'A Stormer is always under extra pressure'
Stormers playmaker Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu believes pressure is a privilege – and after a standout season, he is embracing it.
An incredible talent and former Young Player of the Year winner, Feinberg-Mngomezulu and the Stormers are currently experiencing a dip in form and have been under loads of pressure.
The Cape side has since slipped into a three-match losing streak after an impressive eight-match winning run that saw them top the United Rugby Championship standings.
Back-to-back defeats to the Sharks were followed by a 10-24 loss to the Lions at Ellis Park, dropping the Stormers to fifth place on the table.
They face another stern test this weekend when they travel to Pretoria to take on a resurgent Bulls in the North-South derby at Loftus Versfeld.
However, the Stormers flyhalf is confident his side has the character to bounce back in the Round Eight rescheduled fixtures.
“As the Stormers, you’re always going to be under an extra bit of pressure, and that’s a great privilege for us to play for a team with that expectation.
“As far as our desires go and where we see ourselves, I think in general, as South Africans, when things hit the fan, we kind of bounce back. So I’m very excited to see where we go from here.”
Feinberg-Mngomezulu believes the team is close to turning things around.
“We are putting in the work and trying to get back on the horse quickly. We are sitting in fifth with a game in hand and one victory away from second on the log. We are motivated to fix some things.”
The 24-year-old was named the South African United Rugby Championship Player of the Year following a superb 2025 campaign.
Feinberg-Mngomezulu was also nominated for SA Rugby Young Player of the Year and Men’s Player of the Year, but ultimately lost out to Ethan Hooker and Malcolm Marx, respectively.
Despite the individual honour, the talented flyhalf was quick to credit his teammates.
“I’m very happy. It is nice to be recognised alongside the Stormers,” Feinberg-Mngomezulu told reporters at the prestigious ceremony in Cape Town.
“I was just coming back from injury when I got this award and the way I was welcomed back with arms and hugs, it was so great.
“Things like this award embody the way the team kind of took me in at that stage. And from there we’ve just been working together.”
Feinberg-Mngomezulu also praised the competitiveness of the URC, describing it as a valuable experience.
“It’s great. It’s very similar to Test match rugby – contestable kicking games, different defences, soft defences, strong attacking kicks and ball-in-hand rugby, and just a whole bunch of everything. It’s a very mixed bag of rugby.
“So it’s a great experience, and Super Rugby would have been tough.”
