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nations-championship
Springbok star Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu has been sidelined by injury France a creepy message in front of their titanic Nations Championship conflict in Paris.
Feinberg-Mngomezulu produced a thrilling performance as the world champions hammered away Italy 66-7, but half-time insists the world champions are far from their best.
This does not bode well for France, who are faced with the dilemma of who will play against Feinberg-Mngomezulu. Injuries to Mathieu Jalibert, Antoine Hastoy and now Romain Ntamack have left them short in a key position and they may be forced to hand the No.10 jersey to captain Antoine Dupont or fellow scrum-half Maxime Lucu.
Feinberg-Mngomezulu said of Italy’s win: “It’s a good confidence boost for the boys, but also a great reality check to know we’re nowhere near where we should be.
“I think it’s a very special feeling to come into the dressing room after the game and not be 100% satisfied with the performance we showed there, even though the result looked good.
“The nice thing about these back-to-back games is that your week-to-week preparation builds up to when you need it most. So next week (Friday) we go with two weeks of preparation, which will help us. I think we’ve laid a good foundation.”
Feinberg-Mngomezulu played a key role in last year’s 32-17 win over France in Paris and added: “I think we did really well at the start to stick to our structures. It was a far from perfect performance from us. We had a lot to do for the next three big matches, but to tick the box in a very passionate stadium and it was packed for the boys.”
Full-back Damian Willemse expects a tough fight despite injury problems hampering France and said: “Last year was a tough game. I think it was only in the 70th minute that we managed to break through and get the win.”
The Springboks lead the Southern Hemisphere standings in the Nations Championship thanks to their victory over Italy, which gave them a huge points difference over All black people which are also at 20 points.
