VIDEO - 'It was intimidating': Sacha dissects his Kings Park performance

SPOTLIGHT: Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu has identified the key areas he needs to work on to be a leader in the Springbok backline.

The 22-year-old replaced Willie le Roux (concussion) after just two minutes of play in the second Test against Ireland in Durban over the weekend.

Feinberg-Mngomezulu grew in confidence in that No.15 role as the game went on, especially in the second half when he asked questions of the Irish defence and made good decisions with the help of Handre Pollard.

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“I think experience will help a lot with the weak areas of my game,” said the Stormer. “That includes my judgement on what to do at the back, when to do it and how to communicate properly.

“Physical skills are something you can work on, but the verbal skills and the understanding of the game is something that comes with time and that is probably my main focus at the moment.

“I want to be able to come on and replace Willie and provide the same information he provides to the backs and do a similar job away from the physical touches.”

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After some cameos off the bench against Wales at Twickenham and in the first Test against Ireland in Pretoria, Feinberg-Mngomezulu had a lot more on his shoulders this time, and it seemed like he was a bit hard on himself after the game.

“I just needed to do my job and it came in the second minute, which is more unusual, but it is what it is.

“It is a great privilege to play so long with great players around me and it was a proper Test match experience.

“I was extremely happy to be out there, but it is not the result we wanted.”

He added: “It was quite intimidating coming on so early, but in that second half it felt like I eased into it a bit more.

“Rassie [Erasmus] spoke to us at half-time about what he wanted and I kind of thought that is what I needed to do.

“I eased into the game, but there were still a few costly errors.”

When he was asked about his best position on the field, Feinberg-Mngomezulu said: “I just want to play rugby man. That is my job and that’s all I want to do.

“I just want to contribute properly. It is a cliche, but I just want to put the team forward.

“When I can get an opportunity to do that, even if it’s on the flank, I’ll do what I got to do.”

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