Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu has been hailed as “a generational talent” by his DHL Stormers boss John Dobson.
The Springboks star has been in sparkling form of late, scoring 50 points, including four tries, during Cape Town victories over Connacht Rugby and Benetton Rugby in the last two rounds of the Vodacom URC.
He is sure to be a key figure for the sixth-placed DHL Stormers as they set their sights on making a big impact in the play-offs.
Giving his thoughts on the 23-year-old fly-half, Dobson said:
“I am the coach of the team he plays in, but I can’t claim to have coached him for a second. He is a generational talent.
“He is such a good guy and so level headed.”
Dobson says that’s all the more important with the hype surrounding the versatile young back having gone stratospheric.
“We had that with Siya (Kolisi) when he was here before he went to the Sharks,” he said.
“He would walk into a petrol station and you would have people howling and dropping their pumps!
“It feels curious for the team. When one player is elevated by hype above the rest of the team, it’s sort of contrary to rugby values. That worries me a little bit from a team perspective. It’s a tricky one.”
FUTURE REFLECTION
Reflecting on what the future holds for the eight-time capped Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Dobson said:
“Probably our biggest challenge is to make sure he stays on the field.
“That’s not something we control.
“It’s nerve-racking stuff because he has done his knee twice.
“We have to be very careful about his body without changing who he is.
“You can’t say to him ‘Listen, you have been tackled six to eight times a game, it’s too much for a fly-half’ because that would take away who he is.
“It’s a real tightrope the whole Sacha project, but brilliant to have.”
The Cape Town-born Feinberg-Mngomezulu scored a scintillating hat-trick of tries in the narrow 34-29 victory over Connacht and then crossed again in the 56-5 demolition of Benetton.
He also landed nine shots at the sticks against the Italians - six conversions, two penalties and a drop goal - and demonstrated his astute tactical kicking game.
“It was entirely clinical and mature, the way Sacha and Warrick (Gelant) kept drilling the ball into the corners in the second half. We were so territorially dominant, so in charge,” said Dobson.
HAPPIER COACH
The DHL Stormers coach was in a far happier mood after the Benetton game than he had been following the nerve-jangling win over Connacht.
He had described the defensive performance against the Irish province as their worst in years, so he was delighted by the response from his players.
“There was a lot of emotion after the Connacht game even though we won,” he said.
“We knew we had to change dramatically and show we are a championship team. It was a big week.”
The Stormers certainly stepped up to another level against fellow play-off contenders Benetton, running in seven tries.
“It was everything we wanted and planned, a really, really good performance,” said Dobson.
“It was almost flawless. We were so clinical, so mature and we were really good defensively.
“It was our best performance in the URC by a distance.”
What was also impressive was the crowd of 18 474 at the DHL Stadium, following on from 18 211 for the Connacht game.
“There is something brewing,” said Dobson.
“You see the amount of blue in the crowd, jerseys, not just flags. It’s just going up and up and up. It’s becoming like a soccer crowd. They are fully invested.
“It was a great crowd for the Benetton game, a really good experience and we entertained them, which is our theme for the season.
“We are playing rugby that suits our DNA and the people resonate with it and they are coming along. It’s a really good space with the crowd numbers.”
The DHL Stormers now have two more home games to round off the regular season, with Dragons RFC (this Saturday) and Cardiff Rugby (Friday, May 16) the opponents, as they look to secure their play-off spot.
“If we keep going like we are, I think we will finish fifth and stay local in the quarterfinals,” said Dobson.
“We will go to Durban to face the Sharks, which is something we will do with great relish. That derby would be a nice one for us.”