Stormers star Feinberg-Mngomezulu in line for award but Glasgow lie in wait for URC quarter-final

The Stormers travel to Glasgow for their United Rugby Championship (URC) quarter-final on Friday night, with fly-half general Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu one of three nominees for South Africa’s URC Player of the Season award.

Feinberg-Mngomezulu, along with Bulls bruisers Cameron Hanekom and Wilco Louw, has been highlighted for outstanding form throughout the campaign.

The award is significant, as voting included input from the Springbok coaching team, the four South African franchises, and selected media representatives.

Since returning from injury, Feinberg-Mngomezulu has played a pivotal role in lifting the Stormers from the lower reaches of the URC table to a fifth-place finish. The Cape side head to Glasgow for their play-off with most of their firepower intact — though Damian Willemse is suspended — and with Feinberg-Mngomezulu marshalling the troops, they stand a good chance of upsetting the defending champions and advancing to the semi-finals.

Despite missing a large portion of the 18-match league phase, Feinberg-Mngomezulu is joint-fifth on the list of top points scorers.

The South African URC Player of the Season will be announced on 5 June.

Glasgow fly-half Adam Hastings is well aware of the threat posed by Feinberg-Mngomezulu. The son of Scotland legend Gavin Hastings was at the helm when Glasgow stunned the Stormers 28–17 in Stellenbosch last year.

“The Stormers are a fast-paced team with a lot of flair players throughout that backline – they can cause you problems from anywhere,” Hastings told the Glasgow website.

“We know they’ll look to keep the ball alive with their offloading game, so it’s important for us to shut that down.”

Hastings added that Glasgow’s forwards have a key role in limiting opportunities for game-breakers like Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Warrick Gelant, and Manie Libbok.

“Set-piece is going to be massive for us,” he said. “We know we need to nail our roles there and make sure we execute on first phase.

“We’ve got some pretty electric backs who we want to get the ball to in space, so that’s definitely been a focus for us as we sharpen up this week.”

Although Hastings did not feature in the team that beat the Bulls in last year’s URC final, he recalls watching Glasgow’s play-off run, which included a 27–10 quarter-final win over the Stormers.

“I watched last year’s knockout games on TV, and just the intensity the boys played at was something else,” he said.

“The emotion that was shown throughout the team was something you could really feel, and that’s something we want to re-create this week against the Stormers.

“You play all year to make it to the knockout games, so to have a home quarter-final is amazing,” he added. “We love playing at Scotstoun because we know the difference the supporters make.

“If they can bring the noise and wave those flags, that’ll be great.”