Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu doesn’t hedge when he talks about Cobus Reinach. Back from two months out with an ankle injury, the Springbok flyhalf starts against Argentina in Buenos Aires on Saturday with the 35-year-old scrumhalf inside him, and he said it plainly this week: “I love Cobus, firstly.”
Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu was ruled out after picking up the injury playing for the Stormers against Cardiff in May, a setback serious enough to require surgery. It cost him the closing rounds of the URC season and South Africa’s early Nations Championship fixtures, with Manie Libbok, Handré Pollard and uncapped youngster Vusi Moyo rotating through the number 10 jersey in his absence.
He’s back now, named to start at flyhalf against Los Pumas — his first Springbok appearance of the year. And when asked how much having Reinach start at scrumhalf would help him settle back into the system, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu didn’t talk tactics. He talked about the bond.
Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Springbok flyhalf:
“I love Cobus, firstly, and I’ll never forget the first time we played the All Blacks and I wanted to take a shot at goal from a fair distance out and he was the one who pointed at the goal for me. And that will forever stick out. And that like defines our relationship, you know — he really takes me under his wing, but we’re also good buddies. So I love that guy.”
“Rassie doesn’t need to coach that partnership, he just needs to keep picking it!” – 🎙️Jay
The two have built the connection over a full season together for club and country, Cobus Reinach the calm senior head at 9, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu the electric young playmaker still just 24. It shows in the small moments as much as the big ones.
Talking about sharing the field with Reinach “at his ripe age of… I think 37 or 38,” Feinberg-Mngomezulu was quickly corrected from off-camera. Reinach is 35.
Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, laughing:
“He’s 38 now… yeah. Apologies, 35. But he likes pulling the old card, but he moves… he’s fitter than a lot of the guys and he’s fast and he uses his experience to help guys like myself.”
It’s the kind of exchange that only happens between players who trust each other completely, and it sets the tone for a Springbok group heading into a defining month. Saturday’s Test isn’t just a welcome-back party. Argentina have South Africa’s number in recent memory — the Springboks’ heaviest defeat since Rassie Erasmus took over in 2018 came at the hands of Los Pumas.
The last meeting between the sides, a narrow two-point win in London last October, isn’t a game Feinberg-Mngomezulu remembers fondly either. “It wasn’t my greatest game,” he admitted separately. “They tested us in many areas, they smoked me once or twice, so I’m not coming in with a big head or anything like that. I am very humble and ready to just do my job.”
That humility is easier to find with Cobus Reinach outside him. Saturday also doubles as a final audition before the Greatest Rivalry series against New Zealand begins on 22 August 2026 — four Tests in five weeks that will define the back half of South Africa’s year. Erasmus has already confirmed Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Pollard and Libbok will all travel with the squad regardless of Saturday’s result, but form and fitness both matter heading into a series like that.
For Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, none of that was front of mind this week. Asked about his comeback, he didn’t reach for a line about the injury or the pressure. He reached for one about Cobus.
📸 Images via SA Rugby / Springboks
