Bok Boss defends Sacha Feinburg-Mngomezulu after Mbombela outing

The prodigiously talented flyhalf was tasked with pulling the strings on attack against Lelos and while the backline was flowing, he struggled kicking off the tee and out of hand. In an out-of-character performance, Feinburg-Mngomezulu missed three conversions, kicked directly into touch and had one of his kicks charged down.

Erasmus revealed that the 23-year-old was struggling with an injury and reminded any critics that the performance must be viewed in the context of what he's done for the Boks over the last 18 months.

"Sacha is not necessarily our first choice No. 10," said the coach.

"We've got Manie [Libbok] who is pretty much on song, and when Handre [Pollard] came on, he was pretty solid.

"I think if you just look at Sacha's goal kicking, he missed four, and I think after that he ended well. In the warm-up, he got a hip pointer [injury], and we weren't sure if we should push him through. But he wanted to play.

"I don't know if that was an excuse for how he kicked at poles. But he definitely ran it out. We like flyhalves who try things on the field. Not just to play in their little box and be safe.

"And he certainly wasn't one of the guys who made the most errors today. There were a lot of guys who made a lot of errors because of the disruptive way Georgia played, in-your-face and thriving on spoiling.

"I am not frustrated with Sacha, it is only his second start for us this year. He is young compared to our other flyhalves."

Following outstanding form in the Green and Gold and the Stormers, Feinburg-Mngomezulu was named SA Rugby's Young Player of the Year and the SA United Rugby Championship Player of the Season for 2024/2025.