Columnist assesses Feinberg-Mngomezulu’s play for the Springboks — TimesLIVE
In South Africa, columnist Mark Keohane highly praised the performances of South Africa rugby team fly-half Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, emphasizing his versatility, defensive play and ability to influence matches even without standout individual statistics. As TimesLIVE reports, the Stormers player has faced New Zealand’s All Blacks seven times over the past three seasons and won six times.
Return after injury
Feinberg-Mngomezulu returned to the starting lineup for the match against Argentina in Buenos Aires after a three-month break caused by injury. He played all 80 minutes, spending the final quarter of the match at fullback. Earlier, the rugby player underwent ankle surgery following an injury sustained in the United Rugby Championship quarterfinal.
He started in each of four Test matches against the All Blacks. Keohane noted that coach Rassie Erasmus moved Feinberg-Mngomezulu to fullback late in matches, bringing on Manie Libbok at fly-half. In the author’s view, this was a tactical decision rather than an assessment of the quality of Feinberg-Mngomezulu’s play in his primary position.
More current news is available on the UA.News Telegram channel Telegram.
Record and play against the All Blacks
In 2025, Feinberg-Mngomezulu scored 37 points in a match against Argentina in Durban. This is the highest number of points scored by a single player in a Test match for South Africa: he surpassed Percy Montgomery’s previous mark of 35 points.
The columnist drew attention to the rugby player’s physical defensive play, his work with the ball after contact and his kicking. According to the author, Feinberg-Mngomezulu converted 75% of his kicks at goal in the series against the All Blacks. In particular, his penalty kick in Soweto helped South Africa take a 29–17 lead. Keohane also believes that the player improved in game control and decision-making throughout the series.
