Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu makes his return to Test rugby on Saturday against Argentina at his 20th cap mark, having missed two months following a syndesmosis ankle injury sustained while scoring for the Stormers against Cardiff on May 30. Initially flagged as a potential six-month absence, surgery and rehabilitation have brought him back ahead of schedule.
The 24-year-old is clear that his priority is fitting back into the system rather than making a personal statement. "I went to Ellis Park to watch the England game and the one thing nobody can say is that the Springbok team doesn't function, whoever is in the picture," he said. "I'm just coming in trying to facilitate that, keep progressing our game and keep us functioning."
Feinberg-Mngomezulu acknowledged the frustration of missing time with both the Stormers and the Springboks but said he turned the enforced break to productive use. "I used the time to look at the game from a more technical aspect and develop areas of my game that I probably didn't have time to before."
He returns alongside Cobus Reinach at scrumhalf, a pairing he credits as a significant source of comfort. Feinberg-Mngomezulu recalled Reinach urging him to attempt a long-range penalty against the All Blacks early in his Test career. "That defines our relationship. He really takes me under his wing, but we're also good buddies. Sharing the field with him takes a lot of pressure off me."
When Feinberg-Mngomezulu jokingly placed Reinach's age at "37 or 38", Rassie Erasmus quietly corrected him — "He's 35" — prompting laughter, though Feinberg-Mngomezulu noted that despite Reinach's age-related humour, the scrumhalf remains among the fittest in the squad.