Flyhalf Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, who scooped the 2025 URC Player of the Year prize at the SA Rugby Awards this week, says the Stormers will bounce back after a couple of tough losses in local derbies over the last few games.
Image: Stormers Rugby
When the pressure mounts, South Africans tend to respond — and Stormers flyhalf Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu believes his side is ready to do just that as they look to get their United Rugby Championship (URC) campaign back on track.
Feinberg-Mngomezulu on Thursday was named South African URC Player of the Year after a stellar 2025 season. He claimed the prestigious award a year after winning Young Player of the Year at the SA Rugby Awards.
With the rest of the URC season still ahead of the Cape side, Feinberg-Mngomezulu wants to put his hand up as they fight to reclaim their winning form. The Stormers are on a three-match losing streak after opening the season with an eight-game unbeaten run.
They face another daunting task this weekend, travelling to Pretoria for a bone-crunching North–South derby at Loftus Versfeld. They have won one game against the Bulls and will be looking for another inspired performance to turn their fortunes around.
The Stormers playmaker believes there are still plenty of good things to come for his team.
“As a Stormer, you’re always going to be under an extra bit of pressure, and that’s a great privilege for us to play for a team with that expectation,” he says about the high demands.
“As far as our desires go and where we see ourselves, in general, as South Africans when things hit the fan we tend to bounce back. So I’m very excited to see where we are going. We had a couple of tough weeks.
“We are putting in the work and trying to get back on the horse quickly. We are sitting in fifth with a game in hand and one victory away from second. on the log. We are motivated to fix some things.”
He praised his teammates at the Stormers for the award he received and knows it would not have been possible without them. While he started last season with an injury, the pivot quickly found his groove, which earned him the No 10 jersey for the Cape side.
Feinberg-Mngomezulu says he would have liked a taste of Super Rugby — something he grew up watching as a kid — but the ‘test-match feel’ of the URC makes it a phenomenal competition
“It’s nice to be recognised alongside the Stormers — I enjoy that. Last year I was just coming back from injury when I got this award, and the way I was welcomed back with open arms and hugs at the Stormers was so great.
“Things like this award embody the way the team took me in at that stage, and from there we’ve just been working together.
“However, I’m not going to bank on last year’s form at the Springboks and Stormers and act like it’s going to happen again for me this year. It’s going to take a lot of hard work and I’m ready to go for that again.
“I just want to play rugby.”