‘We are proud of what we have achieved so far,’ says Stormers captain Sacha FM

Stormers captain Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu said that his side are proud of what they have achieved over the season so far, and that they will now take some time off to recover from two chastening defeats to the Sharks before coming back stronger.

The Stormers started the season with an incredible 10-game winning run, eight coming in the United Rugby Championship (URC) and two in the Champions Cup, to head into the New Year unbeaten.

But it was a disastrous January for the Cape side, losing three out of their four matches, starting with their first loss of the season, as a fringe team went down heavily to Harlequins in the Champions Cup in London.

Bounced back

They bounced back from that defeat with an unconvincing home win over Leicester Tigers, also in the Champions Cup, and that proved to be a sign of things to come.

A URC coastal derby double was to come, but few would have expected the struggling Sharks, who were 14^th on the log at that stage, picking up comfortable wins, 30-19 in Cape Town and 36-24 in Durban, to clinch their first ever double over the Stormers in the competition.

Despite that disappointment, Feinberg-Mngomezulu, who has taken over the captaincy reigns in recent times due to the injury troubles faced by franchise captain Salmaan Moerat, and Ruhan Nel, who led the team at the start of the season, said that a break in the URC has come at the right time.

“It will be good for the boys to switch off and be proud of what we have achieved so far. We started with eight wins in the United Rugby Championship, and that is solid,” said Feinberg-Mngomezulu.

“There is an element of being grateful, but there is also an element of having high standards and (knowing) that we can be better, and I think after the break we will bring that.”

Lack of discipline

Against the Sharks, discipline was a major factor in the Stormers’ struggles, with them conceding a slew of penalties in both games, and receiving four yellow cards across them, while their set piece also largely misfired.

“The lack of discipline cost us. When we played our game, we were on top of them. In the second half we just let it slip. We were being reckless, careless and irresponsible. We are not operating at our best, and that is disappointing,” admitted Feinberg-Mngomezulu.

“The Sharks have come out firing in both games, and we must give them credit for that. We are putting ourselves in good areas and scoring points, but then we are allowing these release valves, and we are back in our own 22.

“The main focus for us going forward will be to capitalise on our opportunities and not give the opposition opportunities. We are going to have to check ourselves about giving away penalties, and we have spoken about this.

“That is the release valve the opposition is getting on us. I don’t think there are many other areas of our game that are faulty.”