South Africa: Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu sets his sights on Rugby World Cup

Stormers utility back Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu has set himself lofty goals and is keen to be involved when the Springboks defend their title at this year’s Rugby World Cup in France.

The 21-year-old captained South Africa during their a successful U20 Six Nations Summer Series last year and was involved during the latter stages of the Stormers’ victorious United Rugby Championship (URC) campaign, before being called up to the Springbok squad for the Autumn Nations Series.

Although he did not play in any of the Boks’ end-of-year Tests, Feinberg-Mngomezulu saw some action with the South Africa ‘A’ side a he played in their tour match against Bristol Bears at Ashton Gate.

However, he sustained a tibia injury in that match which ruled him out of the Boks‘ last two Tests against Italy and England in Genoa and Twickenham respectively.

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He made a full recovery and returned to the playing field with the Stormers in January and represented them in the URC and Champions Cup.

Eyeing World Cup spot

And after being involved with the Springboks in 2022, Feinberg-Mngomezulu is keen to kick on and represent his country at the highly anticipated global showpiece later this year.

“I want it badly… I mean who wouldn’t want the opportunity to play at a World Cup?! But I know I have to focus on doing my job at the Stormers. Everything will take care of itself after that,” he told BokSquad.

What could work in his favour is his versatility as he slots in comfortably in several backline positions, although his preferred position is fly-half.

“I don’t mind slotting in at 10, 12 or 15 – but in my heart I’m a flyhalf. My strong points are the characteristics of a flyhalf. My kicking game is one of my strengths, so it’s at flyhalf where you get to play to that a bit more.

“Flyhalf is the position I love the most, but game time is the most important thing. Wherever I’m needed by the team, I’m there.”

Official | Aymen Abdennour joins Marseille on loan

Marseille and Valencia have reached an agreement that will see former Toulouse and Monaco defender Aymen Abdennour join the Ligue 1 side on a season-long-loan, with the option to extend into a two-year loan if he plays at least 15 matches.

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Marseille will pay the entirety of the player’s wages.

The 28-year-old becomes Marseille’s sixth signing of the transfer window and officially completed his medical with OM on Tuesday. Abdennour leaves Valencia after two years in La Liga and will look to bolster the Marseille defence and add some experience to an already experienced back line.

It is likely that Abdennour will be paired up in the heart of the defence alongside his former Valencia teammate Adil Rami, who also joined Marseille this summer and will also be linked back up with former Monaco teammate Valere Germain, so bedding in shouldn’t be a problem for the Tunisian international.

The official unveiling of the player will be made Wednesday, August 30th, 2017 at 10:00am French time with both the club President Jacques-Henri Eyraud and Sporting Director Andoni Zubizarreta alongside Abdennour. The unveiling will be broadcasted live across multiple Social Media platforms.

T.S.

United Rugby Championship: Bulls boss Jake White braced for rugby’s ‘Merseyside derby’

Bulls director of rugby Jake White is preparing for the United Rugby Championship version of football’s ‘Merseyside derby’ when his team take on the Lions in Pretoria on Saturday.

There is a fierce rivalry between the Bulls and the Johannesburg-based side, who are 60 kilometres apart and separated by the Jukskei River.

With them also playing in similar colours to that of English football clubs Everton and Liverpool, it’s understandable that White would make such a comparison.

A massive derby

“The proximity of the teams plays a big part in it,” he said of the red-versus-blue rivalry. “It’s probably a bit like the English Premier League’s Merseyside derby between Everton and Liverpool. It’s a massive derby.”

White is of course no stranger to Johannesburg as he was born and raised there and spent a large part of his formative years as a coach in the city at high schools Parktown and Jeppe.

He did well there and progressed to coaching junior teams at Transvaal (now the Emirates Lions) before doing work for the Springboks as a video analyst ahead of the 1995 Rugby World Cup in South Africa.

