Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu believes he still has plenty of work to do to become 'the guy' for the Springboks.
Arguably the most exciting rising talent currently in the Springbok system, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, is keenly aware that he still has plenty of growing to do, despite his meteoric rise, and is not yet “the guy”.
Feinberg-Mngomezulu was speaking as the brand ambassador at Powerade’s launch of their “Respect the Pause” campaign, which is focused on supporting athletes and protecting their mental health, on Friday, when he mentioned that he still had a way to go.
Asked what it looks like to be “the guy” in the Springbok jersey, the utility back explained that you had to be the main man in your position, or in the team.
The guy
“That’s a tricky question. But Siya (Kolisi) is the guy, (Handre) Pollard’s the guy, Eben’s (Etzebeth) the guy, Cheslin’s (Kolbe) the guy,” said Feinberg-Mngomezulu.
“What do they all have in common? They’ve won this country matches, they’ve won this country World Cups, they have been around for a long time, have a huge support base, and they are good examples.
“So the sooner I can become like them, then I will start looking like the guy. But it’s going to take time. I think Siya and Eben have been around for over a decade, so it’s not going to happen tomorrow.”
Key to the Powerade campaign to assist athletes with their mental struggles, is an agreement to allow them to take a pause when needed, which is something that Feinberg-Mngomezulu has battled to do in recent times.
The 23-year-old has picked up a number of injuries already in his fledgling career, and that has led to him taking risks, like playing despite being injured, as he did against the All Blacks last year, and most recently with a niggle against Georgia a few weeks ago.
“I think that’s a valid assessment. I think I have experienced a lot of pausing for injuries, but I am just a passionate guy that wants to play rugby,” explained the flyhalf.
“I am just thinking about playing the game I love and helping my team win. And it just eats me up when I am not able to do that, whether it is through injury or selection or whatever. I just want to help my team win and that’s where the reluctancy (to pause) comes from.”
Mental aspect
Also speaking about the mental aspect of the game, particularly as a flyhalf, where you can go from hero to villain in the blink of an eye due to one missed kick, he admitted that the pressure that came with that expectation was something that he relished.
“That’s one of the biggest pressures of our position. But it is also one of the most attractive things about our position. You have to really be on par with everything and I think that drives you to new standards and levels,” said Feinberg-Mngomezulu.
“It gives you the responsibility to be a match breaker and orchestrator for the team. It is tough and tricky that sometimes one impact on the game could have such a negative push back (from the fans).
“But that is a part playing flyhalf and it just motivates you to be batter in that aspect of the game. I think that’s the one positive that comes from that, knowing that you just need to nail down as many aspects of the game that you can.”
