The Springboks don’t want to fall into the “Ireland trap” when they face New Zealand in Cape Town this weekend, which is why young flyhalf Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu stressed the importance of remaining consistent after their victory in Johannesburg on Saturday.
The Bok flyhalf was ecstatic about the team’s 31-27 victory over the All Blacks in the first of two home Tests in Johannesburg. Feinberg-Mngomezulu kicked 16 points in the win.
The win, which marked the Boks’ third in a row in the Castle Lager Rugby Championship, saw them stretch their lead at the top of the table. South Africa currently lead the competition on 14 points, ahead of New Zealand (six points), Argentina (five) and Australia (four), who recorded their maiden win of the championship over the Pumas on Saturday.
“It was special,” said Feinberg-Mngomezulu. “I think our preparation in the week was valuable going into the match, especially with all the players putting the team first and helping each other. We put our best foot forward and the crowd was amazing, which always helps getting us through such tough games.”
With the match now behind the Springboks they immediately turned their focus to what is expected to be another epic encounter against their 2023 Rugby World Cup final opponents in Cape Town and said it would take another massive team effort to build on that result.
“We don’t want a repeat of losing the second Test, like what happened against Ireland in July, and that’s something we pushed for in Australia,” said Feinberg-Mngomezulu, referring to the back-to-back wins over the Wallabies last month.
“So, if we can be as hungry and determined next week and get a good result, it would take us one step closer to hopefully securing the Castle Lager Rugby Championship title.”