Cape Town — Suddenly, with Sacha Mngomezulu’s performance in the Stormers’ United Rugby Championship (URC) game against Zebre in Parma, the union’s once-problematic position has turned into one of its most exciting areas.
Make no mistake about it — with Manie Libbok’s boss performances in the No 10 jersey since settling in the Cape, that concern about having a real answer at flyhalf has faded, while Damian Willemse has risen above the doubts to prove the nay-sayers wrong by showing that he can get the job done at flyhalf at the highest level. So, for the Stormers, No 10 is a problem no more, but Mngomezulu has just put an exclamation mark behind that assurance.
In the Stormers’ latest outing of the new season and their first on tour, the 20-year-old started at inside centre alongside Alapati Leuia, and man, did he impress.
While his first starting berth was in the midfield, Mngomezulu was handed the kicking duties, despite both Libbok and Willemse being present in the run-on side.
Speaking after the defending champions’ third win on the trot, head coach John Dobson praised Mngomezulu for how he went in Parma, and for good reason.
Adding goal-kicking duties to a player’s assignments — in his first start, no less — could easily rattle him.
He could have buckled under the pressure, but there was none of that.
In a fantastic performance that showed maturity and control beyond his years, Mngomezulu converted all four tries, added three penalties, produced a try-assist and scored the bonus-point one himself late in the game for a personal tally of 22 points in their 37-20 victory at Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi.
And then there are all those little touches in his game …
The spatial awareness, his kicking from hand, how he takes the ball to the line, those deft little passes that pop out of nowhere … Mngomezulu has given South African rugby lovers every possible reason to watch him with a keen eye.
“He is integral to the future of this team and the union,” Dobson said after the game.
“He was absolutely outstanding. He is so competitive and he is very special. We tried to grow him by giving him the goal-kicking and he did really well.
“Our plan with him is probably to let him settle at 12 and then longer-term he could be one of the better flyhalves in this country.”
The Stormers coaching staff might have a few enviable backline dilemmas now that Clayton Blommetjies is back in the mix after missing the game in Italy due to his wedding, and with Libbok having become impossible to leave out of a Springbok conversation, Mngomezulu’s performance at the weekend becomes even more important.
While Willemse will most likely be the starting flyhalf come the Boks’ End-of-Year Tour, Libbok has been the most consistent 10 in the country on the URC scene and Bok incumbent Handre Pollard’s injury and the question mark surrounding Elton Jantjies’ involvement strengthens his case for a Bok call-up even more.
And, should that happen, Mngomezulu has given Stormers fans good reason to believe that the No 10 jersey will be in good hands in Libbok and Willemse’s absence.
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