What Erasmus wants from Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu in first Test start

Rassie Erasmus has explained what he wants to see from Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, the 22-year-old who will this Saturday start his first Test as the Springboks No10. The Stormers youngster has made four recent appearances off the bench for South Africa, but he has now been upgraded to start at fly-half in the 2024 Rugby Championship opener away to Australia in Brisbane. 

Feinberg-Mngomezulu is one of two new starters in the XV as Elrigh Louw has also been named at No8. Erasmus shed light on Tuesday on why he selected the rookie half-back who has double Rugby World Cup winner Handre Pollard providing back-up from the Suncorp Stadium bench.

“He is starting and 10 is pivotal in every Test match and every game, but he is someone we know well,” reckoned Erasmus at his media briefing after naming a Springboks side showing 12 changes from the XV that started the July 20 win over minnows Portugal. 

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“It’s not somebody that has just fallen into our system. It’s somebody who came through our system. Like Damian Willemse when he came through the system. There are so many guys that can compete for that No10… we have the opportunity to get guys from one level of the Test match against a tier two nation, playing off the bench.

“What do we expect from him? To work with guidelines within how we went to play on defence and attack, and then he must bring Sacha to the table like Handre brings Handre to the table. We all know what Manie (Libbok) does when Manie is on fire and year. We are expecting the same from Sacha and hope to create that environment where he can be himself and bring the natural talent like all the other guys.”

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Erasmus was keen to stress that Feinberg-Mngomezulu was a youngster monitored for quite some time. “He was with the SA A side two years ago when we played against Munster and Bristol and he was with the Springbok team and impressed then and he impressed at the Junior World Cup just like a lot of guys, Jaden Hendrikse and other guys I could mention. 

“The nice thing is when you track those guys from a certain age you know what their capabilities are… The one thing that we do see with these younger guys coming through with skill sets that get coached at school and the EPD system, we don’t have to tinker a lot with or change a lot. They are really well rounded. 

“But somewhere you are going to get a shock in a Test match and it will be, ‘Yeah, I’m here at the big level now’. It just depends when and who is around him and who will support him and how he handles that. That is the exciting thing to look forward to because he definitely has got all the natural talent. 

“It is a big opportunity for him like it is for Elrigh and Grant (Williams) playing off the bench and a few others. After a World Cup you are going to find some guys knocking on the door but to have a guy like Handre, with more than 70 caps on the bench, that’s nice security… It’s an exciting opportunity for him and hopefully the forwards can give him the platform.”

RG Snyman, Cobus Reinach and Kurt-Lee Arendse are South Africa’s only three repeat starters from the win over Portugal which followed the drawn two-match Test series with Ireland and a Twickenham win over Wales in their first outing of 2024. Erasmus went on to describe the balancing act in selection between picking inexperienced youngsters and trying to still be successful. 

“As we all say internally here we can’t look too far ahead and forget the present but we can’t just look at the present. In the squad overall, there are nine guys I counted today that weren’t regulars prior to the World Cup last year which we are rotating in and out. 

“I wouldn’t say it’s a changing of the guard. It’s giving guys opportunity… and it’s Sacha’s fifth cap. When we went to World Cup 2019, we used to say we didn’t want to go with a guy with eight, nine caps and it has been well documented, I don’t think there has been a World Cup won with a fly-half less than 24 years old, I think Jonny Wilkinson was the youngest.

“It’s not a change of the guard, it’s a squad of 45 guys trying to win each Test match. It’s certainly with the hat on for the future but they have to earn the right to change the guard.” 

Damian de Allende attended the media briefing with Erasmus and he will run the No12 channel outside Feinberg-Mngomezulu in Brisbane. “I really enjoy him,” he said about the rookie Test-level 10. “He is very well spoken and he has got a lot of confidence which I really enjoy. 

“On Saturday it is his first start and he will be quite nervous but I hope he will be nice and composed because when he is composed and is expressing himself, he is exceptional. I am looking forward to the Test match but I know that I will try and keep him composed and let him express himself on the field and lead our forwards going forward. If he can just express himself and play his natural game he will be an amazing joy to watch.”