Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu opens up on late decision that allowed ‘best flank around’ to break Stormers hearts
"We can be proud, but we came here to win," Cobus Reinach said, reflecting on the Stormers' Investec Champions Cup heartbreak in Toulon.
“We can be proud, but we came here to win,” Cobus Reinach said, reflecting on the Stormers’ Investec Champions Cup heartbreak in Toulon.
The final whistle had sounded barely five minutes earlier when Charles Ollivon had held up the Stormers’ last-gasp try effort on the line with the clock red, Toulon 28, Stormers 27.
The roar of Stade Mayol was still ringing around the Provençal evening, with the Stormers’ Champions Cup campaign over by a single, agonising point.
In the mixed zone beneath the stands, Cobus Reinach and Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu stood side by side. There was no dejection, but there was hurt, certainly. Still, there was also the unmistakable composure of two players who knew they had given everything and come within a fingertip of pulling off something remarkable on one of European rugby’s most hostile grounds.
‘We came here to do a job’
“We came here to win, came to do a job, and we fell a bit short,” Reinach said. “I think when we got together and spoke to the boys afterwards, we said we can be proud of ourselves. We went guns firing. A decision here or there probably didn’t go our way, but that’s rugby,” he assessed, speaking to Planet Rugby exclusively.
Having spent the last two years in France with Montpellier before his move to the Stormers, Reinach understands the rhythms of French rugby as well as any South African in the game. He knew what was coming at Mayol, and he had prepared his team accordingly.
“Being in France for two years, I kind of expected Toulon to come up guns blazing from the first whistle,” he said. “We prepped and we said, ‘listen, we have to stay in the contest’. Playing away from home in France, in the Top 14, the away games are always the tough ones, because the 50/50 calls don’t go your way. So we tried to put them under pressure at set piece, at their lineouts, and just keep going at them. At the end, we left it to a contest, and the 50/50 call didn’t go for us.”
It was a telling observation, delivered without bitterness but with the quiet clarity of a man who has played enough rugby in the south of France to know how these things can go. The Stormers had legitimate grievances with several decisions across the eighty minutes. Reinach chose his words carefully, but the message was unmistakable.
Feinberg-Mngomezulu: ‘We handled them really well’
Feinberg-Mngomezulu had started on the bench, watching the first half unfold from the stands. It was his first experience of Stade Mayol, and it clearly left an impression.
“Everyone knows Toulon is quite a special place,” he said. “Actually starting on the bench and just getting to see the atmosphere feels pretty special. The fans are so committed. French people love their rugby. It’s a privilege to play out here.”
His impact when he arrived on the pitch was immediate and devastating. Within minutes, he produced the chip kick that created the try to put the Stormers ahead at 20-14, a moment of such nonchalance and technical precision that it shifted the entire momentum of the game. Asked to explain the technique, he smiled.
“It’s just a quick drop from the hands to the foot, just a grubber. But it must be done at good speed so there’s no deflections.”
Just a grubber. The best ten in the world makes it sound like a training drill. It was anything but.
On the game itself, Feinberg-Mngomezulu was generous in his assessment of Toulon’s set piece but pointed in his frustration at how the Stormers’ own dominance went unrewarded.
“As a French side, we expected them to have a strong set piece, and we actually handled them really well,” he said. “I think we were very unlucky at the end. We could have got more reward out of the maul. We did everything we needed to do. I remember seeing JD Schickerling’s feet in the air when he was trying to get the ball back to the back of the maul. I don’t want to make any comments on what I saw, but I think we could have been a lot more fortunate with some of the calls towards the end. Pretty tough.”
Asked about the brilliant Puma ten, Tomos Albornoz, who had tormented the Stormers all afternoon with his distribution and game management, Feinberg-Mngomezulu was generous. “He carries the ball with two hands, good acceleration on the park, and he gets into the physical contest. He’s a great player. We respect him. He’s a national team player. We’re supposed to play against each other for years to come and we will enjoy that. I think we have a similar philosophy.”
“But they have some superstars; alongside Pieter-Steph du Toit, Charles Ollivon is the best flank around and he was immense today, and I said to him post-match, I really look forward to seeing him again – in November, I think. Brex too, he was phenomenal in defence in their close out and those two guys were a big part of the RCT win. You want to play against players that test you of that calibre.”
When asked whether he had considered dropping to the pocket for a drop goal in the final play rather than going for the try, the young ten frowned: “I was thinking about that just now.
“We thought we had them in the contest. It’s not a game where we’re looking for a bonus point. On reflection, I could have dropped into the pocket. But it’s easy to say that when things don’t go your way. Some people would vote for a try. Some people wouldn’t.”
And the penalty from 60 metres that drifted wide in the second half? Did he have the range?
“Sixty metres isn’t a problem for me. I slotted 62 yesterday in the warm-up training. The breeze from the port was quite strong and just into our faces in the second half.”
“You learn a lot from games like this; micro moments- it really was a knife edge match.”
There was no arrogance in the delivery. It was simply a statement of fact from a 23-year-old who possesses a kicking game of extraordinary power and precision. Sixty-two metres in training. The wind got him, maybe next time it won’t.
‘Age is not a limiting factor’
The final question of the evening was put to Reinach with a grin: he was the third-oldest player on the pitch, while Ma’a Nonu and Deon Fourie, with a combined age of 83, were both still out there in the closing stages. Are the three senior citizens of European rugby planning their pension options together in the post-match function?
He laughed. “There’s probably one judge that will tell you you’re too old, and that’s the tryline. The boys can still play. I heard Nonu was running past everyone, so maybe the young lads should watch out.”
Then, more reflectively: “With today’s technology and science and how you look after your body, I don’t think age is a limiting factor. It’s about what you want to do and what you want to achieve. If you have the heart and the body can go on, then why not?”
It was a generous, thoughtful answer from a player who had every reason to be consumed by his own disappointment. The Stormers had come to the most intimidating ground in French club rugby and pushed Toulon to the final second. Feinberg-Mngomezulu had changed the game from the bench. Reinach had competed ferociously at the base. They had done everything right and lost by a point.
This was a defeat that will sting for a long time. But it was also a performance that confirmed what most of the rugby world already suspected: Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu is the most complete young fly-half on the planet, and Cobus Reinach remains one of the smartest operators in the professional game.
Toulon go on. The Stormers go home. But both teams left Stade Mayol knowing they had been part of something extraordinary.