“Obviously, people like to believe they have the biggest derby, but I suppose the reason there’s more history to the Jukskei derby is because Northern Transvaal [now Vodacom Bulls] was a breakaway union from Transvaal,” he said.

That split took place in 1938 when clubs that were originally considered to be in Transvaal’s jurisdiction broke away to establish the Northern Transvaal Rugby Union.

Legendary Springbok scrum-half and administrator Danie Craven was amongst the first players to play for them.

And although Craven never moved from Northern Transvaal to Transvaal, there are many players who did.

“There are a lot of players who have moved back and forth between the unions over the years,” said White. “Guys like Uli Schmidt, Hannes Strydom, Rudolf Straeuli, Johan Roux, Gavin Johnson, Chris and Charles Rossouw.

“Johan Ackermann was a Blue Bull who went to Transvaal and Jannie Breedt is another one – he captained Transvaal in the Currie Cup final after starting at Northern Transvaal.”

Legendary Springbok wing Bryan Habana swapped Johannesburg for Pretoria in 2005, while flanker Cyle Brink and centres Harold Vorster and Lionel Mapoe are current members in the Bulls squad who used to ply their trade at the Lions.

Saturday’s highly anticipated derby will be important for both sides as the Bulls look to bounce back after their defeat to the Stormers on February, while the Lions got their campaign back on track with an impressive victory over Glasgow Warriors last weekend.

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The Bulls’ Springbok back-row Marco van Staden is preparing himself for a tough challenge from the Lions.

Lions bring lots of energy

“The Lions will come at us with a lot of energy this weekend. They’ll come out firing, play with a high tempo and will look to surprise us,” said the flanker.

“We’re both under a bit of pressure, for different reasons… they’ve had a few losses recently and we need wins and good performances with the playoffs coming up.

“It’s always a good competition when two South African teams clash and this weekend will be no different.”

FEATURE | Marseille’s Champions Project did not make a dent in the summer transfer market, but it’s a start

Frank McCourt’s OM Champions Project: Perhaps not the fireworks everyone expected… but it’s a start.

There are two sets of thoughts on the transfer strategy adopted by Olympique de Marseille. The optimists, and the realists. It was perhaps easy (too easy?) to get caught up in the wild rhetoric about how much Marseille were ‘back’, how a sleeping giant would immediately stake a claim for the Ligue 1 title, and finally had the financial clout to match its gloried history, storied fanbase and wonderful stadium.

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It didn’t help either that the club’s hierarchy were peddling an optimistic dream in France’s media over the course of the year that has elapsed since Frank McCourt agreed a deal to buy OM from Margarita Louis-Dreyfus – whose own ‘hands-off’ strategy left OM at the knees.

Statements such as McCourt’s willingness to spend €50m on a striker (if the opportunity presented itself) were met by virtual acclaim on the Twittosphere. It whetted the appetite of a notoriously hard-to-please fanbase whom, after suffering for the best part of 5 years were keen to live a plausible situation in which their club were able to spend serious money in search of a place back in Europe’s elite.

And so, after the early blow made by the signings of Morgan Sanson and Dimitri Payet in particular, the latter earning OM continental notoriety in a typically morose January window seemed to buy into the idea that McCourt and co. were ready to spend, and spend big.

The groundwork for the summer window was laid out with a rather impressive 5th place in Ligue 1. With former Barcelona Sporting Director Andoni Zubizarreta and his network of scouts ready, it would only be a matter of time before the ‘Champions Project’ would be in full swing.

Fast forward 91 days to the end of the summer 2017 window, there remains a distinct sense of unease by the OM support as to how the first test of McCourt’s plans have panned out. It’s not that the investment hasn’t materialised – Marseille have spent more on this window than in any other – but questions remain about the supposed strength of the players acquired.

There was to be no Giroud, no Koscielny, not even valuable young performers in the form of Moussa Dembélé, Joris Gnagnon or Issa Diop. What OM settled for was for a motley crew of players ranging from the surprising addition of Luiz Gustavo, a former treble winner with Bayern Munich, to the welcome additions of Jordan Amavi and Valere Germain, and the welcome (Steve Mandanda) and not-so-welcome (Lucas Ocampos) returns of familiar faces.

