Sacha And Senatla Ruled Out Of URC Semi-Final

The Stormers were left licking their wounds and counting the cost of their emphatic victory over Cardiff after suffering several key injuries, including one to star playmaker Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu.

Feinberg-Mngomezulu was once again instrumental in the Stormers’ convincing 44-21 victory, contributing 11 points through a try and three conversions before being forced off the field in the 52nd minute.

The talented fly-half sustained the injury while scoring his try. After an Ioan Lloyd cross-kick was brilliantly gathered by the impressive Seabelo Senatla, the winger spun out of contact and offloaded to the onrushing Feinberg-Mngomezulu, who crossed the line.

However, in the act of grounding the ball, he appeared to suffer a serious ankle injury following a last-ditch tackle. Concerns immediately grew when he was replaced by Jurie Matthee.

Stormers director of rugby John Dobson admitted the situation did not look encouraging.

“It looks pretty serious, to be honest. It’s the ankle ligament, and he is going for a scan. He was cramping a bit before that. We aren’t confident,” Dobson confirmed.

“It’s a very expensive game for us,” he added.

Despite the setback, Dobson remained confident in his side’s ability to rally together in adversity.

“I feel like we’re going to be okay,” said Dobson. “Jurie is doing really well in this team. Whenever we take a blow — and it’s a big blow — we come together, gel together and fight.”

“If you are some Japanese company or French billionaire and you’re drawing up a shortlist of players you want in your team, you’d want Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu. So, to lose probably the most in-demand player in the world one week before a semi-final is far from ideal.”

“But the way Jurie is looking and the fight that we’ve got, we’ll make a plan.”

Feinberg-Mngomezulu was not the only casualty as the Stormers endured a bruising afternoon.

“Seabelo was a criteria-one concussion, so he won’t play next week.”

Senatla collided with the advertising boards while acrobatically diving for a try that was ultimately ruled out earlier in the move. The winger appeared to lose consciousness briefly before regaining it, prompting the Stormers’ medical staff to remove him from the game as a precaution.

“I thought he was absolutely magnificent. For a guy who has been out for so long, he was imperious — in the air, on defence and with his work rate. Seabelo is also a massive loss.”

“Ruben underwent an HIA, so he is also in doubt. Dan du Plessis came off with a knee injury as well.”

“That’s the downside of a 6-2 split. We had to move Imad Khan to the wing, and he actually did pretty well. We weren’t far from putting Marcel Theunissen on the wing as well when Immie started cramping. That’s the risk you run.”

The Stormers will now need to recover quickly as they turn their attention to a daunting United Rugby Championship semi-final away to Leinster, who beat fellow South African side, the Lions, in Dublin.