Why maverick Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu must follow Dewald Brevis' blueprint

In South African sport, there is nothing we love more than a generational talent.

We crave the mavericks, the players who can turn a game on its head with a moment of magic. Currently, the two posters on the walls of every young fan in Mzansi belong to Proteas star batter Dewald Brevis and the Springboks’ mercurial flyhalf Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu.

Both Feinberg-Mngomezulu and Brevis possess an almost frightening amount of natural ability at the tender age of 23 and 22 respectively. We are certainly blessed to have these two “generational talents” burst onto the scene around the same time. But as their careers converge at a critical juncture, Feinberg-Mngomezulu would do well to take a leaf out of the young cricketer's book.

Brevis was initially a "victim" of his own highlight reels. For the better part of two years, he was known as "Baby AB", a moniker that seemed to demand he hit every ball for six. In his early forays into senior cricket, Brevis appeared trapped by this expectation, frequently throwing his wicket away in a cloud of dust and ambition while trying to force the spectacular.

However, the latter stages of the recent SA20 tournament showcased a matured version of Brevis. We saw a player who finally understood the value of his wicket. He showed a burgeoning match awareness, a willingness to rotate the strike, respect for a good spell of bowling, and the patience to wait for the right moment to unleash his power.

He had two standout knocks at the business end of the SA20. The first was his perfectly timed half-century against the Joburg Super Kings when his Pretoria Capitals were in deep, deep trouble at 7/5. The other was his magnificent century in the final against the Sunrisers Eastern Cape, where he batted beautifully without forsaking his ability to score quickly.

Feinberg-Mngomezulu is, without question, the most exciting flyhalf prospect in the country. This kid gives me goosebumps whenever he has the ball in his hands. I dare you to remain in your seat when he goes on the counter-attack!

We have seen his abilities time and time again during his fledgling career, most notably in the Springboks’ victory over Argentina in the Rugby Championship in Durban last year, where he took the game by the scruff of the neck and bent it to his will. But sometimes there is a fine line between taking responsibility and forcing the issue.

In the Stormers’ defeat at the hands of the Sharks last weekend, Feinberg-Mngomezulu looked like a player trying to solve every problem on his own.

He often opted for the difficult offload or tried to run himself out of trouble instead of trusting the players outside him to make a play. When a game is tight and the forward battle is being lost because of a malfunctioning set-piece, a flyhalf must sometimes be content with the mundane.

Our Sacha currently plays as if every touch must be a masterpiece. He is trying to produce a moment of magic in every phase of play. When it doesn’t come off, the result is often a loss of collective rhythm. When a playmaker tries to do everything, his teammates often become spectators, unsure of where the next unpredictable move is coming from.

The brilliance of a player like Feinberg-Mngomezulu is his "X-factor", and we have seen enough from him to be compared to some of the greats of the game when they were his age. But now it is about taking that next step in his career, identifying the moments when to smash the sixes or block the ball back with a straight bat. He is still young, so there is plenty of time to find that sweet spot.

Maturity in professional sport is defined by the ability to play the situation. Brevis has realised that he doesn't need to hit six sixes in an over to be the most dangerous man on the pitch; he just needs to make sure that he doesn’t throw his wicket away. Because of his natural ability, the sixes will flow naturally.

The same goes for Feinberg-Mngomezulu, who needs to embrace that same tactical patience. He has the physical tools and the bravado, but he must learn that doing the simple things in rugby is not blasphemy.

The talent is undeniable, but the temperament must now follow. Like Brevis, Feinberg-Mngomezulu needs to realise that sometimes the most spectacular thing you can do for your team is simply to keep it simple. The magic inevitably follows.