Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu is facing a three-to-four-month absence after sustaining a suspected fracture to a small bone in his ankle during the Stormers' 44-21 URC quarterfinal win over Cardiff on Saturday. The flyhalf left the field on crutches after scoring a try, with Stormers director of rugby John Dobson describing the injury as looking "pretty serious" at the post-match press conference.
A three-month recovery timeline would leave Feinberg-Mngomezulu extremely tight to feature in the Greatest Rivalry Series against the All Blacks, scheduled for the end of August and into September. Should the injury prove to be at the longer end of the prognosis, he is likely to miss the entire southern hemisphere international season and not return to Test rugby until the Nations Cup fixtures in Europe in November.
Pollard and Libbok are the obvious beneficiaries of the No.10 shirt in his absence. At franchise level, Jurie Matthee stepped in for the final half-hour against Cardiff and performed with composure.
The Stormers head to Dublin to face Leinster in the URC semifinal next week already without first-choice scrumhalf Cobus Reinach through injury. Seabelo Senatla, outstanding on his return from a lengthy injury layoff, was concussed late in the Cardiff match and Dobson confirmed he will not be available for Dublin — an HIA Category 1 ruling him out automatically. Dobson called Senatla's loss "a hell of a blow," noting the wing's exceptional work in the air, defensively and in general play before his exit.
Inside centre Dan du Plessis is also likely to miss the semifinal after playing through injury in the second half against Cardiff, a situation exacerbated by the Stormers' six-two forward-back bench split that left them without a specialist backline replacement. Scrumhalf Imad Khan was shifted to the wing to cover, and performed well in the circumstances.
Dobson acknowledged the cumulative impact of the injuries but stopped short of any assessment of the team's prospects against Leinster.