Springboks: Nick Mallett’s blunt verdict on ‘work in progress’ Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu
Springboks playmaker Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu and ex-Boks head coach Nick Mallett (inset).
Former Springboks head coach Nick Mallett has described Springboks utility back Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu as “a work in progress” after his display in the world champions’ victory over Georgia in Nelspruit on Saturday.
Feinberg-Mngomezulu was the Boks’ starting fly-half and impressed with his playmaking skills during their 55-10 triumph but his goal-kicking was poor as he missed several shots at goal and was eventually replaced by Handre Pollard in the 55th minute of the game.
Prior to that, Feinberg-Mngomezulu delivered a solid performance when he started at fly-half for South Africa in their 54-7 win over the Barbarians in Cape Town and was in the thick of the action during a lively 23-minute cameo off the replacements bench in the Boks’ 45-0 triumph in their second Test against Italy in Gqeberha.
Mallett feels the 23-year-old playmaker still has some way to go before he reaches his full potential.
‘Very difficult to pin down’
“I thought he played a typically Sacha game. You know, he’s very, very difficult to pin down because he sidesteps and he’s got great pace and he can weave in and out of the traffic,” Mallett told the Talking Boks podcast with Brenden Nel.
“But his goal-kicking wasn’t nearly as good as one would have expected, because that’s been a strong point of his over Manie Libbok. His distribution wasn’t as good as Manie’s was the week before (against Italy).
“And I know he had a hip pointer (injury) apparently in the lead up, and ran it off and played. But he’s still got work to do.
“He’s not the finished product by any means at 10.
“He’s a work in progress that I think will get better and better, providing he listens, providing he understands the role.”
Mallett believes that Springboks attack coach Tony Brown will be crucial in Feinberg-Mngomezulu’s development as a player and in transforming him into an outstanding fly-half.
‘The key part of this role is to make other people look good’
“I’m so pleased Tony Brown’s there,” he said. “You’ve got someone there who can say: ‘Listen, this is the key part of this role is to make other people look good.
‘The fact that you make yourself look good once or twice a game, that’s fine. But make sure that everyone else is looking good around you. Forwards, your inside centres, your outside (centres), your back three.
“Make absolutely certain you do not make errors.
“So (an) error free performance by a 10 is invaluable.
“It’s no good having a guy who can create three opportunities, but he kicks it out on the full three times and misses three tackles.
“You know, you’ve got to weigh up your positives and your negatives. And I think he’s just got to lower his negatives at the moment.”
