De Allende pinpoints mistake Boks cannot make with Feinberg-Mngomezulu

South Africa centre Damian de Allende has urged his Springbok team-mates not to take “time and space” away from fly-half Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu.

The 92-cap Springbok had a box-office seat to the 23-year-old’s 37-point masterclass against Argentina on Saturday in Durban in round five of the Rugby Championship, starting at inside centre as the precocious talent had the Pumas defence guessing all afternoon.

From audacious cross-field kicks to snipes around the breakdown, de Allende said “I don’t think Sacha knows what happens next” when talking to the media ahead of their round six rematch with the Pumas at Twickenham’s Allianz Stadium, but said the Stormers No.10 “sees the space before anyone else.”

While de Allende admits that things are not always going to go to plan for Feinberg-Mngomezulu, he believes it is imperative that he and his Springbok team-mates do not stultify the attacking flair of the playmaker.

Fixture

Rugby Championship

Argentina

27 - 29

Full-time

South Africa

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“I think it’s incredible, I don’t think Sacha knows what happens next sometimes, which is a good thing,” the 33-year-old said.

“For me, I do try and help him on the field and try and chat to him and tell him where the space is, but I think sometimes he sees the space before anyone else. I think it’s just important for not just me, but the guys around him, to let him flourish and not take his time and space away. He can create a lot by himself; we must just make sure that we’re here to support him when things aren’t going that well. Because they’re not always going to work out.

“But it is nice to watch. It was incredible to watch him on Saturday. He took these opportunities well to score the tries, but the work we did as a team to get into those positions was incredible. Sasha knows that, and we must never forget that.

“I know there might be some incredible individual performances going forward into the near future, maybe from Sacha, maybe from other players, but as a team, we’re going to make each other look better and just get our get ourselves into the best positions to make our teammates look better.”