It would be ‘stupid’ not to play Sacha against the All Blacks – Rassie Erasmus

Springbokcoach Rassie Erasmus has explained why Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu is a starter against the All Blacks on Saturday.

The 22-year-old flyhalf has earned just six caps for the Boks but has been impressive so far in his early career. Erasmus has put faith in the DHL Stormers star ahead of the Castle Lager Rugby Championship campaign against New Zealand at the Emirates Airline Park in Johannesburg.

Speaking ahead of Saturday’s match, Rassie said Sacha was ready to play arguably his biggest game in the Springbok colours. When asked if he was throwing the flyhalf into the deep end, Erasmus explained his decision to play him and compared his situation to that of ex-Boks star Gaffie du Toit.

“I think the only guy I remember wasn’t shielded was maybe Gaffie du Toit. I played with him in a Test match and he was thrown in there in Dunedin or somewhere in Auckland against an All Black team.”

“Sacha is not the same,” Rassie told the media. “Sacha was marked in the under-15 systems, under-16 systems. He played for the SA schools If I’m right, he was captain of the junior Boks. He played under-20 rugby at the highest level.”

Rassie said that the young Boks star even trained with the Boks last year during their end-year tour.

Rassie backs Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu to shine against All Blacks

“Now he is playing his eight cap now(sixth cap). So we’ve been building him up from Wales, Romania(Portugal), Australia and up like that and to now take it away from him at this highest level will be stupid. Let him make some mistakes and learn,” Rassie said about Sacha.

How good has Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu been for the Boks?

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