Springbok fullback Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu spoke about his performance in the heartbreaking loss to Ireland in Durban.

A last-minute drop goal by Ciarán Frawley secured a dramatic 1-1 series draw for Ireland, edging out the world champion Springboks 25-24.

Feinberg-Mngomezulu entered the game unexpectedly in the second minute, replacing veteran fullback Willie le Roux, who suffered a head knock tackling James Lowe. Despite being only his third international cap, the 22-year-old impressed coach Rassie Erasmus.

“I just needed to do my job and it came in the second minute, which is more unlikely than usual for it to come so early but it is what it is,” reflected Feinberg-Mngomezulu.  

The Stormers fly-half has come off the bench in all three of his Springbok appearances, with this being his longest outing at 78 minutes.

“It’s a huge privilege to play for so long with such great players around me,” he said. “It was a true test match experience. I’m happy with my performance, but the result is disappointing.”

Feinberg-Mngomezulu, a former Boks U20 player, identified areas for improvement, particularly communication within the backfield.

“I think the experience will help a lot of my sort of weak areas of my game, just judgment when, what to do at the back, when to do it, and how to communicate properly,” he explained.  

Despite his strong performance at Kings Park, the defeat left a bittersweet taste for the young Bok.

“It is a heavy jersey so these types of results are not what we want – we’re double champions, so obviously we will take it as it comes.” 

“On Sunday, we start looking at the footage but we got a big test match coming up against Portugal so we can’t dwell on this for too long.”  

The Springboks will look to bounce back against Portugal in Bloemfontein next Saturday. Coach Erasmus has indicated significant lineup changes are expected.