Sacha is ready to rock again

“Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity,” Stormers star Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu said sagely about his breakout season last year.

A Stormers debut in the United Rugby Championship (URC), the captain’s armband of the Junior Springboks, and selection in the national team’s touring squad were cork-popping moments for the 20-year-old, who has shown maturity beyond his years thus far in senior rugby.

An untimely injury halted his progress, but he is back in the mix for the Stormers as they prepare to take on London Irish in the Champions Cup at Brentford Stadium on Sunday.

He is understandably tugging at the leash to continue the sharp learning curve that got him going places last year.

“2022 was indeed a special year and there was so much I took away from the year,” he told the team’s website.

Life lessons

“It taught me things I will take through for the rest of life. I have to say the biggest learning for me was in the build-up to the quarterfinal and then match day,” Feinberg-Mngomezulu said about the Stormers’ clash with Edinburgh.

“Learning to listen before speaking and learning to prepare before doing was something I have clung onto ever since. I learnt that preparation and willingness to learn is what really sees you through your big moments and helps you to take opportunities with both hands, if or when they do arrive.”

His stock has risen considerably over the past year. His call-up to the national ranks is an indication of the high esteem in which he is held, but injury cut short his time with the SA A team.

Professionalism

“The upside of that tour was that I definitely left a better person and a better rugby player,” he said. “I was so grateful to just be in the room, to hear the conversations and to see the high level of professionalism within that group of players. I learnt so much and I’m grateful the injury came later in the tour rather than earlier because what I experienced and learnt in the first half was priceless.”

The Stormers may make a raft of changes for this clash. They fell short against Glasgow Warriors in the URC last weekend, and the team may need some fresh legs in a demanding month for SA franchises in European combat.