Springboks' Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu thankful to the 'big dogs' for showing him ropes

When the Springboks faced the haka before the Wellington Test against the All Blacks, the television cameras panned onto the faces of the South African players, who were mouthing something, but viewers could not make it out.

Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, the starting flyhalf that day, has ended the mystery.

“Siya (Kolisi) was next to me. He was saying the Lord’s Prayer,” the young flyhalf said. “Me? I was mouthing the words of the haka. I was getting ready for the game. It is nice to watch the haka, but I flip it around and use it for my own motivation, a bit of fuel for myself.”

About 20 minutes later, Feinberg-Mngomezulu was in the first-aid room at the Cake Tin, undergoing a head impact assessment, which he was heartbroken to fail.

“I watched the game going back home on the flight,” he says. “From an individual point of view, it is never nice not to play too many minutes, but I am so chuffed about how the game shaped out. I’m happy Manie (Libbok) could step up and do his thing. He was amazing.

“But playing the first quarter of the game was better than nothing,” Feinberg-Mngomezulu reflects. “It was similar to Eden Park in terms of the electric atmosphere. But we had a different kind of buzz in us after how it had gone down (in losing in Auckland). The guys were ready to show what we are about. The confidence was high, and that nullified the occasion and the sideshows that were going on.

“We honed in. In the beginning, we did not convert as much as we wanted to, but we were getting our entries and we had them on the ropes. We laid a good foundation for what happened later.”

Feinberg-Mngomezulu heads a group of youngsters coming through in Erasmus’s wider squad of World Cup veterans, but he says there is no “changing of the guard”.

“No, that is not how it is,” he says. “It is about learning from the senior guys. I have to say hats off to the big dogs; they give us the platform to be ourselves and get the most out of every training week. That gives you self-confidence going into games and allows us to play our part a bit better.

“The more time you naturally spend in a high-performance environment, the more comfortable you get, and as a sportsman and athlete, the more comfortable you are, the better you showcase your skills.

“I’m finding that the midweek preparation before a match is invaluable for me. By kick-off, I fully understand what they want from me, and am more confident about what they want me to do.”

The 23-year-old says, for instance, that veteran fullback Willie le Roux has been hugely helpful.

“Willie brings a lot, he is one of my favourite players. Until you play with the guy, you don’t understand how great he is at his job. Willie’s communication, knowledge, and rugby IQ are out of this world.

“He takes a lot of pressure off us game drivers with his communication regarding the positioning of the back three, for example. It is a pity people don’t get to experience that because he truly is one of the best.”

Feinberg-Mngomezulu’s silky skills are tailor-made for the “Tony Ball” attacking approach of Bok assistant Tony Brown, the former All Black flyhalf.

“I’m not sure if the term 'Tony Ball' has been misinterpreted, but it is quite similar to how the Boks have been playing for a while in terms of when we have a go, and then revert to our tactical kicking game,” Feinberg-Mngomezulu said.

“What Tony is helping us with is scanning for opportunities and identifying them better. That helps us, whether it is me, Handre (Pollard), or Manie at 10. I enjoy what Tony brings, how he helps me to see space.”

It was suggested to Feinberg-Mngomezulu that he is a perfect hybrid between Pollard and Libbok.

“It is hard to say because Manie is labelled as an attacking flyhalf, which he is — he can play multi-phase rugby — but he also has an extremely strong kicking game, so does Handre.

“I would not label myself a hybrid of the two, but, yes, Manie’s passing game is one of a kind, and Handre’s kicking game is one of a kind, and the better you can merge those two, the better for the team.”