The main sticking point of the mercato had been two key positions up front and at the back, a search that initially had started upon McCourt’s acquisition of the club last year.

Indeed, the search lasted much longer than anyone hoped – right the way until the final hours of August 31. It mirrored OM’s farcical chase to find a partner for Michy Batshuayi in 2015 where, having failed to find a suitable player in the summer, put all of their eggs in the basket of Steven Fletcher on January 31.

This time around, it was the Greek striker Kostas Mitroglou who debarked on the south coast. And even then, it was only after Stevan Jovetic left OM on the altar to sign for Monaco on the final weekend of the window.

Mitroglou at 29 isn’t exactly the youngest sharpshooter around. Though, with a seemingly impressive goal record with Benfica and Olympiakos, it remains to be seen just how much of an upgrade he is on Gomis.

The centre-back question proved also to be a major issue for OM. Interesting names such as Koscielny were fantastical to say the least, while young valuable defenders from Ligue 1 such as Issa Diop and Joris Gnagnon were also spurned.

In the end, France international Adil Rami and former Monaco defender Aymen Abdennour joined the project. Each with considerable Ligue 1 experience, but by no means the show-stoppers the fans craved.

So yes, in all there can legitimately be some disappointment at how the summer has turned out in terms of how many first-choice players OM managed to convince. The optimists may not have had their ‘Icardi’ or ‘Koscielny’, but consider the following.

One, this has been a quite unique transfer window for all concerned. Fees have been inflated no end, and the fact that OM made a big splash in the January window to nab Dimitri Payet from West Ham would have surely alerted clubs across Europe should Zubizarreta and co. come knocking for their players.

Two, McCourt’s investment – while welcome, is not infinite. The American made it clear that his initial plan was to spend €200m of his own money over 4 years – i.e. the first 8 transfer windows of his reign. In just 2, OM have dispensed just over €100m. This, from one individual who is not backed by a sovereign wealth fund unlike in the capital. McCourt has invested, but only time will tell if the sporting cell of the club has used that wisely.

Three. The project is long-term, not short. OM have built a squad that is widely thought to be capable of finishing in a Champions League position. If that goal is not met this season, there remains some investment in the budget to ultimately reach that goal.

Conversely, if OM do reach the Champions’ League group stage next season, McCourt’s personal investment would take a back seat to the financial riches that group stage participation promises. In the latter scenario, OM could conceivably spend north of €100m next summer, thereby beginning a cycle in which the team can qualify for the UCL year-on-year, as was the case between 2007-12.

Spending big from the off is unwise. Had McCourt spent the vast majority of his €200m investment this summer, and the club missed out on the top 3 – it might’ve marked to a return to the Margarita Louis Dreyfus days of selling assets to raise funds as the owner was unwilling to commit any more funds.

Take AC Milan, another sleeping giant in a similar position for example. The Rossoneri have no doubt spent big to return to the Champions League with the acquisitions of Leonardo Bonucci, André Silva, Franck Kessié, Hakan Calhanoglu among others via the influx of dubious Chinese money and rumours of significant financial risk if they were to miss out on their goal. Marseille on the other hand, have been more risk-averse in this scenario.

Yes, it’s largely, not the players that OM would have wanted, but it is – or it should be enough for the first stage of the ‘Champions Project’ – i.e. to get back into the Champions League. On paper, it should be the 3rd strongest squad in Ligue 1.

The task of steering OM towards their goal now lies at the hands of Rudi Garcia, whose recent coaching has left a lot to be desired. A 6-1 drubbing at the hands of the champions last weekend has only heightened concerns that OM fans were sold a dream.

However, as one fan put to me on Twitter recently, OM must crawl before they can walk. Many would do well to remember that.

M.A.