Daily Times

South Africa fly-half Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu and New Zealand flanker Sam Cane have special reasons for wanting to impress in the Rugby Championship clash of titans on Saturday.

Preferred to double Rugby World Cup winner Handre Pollard, Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 22, faces the biggest challenge of a Test career that began just two months ago.

Cane, 32, will seek redemption in Johannesburg having been sent off in the 2023 World Cup final in Paris, where the Springboks prevailed 12-11 against the All Blacks.

A couple of bonus-point wins over struggling Australia has lifted South Africa to 10 points after two rounds as they seek to become southern hemisphere champions for only the second time.

Second-placed New Zealand are five points behind after suffering a stunning eight-point loss to Argentina in the opening round before rebounding with a big win in a rematch a week later.

Most South Africans believed 73-cap Pollard, whose four penalties won the 2023 World Cup final, would start before a sell-out 62,000 crowd at Ellis Park.

But after using Feinberg-Mngomezulu four times off the bench, then starting him twice in Australia, coach Rassie Erasmus says the playmaker should be tested at the highest level. Erasmus believes internationals against New Zealand are the ultimate test and determine whether a Springbok is “ready or not” to participate in one of the great rugby rivalries. The coach, who played key roles in the 2019 and 2023 World Cup triumphs, accepts there are risks, but says Feinberg-Mngomezulu “must be allowed to make some mistakes”.