Comment by Ashfak Mohamed
Young sports stars who excel at school level are often touted for greatness one day, but it doesn’t always work out that way.
In South African rugby, there are countless examples of high-school super-kids who look world-class in rugby and cricket in particular, but battled to even make their senior provincial teams once they became seniors.
There are many reasons for that, which includes physical development, playing opportunities, provincial contracts and the like.
But then you get those extra special specimens who graduate almost seamlessly from school to the international ranks, and become world-class athletes in every respect.
Some of the recent examples of such prowess are Herschelle Gibbs and Conrad Jantjes.
Gibbs, who was equally good at rugby, cricket, soccer and athletics, could’ve become a professional in all four sports.
A knee injury early in his senior career ended his rugby prospects, though, and he went on to become a terrific batsman for the Proteas.
Jantjes also boasted SA junior colours in cricket, rugby and soccer, and eventually became a Springbok fullback.
Springbok and Stormers utility back Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu is in the same sphere of sporting ability.
He was a formidable junior soccer player, and watching the way he strikes the ball, he has all the skills to have given football a real shot.
But he chose rugby – no doubt influenced by the Bishops Diocesan College culture around the sport – and Springbok fans will be grateful for that.
His school fans would no doubt have marked him as a unique talent at Bishops, but I wanted to see whether he could make a significant impression at a higher level first before thinking about whether he could become a Bok legend.
I followed his progress closely as captain of the Junior Springboks (under-20) at a Six Nations Summer Series tournament in Italy in 2022, where he was superb in marshalling his team to victories over England, France and Ireland to clinch the title.
Then he filled in for the Stormers at short notice, due to injuries, in the 2022 United Rugby Championship playoffs, and helped the Capetonians to victory as they went on to claim the trophy that season.
He didn’t play enough Stormers rugby, due to injuries and selection conundrums, in 2023 to be a real contender for the Springbok World Cup squad.
But Bok coach Rassie Erasmus was keen to grow depth last year, and that saw Feinberg-Mngomezulu catapulted into the national team – arguably as a surprise, considering Handré Pollard and Manie Libbok were the incumbent flyhalves from 2023.
The Cape playmaker, though, repaid the faith shown in him with a couple of dazzling displays at Test level, especially the Ellis Park victory over the All Blacks, across his eight caps – and he has also quickly become hot property on social media.
But since then, it’s been an almost never-ending injury nightmare for the 22-year-old, and it’s something that must be sorted out decisively over the next few months.
Feinberg-Mngomezulu is a generational talent, someone who can create magic on a rugby field – whether it’s through a little chip-and-chase, an offload in the tackle, a long pass out wide, or a 50-metre penalty on Test debut.
His confidence knows no bounds, and that is a good thing. It is probably what separates the best from the very good, because when the pressure is red-hot, you’ve got to back yourself to deliver.
So, there is no doubt about Feinberg-Mngomezulu’s ability or temperament, but the red flags are piling up when it comes to his injury issues.
The latest collarbone problem picked up against the Sharks in December has left him sidelined indefinitely, with the Stormers management saying after last week’s 40-0 Champions Cup win over Sale Sharks at Cape Town Stadium that they don’t have a time-frame for his comeback.
It could be anything from four to six weeks.
But I say wrap him up in cotton wool. Even if it takes three to four more months – like it did with his knee injury he sustained against New Zealand – Feinberg-Mngomezulu should not return to the rugby pitch until he is absolutely 100% ready to go.
And that will require the man himself, as well as his coaches, to stay strong and make the difficult decision to keep him on the sidelines until every possible injury issue has been fixed.
He owes it to the Bok and Stormers teams – and the fans – to get himself into peak condition again, and his coaches owe it to him to do what is absolutely the best thing for him, and not try to rush him back for the big upcoming URC derbies against the Bulls (February 8) and Lions (February 15).
Feinberg-Mngomezulu is simply too good a rugby player to go to waste because of injuries... | Independent Media Sport