Stormers player ratings: Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu gets hosts out of ‘big trouble’ as fellow Springboks star ‘excellent’ since injury return

Following a 29-21 victory over the Dragons in the United Rugby Championship clash at DHL Stadium on Sunday, here are the player ratings for the Stormers.

15 Damian Willemse: Some lovely touches and other moments in which he produced some needless errors. Willemse was symptomatic of the hosts’ performance where it felt too easy at times, leading to some losses of concentration. 5

14 Seabelo Senatla: Didn’t get too many chances to stretch his legs. The odd decent run but it was a frustrating day for the wing with the number of errors from the Stormers. 5

13 Ruhan Nel (c): Provided some solidity in midfield and managed to break through with one fine run. Nel’s presence was much needed given the errors elsewhere. 7

12 Dan du Plessis: Similar to Nel as they provided a good focal point behind the scrum. Du Plessis wasn’t spectacular but he did his job well enough. 7

11 Leolin Zas: Similar to Senatla as the wings failed to really get into the game. The odd moment of quality but that was few and far between. 5

Influence in attack and defence

10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu: His approach rather summed up the Stormers. The game comes so easy to him given his talent, especially in matches like this, but that can lead to a lack of concentration and therefore errors. But all things considered, Feinberg-Mngomezulu had a significant impact on the match and the hosts would have been in big trouble without him on the field. The fly-half touched down twice and then saved two tries with magnificent defensive interventions. 8

9 Imad Khan: Assisted two both of Feinberg-Mngomezulu’s tries in what was a fine opening quarter and continued to make things happen after that. A fine outing from the scrum-half. 7

8 Evan Roos: A good all-round shift from the number eight who carried hard and also did some good work in defence. Understated to some extent but very effective at times. 7

7 Marcel Theunissen: Got through a mountain of work at close quarters but his impact was limited to some degree as the Dragons competed well physically. 6

6 Deon Fourie: Making his second start after five months on the sidelines, the experienced Fourie made an excellent impression. A fine shift, albeit he wasn’t their best player on the field despite receiving the player of the match award. 7

Set-piece steps up

5 JD Schickerling: Led the lineout as the set-piece ran smoothly. His fundamentals were strong but his team-mates tended to waste those good positions. 6

4 Adré Smith: Similar to Schickerling, Smith was good in the air and became their go-to man at the lineout. Also physical and abrasive as ever during his time on the field, while there weren’t discipline issues this time. 7

3 Neethling Fouché: Really stepped it up at scrum time after the break as they won one against the head to allow Roos to score. 7

2 JJ Kotzé: Strong set-piece work and decent work around the field before he made way just prior to the 50-minute mark. 6

1 Vernon Matongo: Like Fouche, the loosehead made more of a statement early in the second period, but John Dobson made changes quite quickly after the break. 7

Replacements: The front-row continued the good work in the scrum while Wandisile Simelane scored a fine individual try, although he will be thankful for the bounce of a rugby ball. Elsewhere, there were also solid contributions from Ben-Jason Dixon and Hacjivah Dayimani. 7

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