Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu: Springboks must stick to structure against Wallabies

Reflecting on last weekend's 38-22 defeat at Ellis Park, the 22-year-old admitted that unforced errors and drifting away from their game plan had proved costly.

"There were system errors from our side, which led to what happened on the day," Feinberg-Mngomezulu said.

"But we saw what happens when we drift away from our structures, and we've been working hard to rectify things this week, so we'll go out there and give the best we can on Saturday."

Feinberg-Mngomezulu said that while the Boks' rush defence does allow the opposition some space in the wider channels, defensive lapses in Johannesburg afforded the Wallabies too much space.

"It's definitely been a chat because we wanted to figure out why what happened," he said.

"We have a defence system where we enforce pressure on the opposition, and sometimes you have to concede a few metres on the edges, and that is something we know about, and it's nothing that's new to us. We haven't focused on it too much.

"There were system errors leading up to those bridge passes that really caught us in that position. So those are things that we looked at fixing. But sometimes we're going to have to give the opposition the bridge pass, and we're going to scramble like we always do and catch them on the next phase."

Looking ahead, Feinberg-Mngomezulu said the Boks had drilled hard in training to ensure a sharper performance in Cape Town. He also welcomed the chance to measure himself against experienced Wallabies playmaker James O'Connor, should the veteran be selected again.

"He had a solid game last week and he managed to get on top of us," Feinberg-Mngomezulu said. "But we did a lot of analysis this week and tried to find solutions, so hopefully we can execute our game plan better this weekend.

"I wish him a solid game, but I think we'll be able to tie him down a bit better this week."

Happy to start on the bench for now, Feinberg-Mngomezulu described learning from senior players like Handre Pollard as an opportunity to grow his game while still contributing to the squad.

"The difference with having the big dogs like Handre Pollard here, there’s a ladder that I have to climb and just learning from guys like him, whilst juggling the act of 12 and 15; it only grows my game," he added.

"To put on a Bok jersey is special every time, whether it’s a 23, 22, 12, 15, 10 or even six on the back, whatever can help the team and help me get a cap for the Springboks."

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