Dobbo: Leave Beckham-like Sacha alone

John Dobson has voiced concern over the recent criticism of Stormers playmaker Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu. LINDIZ VAN ZILLA reports.

The Stormers coach believes the 23-year-old is being judged too harshly while still learning his craft at the highest levels.

“The noise is a concern because he’s a youngster,” Dobson said on Monday.

“In sport, things are emotional. A couple of months ago he was being spoken about as the best, and now suddenly some people think he’s not good enough.”

Dobson said the modern media and social media environment amplified criticism.

“You guys are respected journalists, but now anybody can publish something and it spreads quickly. There are lots of comments about him and it would take a very tough person not to be affected by that.

“He’s a youngster with a massive future. He’s going to be great for South African rugby.”

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Dobson acknowledged that recent advice from Springbok assistant coach Tony Brown about Feinberg-Mngomezulu using players around him more was valid.

“Tony is absolutely right that sometimes he may be trying too much. But we know where it comes from – he’s desperate for the Stormers to win.

“I’d rather have that than someone who is disinvested or worried about managing his body. Our job is to coach him better so he makes the right decisions.”

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However, Dobson admitted the Stormers coaches may have placed too much responsibility on Feinberg-Mngomezulu too soon. The pivot was named captain at the beginning of the year when regular leaders Salmaan Moerat, Deon Fourie, Ruhan Nel and Damian Willemse were all unavailable.

“Sacha’s got a massive profile, he’s the David Beckham of rugby now,” Dobson said. “He’s our No 10 and the 10 is always a game driver along with the No 9 and No 15. But our 10 always sits with calling the plays.

“Then we added the captaincy on top of that for a 23-year-old. That was probably our mistake.”

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Lock JD Schickerling captained the Lions at Ellis Park two weeks ago after the decision was taken to reduce the burden on Feinberg-Mngomezulu.

“We had the chat with Sacha and said maybe focus on two of those three things for now,” Dobson said. “He was very respectful. I know he wants to captain, but he was very accepting of it.

“In a couple of years’ time, he is going to be an absolutely exceptional captain.”

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Dobson recalled a moment against the Sharks in Durban that highlighted Feinberg-Mngomezulu’s natural leadership instincts.

“We had a plan for the start, and he made the kick-off and our plan worked perfectly as we scored early,” Dobson said.

“I think if most of us were captain of that team, we’d be celebrating because the plan has come off, or start thinking you’ve got 60 seconds to kick your conversion. But he went straight to the ref and said ‘Shouldn’t that be a card because they hadn’t retreated 10m?’

“I think that shows remarkable cold-bloodedness and thoughtfulness. Not many people would have thought of that, which shows the remarkable insight he has in the game. So he has got captaincy material.”

Photo: Steve Haag/Gallo Images