Sacha’s Stormers replacement 'has never really been out of the team'

Most teams would be reeling after losing a flyhalf of Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu’s quality, and make no mistake, he is a big loss, but the DHL Stormers are expecting his replacement, Jurie Matthee, to fit in seamlessly in Saturday evening's Vodacom URC semifinal against Leinster.

Springbok flyhalf Feinberg-Mngomezulu, rated by many critics globally as the best player in his position on the planet, sustained an ankle injury after scoring a try in the 44-21 win over Cardiff at DHL Stadium last weekend that is set to keep him out of rugby for three months. Apart from missing the remainder of the Stormers’ season, he will be missing from the national team until at least the second half of the Greatest Rivalry Series against the All Blacks in late August and early September.

There was a feeling, though, around the Stormers camp that the loss of Feinberg-Mngomezulu might be less impactful to their chances of beating Leinster in Dublin, something no visiting team has managed at the AVIVA Stadium this season, than the loss of wing Seabelo Senatla. The former Blitzbok star was concussed in the second half against Cardiff and was also not on the flight that started the Stormers’ journey to Dublin on Monday night.

MIGHT BE IDEAL FOR THE SEMIFINAL GAME PLAN

While Senatla doesn’t have a like-for-like replacement in the Stormers squad and the pace and athleticism that make him such a factor in the contestable kicking battle and a strike threat out wide will be missed, Matthee is highly regarded within the Stormers group, and there is a quiet confidence he will get the job done.

It is not that Matthee is a like-for-like replacement for Feinberg-Mngomezulu; they are very different players, but Matthee has been part of big Stormers successes overseas this season and is considered ideal for the type of game the Stormers are hoping to execute against Leinster.

As Stormers assistant coach Rito Hlungwani pointed out before the departure for Dublin, Matthee has been part of the squad all season and has been part of most Stormers matchday squads. So when asked if there’d have to be a stylistic adjustment for the Stormers with Matthee starting instead of Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Hlungwani had no hesitation playing the question with a quite forceful straight bat.

“It is only in the matches that Sacha starts that Jurie is not running with the team, he is involved a lot with the team in every training session and has been with us a long time now and fits very well into our systems,” said Hlungwani.

“There will be no trouble at all for the other players getting used to Jurie because they train with him all the time and he’s also played a lot of games for us, many of them quite tough games. He has never really been out of the team, and he is always ready to step in. We are quite confident he will come in and do a good job for us.”

HE’S WON GAMES FOR THE TEAM IN THE PAST

There’s ready evidence to support Hlungwani’s confidence as Matthee fitted seamlessly into the Stormers team when he came on for Feinberg-Mngomezulu in the quarterfinal and delivered a calm and composed performance in the half an hour he was on the field. He is an excellent field and place kicker, but there is more to him than that, and a straight run from inside his own half set up one of the Stormers’ six tries.

Matthee was the man of the match when the Stormers came from behind to comprehensively beat what was then considered a very competitive Benetton team in Treviso last October, and another game where he produced a match-winning performance that earned him the official man of the match award was when the Stormers won last season’s away derby against the Bulls.

Another game should stand out for those who remember it - he wore the number 10 jersey on a day where he and Feinberg-Mngomezulu combined brilliantly as a 10/12 combination to beat the Sharks in Durban in February 2024. Although Feinberg-Mngomezulu won the official man of the match award, Matthee was a big player in that game.

If the Stormers can dominate the forward battle, and that is what they will be setting up to do at the AVIVA, then Matthee has the game to control proceedings from the No 10 position. And he won’t need to adjust his game either, with his attention to sticking to structure bringing some plus points in a knock-out game.

SACHA’S BRILLIANCE CAN LEAD TO OVER-RELIANCE

Feinberg-Mngomezulu’s brilliance sometimes has a potential downside in that he can do things the mortals around him aren’t quite capable of, and sometimes he sees angles or opportunities that his teammates aren’t ready for or as equipped as he is to capitalise on.

Sometimes his willingness to try things, like little chip kicks, can backfire, and there was an instance against Cardiff that went unpunished but might not go unpunished against a team of the quality of Leinster.

Perhaps Bok attack coach Tony Brown best summed it up at a press conference a few months ago when he said that one of the things he’d be impressing on Feinberg-Mngomezulu at an alignment camp was that “he doesn’t have to do everything himself; he can also let his teammates help him.”

JURIE ENCOURAGED TO PLAY TO HIS STRENGTHS

With Matthee, there’s no such conflict, and while the Stormers may miss the X-factor with which Feinberg-Mngomezulu can break a game open, and in that sense Sacha definitely will be missed, Matthee’s steady approach may eliminate the potential for Leinster to be presented with opportunities presented by Stormers over-ambition or over-elaboration.

“We like players to play to their strengths. Jurie will fit in nicely,” said Hlungwani.

“If certain things change (in the game we put out there) because he plays to his strengths, then that is great, but there won’t be any major changes to our plan (because we have a different flyhalf starting).”

The Stormers’ faith in Matthee is underlined by the fact that the club recently extended his contract until 2029, thus indicating that he is a big part of director of rugby John Dobson’s plans for his Project 2029.

Of course, Feinberg-Mngomezulu is also contracted until then and will always be first choice for whichever team he plays for so Matthee’s decision to stay at the Stormers when he could easily become first choice at another club also shows what Hlungwani was getting at - he is not only part of the team, he feels part of the team.