

Feinberg-Mngomezulu enjoyed a breakout season for the Boks, making his debut off the bench against Wales in June, before facing Ireland twice and Portugal, all off the bench, in the Tests in June and July.

He then stepped up and started the Boks’ next three games in the Rugby Championship at flyhalf, against the Wallabies Down Under and All Blacks at Ellis Park, before featuring off the bench again against New Zealand in Cape Town.

Knee injury

However, he injured himself in the first All Blacks game, and played through the pain in the second, but was then forced to undergo knee surgery that ruled him out of the Boks’ remaining Rugby Championship games, the Stormers’ start of the 2024/25 URC campaign and the Boks’ end-of-year-tour.

The 22-year-old’s impressive performances saw him nominated for World Rugby’s Breakthrough Player of the Year award, but was beaten to the prize by All Blacks loose forward Wallace Sititi.

Stormers assistant coach Dawie Snyman, however, confirmed this week that the budding young talent would be back in action and would lead a number of star players on their way back from injury over the coming weeks.

“Sacha has been going nicely and training with the squad and he is ready to go on Saturday. At this stage it is only Sacha that is back for this weekend,” said Snyman.

“Ben-Jason got injured in that game (against Glasgow before the international break), but is looking fine and has been training with the squad. Deon (Fourie) is almost ready, and Frans (Malherbe) is not too far off.

“So over the next two or three games we will have a few guys available for selection. Salmaan Moerat is also very close so hopefully we can get him back on the pitch as soon as possible.”

Poor start

The Stormers have had a poor start to the season, winning just two of their first five games and sit 13^th on the URC log, while the Sharks have been slightly better, winning three of five to sit ninth.

Both teams struggled on tough away tours, but the Sharks bounced back at home with wins over Glasgow Warriors and Munster, while the Stormers beat Munster but lost to Glasgow heading into the international break.

Both teams will thus be desperate for a win; the Stormers to bounce back and make a move up the table, while the Sharks will want to continue their good recovery.

“It’s going to be a tough one going up to Durban. They (Sharks) have been playing well and we didn’t finish the way we wanted to against Glasgow. So we have been working hard behind the scenes to make sure we are ready for Saturday,” said Snyman.

“The players have had a nice break. There was a lot of rugby (Currie Cup) and prep ahead of that first block of five games, and the boys put in a lot of effort.

“So to give them a bit of a break to freshen up mentally was good. You can feel the energy is great and it’s nice to have the guys back.”