The sight of Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu exiting the playing arena on crutches after the DHL Stormers’ 44-21 Vodacom URC quarterfinal win over Cardiff was an obvious dampener for the home team, but the ankle injury sustained in scoring a try could have wider implications.
Stormers director of rugby John Dobson couldn’t confirm the injury afterwards, but he did say at the post-match press conference that “it looks pretty serious, to be honest”. It was later confirmed by a source that Feinberg-Mngomezulu has suffered a suspected fracture to a small bone in his ankle and is likely to be out of rugby for three to four months.
If it is three months he might just be back in time to play some role for the Springboks in The Greatest Rivalry Series against the All Blacks, which will be played over the end of August and beginning of September. But that would be pushing it, so if the worst fears are confirmed, the star flyhalf is likely to miss almost the entire southern hemisphere international season and we may not see him in the green and gold again until the overseas round of the Nations Cup in Europe in November.
That will be a blow not just to the Boks’ chances of winning the series against the All Blacks and maintaining their dominance of the world game, but also to Feinberg-Mngomezulu’s development as an international player as the South Africans build up to the 2027 Rugby World Cup. While many rate him as the best flyhalf in the world, there is also a consensus that he is still not the finished article, so missing test matches may hold back his development.
At the same time, there is also a theory that with the spotlight having been so squarely on him and so intense since his world-class performances against the Kiwis, Argentina and other international opponents last year, plus the scrutiny of his every Stormers performance on social media, a few months away from that spotlight might be just what the player needs.
The Boks do of course have two other world-class flyhalves in double World Cup-winning Handre Pollard and the mercurial Manie Libbok. The Stormers also have a more than capable backup next week when they go to Dublin to face Leinster in their URC semifinal in the form of Jurie Matthee, who delivered a calm and composed performance as Feinberg-Mngomezulu’s replacement in the last half hour against Cardiff.
LOSS OF SENATLA ALSO A MASSIVE SETBACK FOR STORMERS
So while Dobson confirmed that it was a big blow, particularly as he will have two international class halfbacks missing from his team’s biggest game of the season, as Bok first choice scrumhalf Cobus Reinach is also out injured, the loss of Feinberg-Mngomezulu might arguably not be as big as the likely loss of wing Seabelo Senatla, who was in red hot form on his return from injury before being concussed late in the game.
“He was HIA category one. He was knocked out, so he won’t play next week,” said Dobson.
“I thought he was absolutely magnificent. For a guy who has been out for so long, his work in the air, his defence and his work rate were outstanding. That’s a hell of a blow for us.”
Indeed it is, for while Matthee is tailored to play the type of game the Stormers will need to employ if they are to challenge Leinster, the Cape team doesn’t really have a replacement for the pace that Senatla brings, with the game against Cardiff providing a good indicator of what the Stormers have missed during Senatla’s absence and what they will gain next season through the acquisition of Cheslin Kolbe.
Dobson was resigned to being without Senatla in Dublin, plus probably the experienced inside centre Dan du Plessis, who soldiered on injured for most of the second half because the Stormers’ six/two split on the bench between forwards and backs meant there was no suitable backline replacement. As it was, Imad Khan had to move from scrumhalf to wing, where he performed really well, when Feinberg-Mngomezulu left the field.
Dobson said that the outlook for Feinberg-Mngomezulu would be confirmed once he has undergone a scan.
“The doctors have given me some feedback but I can’t really disclose right now what they said, just that it looks like a proper ankle injury,” he said.
“It’s a big blow. But whenever we take a knock, this group tends to pull together and fight. We’ve lost probably the most in-form young player in world rugby the week before a semifinal, which is far from ideal. But the way Jurie Matthee is playing and the fight in this squad gives me confidence that we’ll find a way.”