Feinberg-Mngomezulu warns France there is more to come after Springboks hammer Italy 66-7

Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu has warned an injury-ravaged France that South Africa’s 66-7 demolition of Italy in the Nations Championship was nowhere near the Springboks’ best, raising the stakes ahead of their Paris showdown next Friday.

The fly-half was one of the standout performers as the world champions ran in a cricket score against Italy, yet Feinberg-Mngomezulu was pointedly unsatisfied when he reflected on the result. “It’s a good confidence booster for the boys, but also a great reality check that we know we’re not near where we need to be,” he said. “I think it’s a very special feeling to get to a changing room after a game and not be 100% happy with the performance we put out there, although the scoreline looked good.”

France face a genuine selection crisis at fly-half heading into the fixture. Injuries to Mathieu Jalibert, Antoine Hastoy and Romain Ntamack have stripped them of their recognised options at ten, and coach Fabien Galthié may be forced to deploy captain Antoine Dupont or fellow scrum-half Maxime Lucu in the pivotal position.

Feinberg-Mngomezulu, who played a key role in South Africa’s 32-17 victory over France in Paris last year, acknowledged that performance as a reference point while stressing there is still room to grow. “We did very well in the beginning to stick to our structures. It was far from a perfect performance from us. We got a lot to work on for the next three big fixtures, but to tick a box at a very passionate and packed stadium was great for the boys.”

He also pointed to the benefit of back-to-back fixtures in building momentum. “The nice thing with these back-to-back fixtures is your preparation from week to week all accumulates by the time you need it most. So next week we’ll be going in with two weeks of preparation, which is going to help us. I think we laid a good foundation.”

Full-back Damian Willemse echoed the sense that France, even weakened, will provide a stern examination. “Last year was a tough match,” he said. “I think it was only in the 70th minute that we managed to break through and get the victory.”

The win over Italy has moved South Africa to the top of the Southern Hemisphere table in the Nations Championship, giving them a significant points-difference advantage over New Zealand, who are level on 20 points.