How a Welsh school helped make a Springbok superstar

Cardiff Principality Stadium Date: Saturday, November Kick-off: 15:10 GMT

A college in the rolling West Wales countryside has a tradition of producing world-class athletes alongside talented rugby players.

Llandovery College in Carmarthenshire has two famous alumni, George North and Alun Wyn Jones.

However, their most recent prestigious former student is establishing himself on the international stage in South Africa.

On Saturday against Wales in Cardiff, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu will wear the Springboks’ number 10 jersey.

Harri O’Connor, a prop for Wales and Scarlets, also played for that same college team in 2018-2019.

He recalled that you don’t typically get an exchange student athlete of this caliber.

You could tell immediately that Sacha was a class above everyone else when he recovered from a broken bone.

Archie Hughes, the half-back partner of Feinberg-Mngomezulu’s Scarlets and Wales Under-20s, describes the experience as a “privilege” and recalls it as a “privilege.”

You could tell from the first few sessions that he had a talent for playing and how confident he was, said Hughes, “but he was injured when he first joined us.”

He completely supported the skillset he had to offer, and he had a lot of flair about him. It was fantastic to play alongside him. It was so simple to me.

He “played”then,” like he does now, and he is “absolutely everywhere on the pitch and commands boys in the park.”

The flyhalf’s character is also highly praised by Hughes.

He is a genuine gentleman. I would describe him as being “humble,” he said.

Barry Feinberg, the grandfather of Feinberg-Mngomezulu, was a poet and prominent figure in the African National Congress (ANC) and the South African Communist Party (ANC).

Feinberg spent years in exile in England where he had a son Nick Feinberg-Mngomezulu’s father, and because of the shaky political climate there.

He made his Test debut against Wales in Cardiff two years later, and he has quickly become a fixture for the Springboks.

He set a record for a player to score in a single game with a staggering 37 points from the fly-half in South Africa’s 67-30 victory over Argentina in Durban.