Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu is SA’s URC Player of the Year. The DHL Stormers No 10’s performances were so good when he played that he won the coveted award despite missing 50 percent of the league’s matches.
Feinberg-Mngomezulu is a generational superstar, who has made a habit of winning every individual accolade, regardless of the environment. He was the best u13, best u16, best u18, best u21, Rookie of the Year and now he is the URC’s Vodacom Player of the Year.
Feinberg-Mngomezulu started eight in nine league matches in which he featured from the season’s 18. He also started last weekend’s United Rugby Championship quarter-final defeat to Glasgow’s Warriors.
Feinberg-Mngomezulu is just 23 years-old but already he has played four seasons of URC Rugby. He made his debut in the inaugural URC season, playing off the bench in the quarter-final, semi-final and final wins for the Stormers. The next season he started four from 12 URC matches and last season he started eight from 11 URC matches.
He has played two Investec Champions Cup matches and eight Tests, and is averaging six points a game over his professional career. He has not always been the starting goal kicker for the Stormers, but in the past season that mantle has fallen exclusively to him, as it has since his debut for the Springboks.
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The brilliant Bishops old boy has played 46 professional matches, with 36 coming for the Stormers in the URC, two in the Champions Cup and eight Test matches. He guided WP under 21s to the title, having also captained SA u18s when in his final school’s year.
He has also played a handful of matches for Western Province, when the congested season calendar has allowed for it.
Feinberg-Mngomezulu has scored 200 URC points in his 36 matches, made up of 12 tries, four drop goals, 34 conversions and 20 penalties.
He has endured two knee injuries which required surgery and a lengthy lay-off. His competitive spirit also means he does not shy away from contact, which has resulted in further injuries sidelining him. When he plays, he is invariably hot and on the winning side of 70 percent of his matches.
His average game time for the Stormers and Boks is 48 minutes and that will increase towards the hour mark as he gets more game time in the build-up to the 2027 World Cup in Australia.
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‘I had quite a lot of time to reflect within the three-and-a-half months of my injury. I decided I need to stay true to myself and follow what I believe is right for me on the field. I decided to play rugby like I enjoy it,’ Feinberg-Mngomezulu said in a media statement. ‘I’m not shy to admit that I’ve been injured a few times and have begun to understand the rehab process. But this time it was different. I had a different focus and drive to get back to playing good rugby again. I wanted to come back harder and stronger, and I feel I did.
‘I think that’s why I’m so honoured by the Vodacom Player of the Season award. Prior to my return from injury I was very clear about wanting to return and play at an optimal level. I was really working hard behind the scenes. I have never worked so hard in my career to come back. I wanted to push myself as hard as I could to help my team, and this award really encapsulated all of that for me.’
It was also Feinberg-Mngomezulu’s own search beyond his sport and into other sports that helped to crystalise this for him.
‘Coach Rito Hlungwani (Stormers forwards coach) gave me a book and it’s one I dive deeply into. It’s called ‘Relentless’ and it looks into what that really means. It’s a mindset where nothing can sway you off from what you want to achieve. It spoke about the challenges other athletes like Michael Jordan and Kobie Bryant and Dwyane Wade have faced. In this high contact sport we play there are always going to be setbacks. But the best players have experienced these setbacks and used them as fire to come back as even better players. So I thought, why not me? Why can’t I also turn this rollercoaster of emotions and disappointment and lack of game time into something where I can chase what I want to achieve in this sport.’
Feinberg-Mngomezulu raved about the quality and variety of challenges playing the URC: ‘I can’t speak more highly of the Vodacom United Rugby Championship. If you look at Cameron Hanekom as the Next Gen Player of the Season and the Elite XV, I played with him and we all had similar aspirations. It’s quite comforting to know there are other players in your age group in this competition like Cameron, Canan Moodie and Paul de Villiers, and it gives you the belief that if they can do it why can’t you.
‘You play against the best players in the world and it’s the perfect platform as a player. You play in different conditions every weekend from sun to rain to artificial pitches. It’s the perfect place to grow and learn outside of your comfort zone. It’s a big blessing for us to be a part of this competition because it gives you a taste of the international rugby experience that you want from Italian, Welsh, Scottish and Irish teams. There’s no better place to develop as a young individual and I’ve been so happy to be a part of this competition.’
Src: keo.co.za
