Dobson beams as Sacha stars in first Stormers start

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John Dobson was delighted with Sacha Mngomezulu’s growth in a match-winning performance as the DHL Stormers claimed a bonus-point victory in Parma on Saturday. DYLAN JACK reports.

Mngomezulu scored 22 points in his first start for the Stormers in the Vodacom United Rugby Championship clash against Italian outfit Zebre.

MORE: Sacha stars as Stormers complete Italian job

The 20-year-old Junior Springbok captain made his Stormers debut in last season’s playoffs and showed real composure in a scrappy match in Parma.

“He is integral to the future of this team and the union,” Dobson said after the match. “He was absolutely outstanding today. He is so competitive and is very special.”

Mngomezulu was handed the goal-kicking responsibilities for the Stormers – despite the presence in the starting lineup of both Manie Libbok and Springbok playmaker Damian Willemse – and he excelled, slotting three penalties and converting all four tries on Saturday.

“We tried to grow him by giving him the goal-kicking and he did really well,” said Dobson. “Our plan with him is probably to let him settle at 12 and then longer-term he could be one of the better flyhalves in this country.

“We are very, very excited about all these young players that we’ve got, whether it’s Sacha, Suleiman or Imad Khan, Conor Evans and Paul de Villiers. We are excited about the future.”

Mngomezulu’s performance has given the Stormers a positive headache with their backline options, especially as Clayton Blommetjies will join the team in Wales after missing the match in Parma due to his wedding.

“Sacha was outstanding today, but he doesn’t have to start every game in what will probably be a breakout season,” explained Dobson. “Manie is definitely our No 1 flyhalf, Damian will play at 12 and 15 depending on how Clayton goes and our injury situation at centre.

“It’s not impossible to see Manie at 10, Sacha at 12 and Damian at fullback, if Clayton’s not around.

“The feedback around our selection this week amuses me, questions about how we left Marvin Orie on the bench for a game like this. We really have to understand that we are going to be playing a squad game this season. It’s about depth and capacity. If you think about Sacha, he has now been exposed a bit to this level, he has confidence. Whether that means he starts or not next week, I’m not sure.

“We won’t be able to field our best combinations every single week. We will have Clayton back next week and Damian will be going back home. We have to build capacity and I think Sacha’s performance was a massive step forward.

“Unless something goes wrong, he is going to be involved in every one of our matchday 23s going forward.”

Photo: Luca Sighinolfi/INPHO/Shutterstock/BackpagePix 

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