A 37-point masterclass from young Springboks superstar Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu has got the rugby world talking, and a certain comparison keeps popping up as pundits share their take on the performance.
South Africa, like they did to New Zealand the round prior, put Argentina to the sword in the second half in their latest Rugby Championship win, running up a 67-30 scoreline after scoring a try every five minutes in the final quarter.
Three of the nine Springboks tries in the match were scored by the mercurial No.10, Feinberg-Mngomezulu, who also chipped in two penalties and eight conversions, with one try assist as a cerry on top.
Player Line Breaks
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Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu
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Cheslin Kolbe
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Pieter-Steph du Toit
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The scoring tally broke the Springboks’ record for points in a match, besting Percy Montgomery’s long-standing record of 34. However, rather than drawing comparisons to Montgomery’s historic effort against Namibia in 2007, it’s another famous fly-half performance that has become the reference point for pundits, podcasts, and panel shows across the globe.
“That was a performance for the ages,” said former All Black James Parsons on the Aotearoa Rugby Pod. “I made a comment as we were watching it, I said that was as good as (Dan) Carter in ’05. The perfect 10 game.
“The cross-field kicks, he sees the halfback strapped, boom, in there. Spin Move. The 50-22 doesn’t go, he chases. As soon as he kicks it, he is just hooning downfield.
“Even early on, he puts this little grubber through, and he toed it on again. From the moment things kicked off, and I know they didn’t have it all their own way for the 30-odd minutes of that first half, he was just all-out attack. And talk about license. But it’s his accuracy, like that cross-field kick, how flat and hard that was for (Cheslin) Kolbe was just pinpoint.
“It is simply the best performance I’ve seen in World Rugby since ’05.”
Questions over the youngster’s health and Springboks coach Rassie Erasmus’ unpredictable selection policy, given he also has Manie Libbok and Handré Pollard at his disposal, were also widely discussed, casting some doubt over exactly what heights Feinberg-Mngomezulu could reach and when, but there was unanimity over his potential.
“Everything is in slow motion,” Parsons said in response to a comparison to Neo in the iconic film series The Matrix. “But it’s his maturity that is impressive, it’s how and when he pulls trigger…
“He could be (the greatest of all time). His potential’s out the window. I don’t know how big his ceiling is, if there even is one.
“But, there’ll be days where it doesn’t come off, and you’re going to have to live with that. But I feel that as he’s getting more and more experienced, he’s not being reckless. Nine of those decisions or brilliant moments were reckless. They were outstanding, but it was all controlled, methodical, and he knew what he was doing.
“What I’d say, to go back to when they lost in Argentina (in 2024), it was guesswork, it was no-look kicks, and it was no-look passes to try and be who he was on the weekend. And now, I think that experience and growth, and with the guidance of Tony Brown, I think if you look at your Mt Rushmore of 10s, he’ll be there.”