Nick Mallett’s verdict on where Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu needs to improve
Nick Mallett says timing and decision-making are the two key areas Springboks fly-half Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu needs to improve to hone his playmaking skills.
Feinberg-Mngomezulu was South Africa’s chief playmaker in all four Tests during their recent triumphant series against their arch-rivals New Zealand and delivered solid individual performances on each occasion.
On bench duty against the Wallabies
He is one of several first-choice Springboks who will be amongst the replacements when they take on the Wallabies in their one-off Test in Perth on Sunday. This, after Boks boss Rassie Erasmus made 13 changes to his starting line-up.
There has been plenty of fanfare around Feinberg-Mngomezulu after he caught the eye with several outstanding performances at Test level in 2025.
The 24-year-old is yet to hit those heights for the Boks in 2026, and Mallett identified some areas of improvement needed in his game.
“The lessons Sacha has to learn are game management lessons. He has to understand what quality ball he’s getting at what time,” he told the Talking Boks podcast.
“So at any given time, he should be looking at the quality of ball that’s been delivered to him and take a decision based on the quality of that ball.
“If it’s a tap ball in the lineout and the players are pouring through, don’t pass that ball on to your backline. You’ve got to then just take it up yourself or stick it up in the air if you want to do that and you’ve got time to do that.
‘Do it either through the line or through yourself’
“If it’s really good ball, then you’re going to play your backline. If you’ve taken it through two or three phases, you haven’t got momentum, fall back on the kicking game that we’ve got at our disposal and do it either through the line or through yourself.
“And it’s those decisions that he needs to take better, I would say.”
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Mallett is not questioning Feinberg-Mngomezulu’s ability to implement those tasks but believes he has to improve on his decision-making.
“It’s not that he can’t do any of it. He can do every single one. But is he doing it at the right time for the players around him?” he asked.
“You know, sometimes it might be there for him to break the line because he sees a half gap, but there’s a four on two, and he should pass.
“You know, obviously you should pass over the four on two. But, you know, if you’re looking all the time for that little half gap and that opportunity, he might be trying to go for that half gap, which is the wrong thing to do.
“So, you know, game management is where he can improve.”
