Sacha and Gaza: Same, same, but (very) different

News24

07-05-2025

Damian Willemse's pending hundredth cap for the Stormers was a snapshot of where fellow former child prodigy Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu is headed.
While the two have their similarities and have played the same positions, they approach this rugby genius thing from very different perspectives.
But it speaks volumes about the Stormers' backline riches that they can pick both in the same team.
Forget the giddy anticipation of which way Stormers' director of rugby John Dobson will go in selecting a team that could well include the extravagant gifts of Manie Libbok, Damian Willemse, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu and Warrick Gelant in the same backline this week.
The real madness about the Stormers' backline riches is that they can call on both Willemse and Feinberg-Mngomezulu, two players whose outrageous ability makes the overused sporting phrase 'generational talent' look a little pedestrian.
Few players have forced the sporting public to reimagine the concept of greatness in rugby boots more than those two have.
Willemse is the scrum-calling sorcerer we know about, while the insouciant Feinberg-Mngomezulu keeps dropping broader hints as to the limitlessness of his ceiling every weekend.
Of all the South African rugby talent that can often feel like it positively drips from the conveyor belt, Willemse and Feinberg-Mngomezulu – child prodigies who went straight from school to mixing it up with grown men – were the only ones spoken of in reverential tones even before they took to the field for the Stormers.
And judging by his pending hundredth cap for the Stormers this weekend – in addition to already being a two-time World Cup winner at 27 – Willemse has gone a long way towards living up to the hype.
In contrast, Feinberg-Mngomezulu – a trailblazer in so much of what he has done in his young life – finds himself walking pretty much the same path as the man four years his senior has.
READ | From prodigy to main man: Damian Willemse's influential journey to Stormers' 100th
But the surprise is that Willemse, who – like Miles Davis said – took a long time to play like himself despite his obvious gifts, didn't feel particularly responsible for guiding Feinberg-Mngomezulu, who is at the foot of the mountain he is halfway through scaling.
'I don't feel more responsible in that sense, that's why we have coaches,' he began.
'Thinking back to me, as a young player you come onto the scene and play really, really well. But you also need to be forward-thinking, and I think he's doing that.
'My door is always open, I'll give him information in the game, I'll be in his ear, giving him suggestions.
'[But] I don't think I need to be responsible for a guy like Sach, he just needs to keep doing what he's doing and playing the kind of rugby that he's playing and be open to learning – which he is.'
Anyone who has seen the bulletproof confidence with which Feinberg-Mngomezulu has carried himself since his arrival at franchise and international level, the incessant chirping of established All Blacks in the heat of battle and that wink in the Test against Portugal will understand exactly what Willemse means about the youngster not exactly looking like he needs to have his hand held.
Having both burst onto the scene as men children who could play flyhalf, centre and fullback, there is a tendency to confuse them for being the same kind of player.
While there's no disputing the similarities in the trajectories of their careers, the assured nature in which they took to professional rugby and their desire to be the man for the team when the brown stuff hits the fan, it's an assertion that can drive the Stormers coaches a little up the wall.
Stormers attack coach Dawie Snyman – a man credited with helping shape the careers of Damian de Allende, Cheslin Kolbe and Hacjivah Dayimani, among others – did his level best to draw a straight line through their ample qualities.
'Their games have different skill sets,' Snyman explained. 'They've got certain characteristics [in which they are similar], where you can just see even in small drills that they want to win and get upset when they don't.
'Sometimes I have to tell them: 'It's only Monday, you can't get upset now'.
'So, they're driven, and they drive people around them. They're special talents and phenomenal rugby players.'
Rito Hlungwani, the Stormers' forwards coach and a keen observer of the human condition, prefers to start with their similarities before delving into their many differences.
Uppermost in Hlungwani's mind was the kind of men they are: 'I must say, these are good boys who are respectful with no egos, guys you want your son to be like.
'When they walk into a room, they greet everyone... Sacha gives hugs and when he comes back from touring with the Springboks, he's at the HPC with presents for the backroom staff.
'They're really well-raised kids, when you look at them you know that these guys are from good families.
'That's probably their best attribute, the fact that they're respectful and treat everyone the same.
'They're very similar in that regard.'
ALSO READ | Coach Foote after Junior Boks let slip 17-0 lead: 'Australia deserve a lot of credit'
While their bolshiness on the field hinted at it, the two are confident, albeit in different ways.
Hlungwani suggested Feinberg-Mngomezulu's inner belief was infused with the old joke about Bishops boys, while Willemse's quiet assurance came from what he has made of himself from modest beginnings in Strand.
'They're both very confident, but it's different types of confidence. Sacha commands a room, he can get in there and there are a hundred people, and he just commands it.
'Damian's like: 'I'm good, I understand what's happening', but I don't know if he can captivate a room like Sacha.'
From their friends within the team, their take on professionalism, their utility value and even their intake of rugby information, the differences between the two are pronounced.
Willemse apparently lugs a laptop around with him – Rassie Erasmus style – at all times, while Feinberg-Mngomezulu mostly leans on maverick fullback Gelant for technical input.
Their mates within the team are also different.
Willemse is tight with Salmaan Moerat because of their interest in the black rugby history which can often go unrepresented in the game (apparently, they are often seen watching club rugby in Cape Town).
Feinberg-Mngomezulu's bond with perennial roommate Dan du Plessis is forged in their obsession with football and interests outside of rugby.
Their take on professionalism is also from different angles: 'Damian loves American sports, so he sees these guys with private chefs, their own conditioning guys and bringing masseuses to their house and he has his own.
'Sacha's also a guy who's also quite serious about getting better, but he's a big fan of the soccer guys, so he also tries to emulate what they do, nutrition-wise and stuff.
'But you don't see his stuff as much as Damian's.'
While both can play practically anywhere in the backline, their takes on it is again at odds.
Hlungwani remembered talking to Willemse about his ability to play at flyhalf, inside centre, wing and fullback, only for the player to remind him that he can also play 13, asking him: 'Do you know how hard it is to defend there?'
Feinberg-Mngomezulu, on the other hand, makes no bones about only wanting to play flyhalf.
By the sounds of it, Willemse gets off on the challenge of being a jack of all trades and master of all, while Feinberg-Mngomezulu just wants to run the show and be the guy everyone looks to.
Both look up to their brothers, but again for different reasons: 'Gaza (Willemse) just wanted to be tough like his brother (former Stormers hooker) Ramone (Samuels), played against his mates and had to learn quickly.
'In boarding school (at Paul Roos), Ramone treated him like they weren't family, and when it was time to go home over the weekends, Damian would have to find his own way home.
'So, his brother was his role model but also very tough on him.
'Sacha says his brother Nathan was an athlete he thinks was a better player than him. He says he could have played professionally if he was into rugby.'
And for their last similarity, apparently the two have an obsessive fondness for a fresh haircut.
'They're the guys that always bring barbers into our hotels when we're away,' Hlungwani laughed.
'We'll be somewhere in Dublin or Italy, but there's always some black barber who appears from nowhere and you ask: 'who's this guy?'
'The next thing he's in the hotel for hours and all the brothers are getting their hair cuts.'