Although the Stormers’ United Rugby Championship campaign is back on track, their 24-20 win over the Sharks in Cape Town on Saturday proved costly after Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu sustained yet another injury.
The 22-year-old was in the thick of the action from the outset as he gathered the encounter’s kick off from Jordan Hendrikse before going to ground after Phepsi Buthelezi and Dylan Richardson brought him to ground.
Despite returning to his feet, the Springboks star did not look comfortable and received medical attention on several occasions before he eventually left the field in the 37th minute with Jean-Luc du Plessis replacing him at inside centre.
Third injury in as many Stormers games
That meant Feinberg-Mngomezulu has been replaced due to injuries for the third successive Stormers match. He has endured a frustrating period on the sidelines as he initially missed the latter part of the Springboks’ Rugby Championship campaign due to a knee injury.
He returned to action for the Stormers earlier this month in their 21-15 loss to the Sharks in Durban but only lasted 30 minutes before being forced off due to a head knock.
It was a similar story upon his return to action last week when he left the field in the 28th minute after taking a huge hit from behemoth Lions tighthead prop Asenathi Ntlabakanye in the Stormers’ 29-10 triumph in Cape Town.
That was a hip-flexor knock and he recovered in time for this weekend’s highly anticipated derby with the Sharks, although there were concerns in some quarters that he was rushed back to soon.
However, Dobson revealed that Feinberg-Mngomezulu’s latest injury is unrelated to his previous one and that he tried to play through despite his knock.
“We took him to the edge,” Dobson told reporters after the match. “When he first went down, I thought: ‘We made a calamitous error as coaches’. We went six-two [a forwards-heavy bench] and he went down.
“It is his clavicle [collarbone] that went out and back in. We offered it to him to come off, but he said he wanted to keep trying.
‘He was trying to push through to half-time’
“I am not sure if it was helpful for the team, but we should have pulled the trigger [taking him off] a little earlier. He was trying to push through to half-time.
“Three games in a row we have lost him within minutes and it is tough on him.”
Meanwhile, Boks hooker Joseph Dweba was a late withdrawal ahead of the Sharks game due to a hamstring problem. That meant Andre-Hugo Venter was promoted to the run-on side with JJ Kotze coming onto the bench.
Dobson did have some good news on the injury front though as he revealed that Evan Roos, Sti Sithole and Leolin Zas are expected to return to action when they take on Sale Sharks in a Champions Cup clash in Cape Town on January 11.
