VIDEO: Sacha - 'some people have to talk sense into him'
The Stormers are taking a restraint, but balanced approach to the return of injured Springbok flyhalf Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu.
Stormers Director of Rugby John Dobson confirmed that injured Feinberg-Mngomezulu has started his ‘rehabilitation’ at the high-performance unit in the Cape Town suburb of Bellville.
However, he added that there is a need for a measure of ‘caution’, which requires some people to ‘talk sense into him’.
South Africa’s new flyhalf sensation, Feinberg-Mngomezulu, underwent surgery last month and his lay-off was initially put down to eight weeks.
Bok coach Rassie Erasmus was unhappy when he first revealed that the No.10 had been ruled out of the remainder of the Rugby Championship with a knee injury.
Feinberg-Mngomezulu injured his knee before the first Test against the All Blacks last month, but decided to hide the injury from the coach and played in that game.
The following week the knee started playing up and Erasmus considered withdrawing him from the game.
He played in the second Test in Cape Town, but Erasmus later expressed his dismay with the young player’s decision to withhold the crucial information about an injury.
Dobson, on Friday, said they won’t be rushing Feinberg-Mngomezulu back, even though he could ‘potentially’ be in the frame for Springbok selection for the year-end tour.
He was speaking ahead of the Stormers’ Round Three United Rugby Championship face-off with Zebre in Parma on Saturday.
“Do you want to do that to someone who has damaged the same knee,” Dobson said, repeating a statement from a couple of weeks back: “There is the risk of arthritis or further damage.
“You probably want to slow him down a bit.
“That would put him on the back end of the year-end tour.
“That would be a discussion between our (Stormers] medical team and the Springboks’ medal staff.”
(WATCH as Stormers Director of Rugby John Dobson gives another update on injured Springbok flyhalf Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu….)
Dobson said Feinberg-Mngomezulu would be available for the Stormers when their European Cup campaign starts in early December.
Feinberg-Mngomezulu is determined to get back on the field, but his youthful exuberance puts him at risk of pushing too hard, too early.
“Some people will have to talk sense into him about not rushing it too much.
“He has such a [big] role to play for the Stormers and South Africa for the next 10 years.
“The last thing we want is some arthritis or a career-threatening degeneration – given it is the same injury to the same knee in a year.”
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