Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu update a ‘big blow’ for Stormers as John Dobson sheds light on Springboks star’s injury
Stormers playmaker Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu and director of rugby John Dobson.
Stormers director of rugby John Dobson highlighted the loss of Springboks playmaker Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu as a key reason for his side’s defeat to the Sharks in Durban on Saturday.
The 2022 United Rugby Championship (URC) winners suffered a 21-15 defeat to the Sharks and that result leaves the men from the Cape amongst the tournament’s also-rans as they are currently languishing in 13th position on the table.
The loss was a momentous one as it was the first time that the Sharks have managed to beat the Stormers since the inaugural URC tournament during the 2021/22 season.
The Stormers went into Saturday’s encounter against Sharks with a six-two bench split in favour of their forwards with Stefan Ungerer (scrum-half) and Manie Libbok (fly-half) the only backline replacements.
‘Forced off due to a head knock’
That plan backfired when Feinberg-Mngomezulu was forced off due to a head knock on the half hour-mark – after he left his stamp on the match with a 45-metre drop goal in the 23rd minute – and will have to follow concussion protocols which makes him doubtful for the Stormers’ Champions Cup opener with Toulon in Gqeberha on Saturday.
“That was a big blow,” Dobson said of Feinberg-Mngomezulu’s departure against the Sharks. “It affected our substitutions with the six-two split on the bench.
“Once you make that backline change early, we ended up in the last 15 minutes with Herschel [Jantjies] on the wing. He did almost go and score the winner though.
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“Sacha was a big disruption for us. He’s concussed.”
It was a frustrating encounter for the men from the Cape, who thought they had clinched a dramatic victory at the death before Libbok’s try was ruled out after television replays revealed he had knocked the ball on in the build-up.
The Stormers’ clash with French heavyweights Toulon will be held at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium as their their home venue, the DHL Stadium, is being used to host World Rugby’s Cape Town SVNS tournament this weekend.
Dobson said despite his side’s poor URC form, they are fully focused on doing well in the Champions Cup.
‘We are going to respect the European competitions’
“We do have to make sure that in the Vodacom URC we get into the top eight, but we are going to respect the European competitions,” he said.
“Next week, we face Toulon and we will see what happens there. The local Vodacom URC derbies are non-negotiable [but] we’re not going to bail on the Investec Champions Cup now because we lost.
“Next week’s game is one we will go and enjoy playing. There isn’t any pressure. We will go and attack the Investec Champions Cup and enjoy it.”
