Victor Matfield: Where Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu ‘needs’ to step up after his ‘issues’ this year
Springboks fly-half Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu and former lock Victor Matfield.
Ex-Springboks record cap holder Victor Matfield wants to see a vast improvement from Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu in this weekend’s clash against Italy.
The fly-half is considered a generational talent by many but his form has dropped off in 2026 with the 24-year-old failing to find the same fluency he had in the previous Test season.
Feinberg-Mngomezulu gets another opportunity to show his undoubted talent, however, and Matfield hopes that he can stop overplaying his hand.
‘Then we will see some Sacha magic’
“I’m going to go with Sacha this week [as the player to watch], I’m not going to go with one of the scrum guys,” he told the Rivals podcast.
“He’s been good at times but he’s had a few issues where he’s been maybe too loose, made too many errors.
“This is a series where he will have to show that he can manage the game as well and not the fly-half who’s just going to do magic moments, do special things.
“He needs to drive the team, manage field position, get his kicking game there and also keep the team calm, especially in a game like Italy where he can get too loose.
“It’s going to be important for him to control the game and as the game hopefully opens up then we will see some of the Sacha magic.”
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The Springboks have enjoyed another fine year so far, which includes defeating the All Blacks 3-1 in Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series.
They also reside at the top of their Nations Championship pool and will look to stay there in order to earn qualification into the final.
South Africa may well need three successive bonus-point wins in order to do that and Matfield expects to see a more attacking Boks over the next month.
Springboks finding a ‘balance’
“It’s that balance. It’s interesting because last year we started to play a little bit more expansive, I was talking about the Tonyball, this year with the New Zealand Test series, which was a very tough series, we pretty much went back to South African DNA.
“It was really strong set-piece, playing a pressure game, getting in the right areas of the field, using our big forwards, so we haven’t really seen the Springboks go out there, express themselves and the backs taking a bit more chance.
“I think we might see this on the end-of-year tour but, again, I talk about the balance. That’s why Sacha’s going to be so important – him and Morne van den Berg.
“It’s a young pairing, so just controlling it first, starting off nice and easy but, as the game opens up, I would like to see our backs really have a go.
“We’ve got some fantastic backs, our back three is really dangerous, so hopefully we can get a little bit more of that balance.
“First, dominate up front but then let’s have a go with our backs as well.”
