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Rassie Erasmus issues rebuke to injury-hiding Feinberg-Mngomezulu

Rookie Springboks fly-half Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (Photo by Janelle St Pierre/Getty Images)

Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu is set for an operation to mend a knee injury he picked up last month versus the All Blacks in Johannesburg. A starter in that 31-27 Rugby Championship win on August 31, the 22-year-old played off the bench in the following weekend’s 18-12 win over the same opposition in Cape Town despite being caught limping during the build-up by Rassie Erasmus.

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The Test rookie hasn’t travelled to Argentina for this Saturday’s round five match and it has now emerged that he won’t feature either in the September 28 round six rematch in Nelspruit as surgery is required.

It wasn’t until after naming his latest team selection in Buenos Aires that it emerged Feinberg-Mngomezulu is injured as he was initially said to be resting when left out of the travelling squad along with other players such as Willie le Roux, Damian de Allende and Pieter-Steph du Toit.

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However, Springboks boss Erasmus has now confirmed that the youngster needs an operation, adding at a media briefing that he was unhappy that Feinberg-Mngomezulu didn’t reveal his injury to the back room staff following the Emirates Airline Park win over the All Blacks.

“Sacha will only be ready for the end-of-tear tour because of a knee issue,” explained Erasmus after he named a team showing 10 changes to the starting line-up following the September 6 Cape Town victory over New Zealand. “He injured it during the first Test against the All Blacks and in the following week, I asked him, ‘Why is he limping?’ He then said he injured his knee in the previous Test.”

Fixture
Rugby Championship
Argentina
17:00
21 Sep 24
South Africa
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That revelation left Erasmus tempted to pull Feinberg-Mngomezulu from the DHL Stadium bench as the Springboks selection criteria states that players who aren’t fully fit on the Monday are not considered available for selection for the following weekend. “I actually wanted to pull him out of the team because he was limping. One of the things that our players must understand, even the young guys, is that they need to be honest with their injuries.

“Nobody who has an injury and is at 80 percent is better than a player who has no injuries and is at 100 percent. Sacha is lucky that we won those games because he gambled a bit. He is having an operation now. We don’t know what is exactly wrong with the knee, but it should be ready within four and a half weeks.”

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2 Comments
S
SteveD 8 hours ago

Loved your Freudian Slip/spelling error: "end-of-tear tour".


Is that 'tear' as in 'muscle' or as in 'tears'?


Anyway, hopefully Sacha has learnt his lesson.

T
Teddy 14 hours ago

Thought it was the usual "resting/healing with anabolics" syringe boks routine.


This is tough going though. Poor lad. 22 is young to be going under the knife.

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Bull Shark 45 minutes ago
Why Rassie Erasmus should cull some Boks veterans for 2027

I think cull is the wrong word.


I think Rassie and the senior players will be pretty open and honest with each other about their prospects for another World Cup campaign. And, ironically, I don’t think Rassie is thinking as far ahead as 2027 in terms of who is going to go.


There are likely going to be injuries too where players one would assume will be at 2027 won’t feature. Think Marx and Am and 2023.


I think the priority is really having as many players as possible in contention for a spot on the 33 by the time squad selection comes around.


I made this point a while ago, but having double World Cup winners in the setup over the next 3 years is going to be golden for the boks. It’s like having a coach in each position.


Razor was criticized for having too many coaches in his team. Rassie has more than 15 player coaches at his disposal.


I think Siya is being teed up to play the same role Duane did at the 2023 RWC. Invitation to the coaching box this coming weekend included.


I think many of the old guard are playing a role in the team that certainly does not guarantee them a 2027 place but doesn’t hurt their chances at being selected - but they will have to be the no.1 or no. 2 best in that position to be selected at that time. There won’t be any dead weight - whether old or young.


In my mind the strategy would be quite simple. Take everyone who will be over 32 by 2027 and pencil their names in right now in slot number three for their relative position. We know what they can do and they know what they need to do to be in contention for 2027.


Then ask yourself who do we have to take position no.1 and no. 2. Tried and tested or not. Find them and trial them over the next 3 years. Their job is to keep the old guys out. And the old guys job is to help them do just that.


That’s what Rassie has to do and has started well trying 48 players and 11 debutants in year one as the article mentioned (and winning).


I reckon there’ll be another 5-10 new players tried by the end of this year, particularly in November.


2024 ✅

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