Don't confuse Sacha's confidence with arrogance – Mallett

There is no doubt that Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu has a swagger.

That self-confidence that comes with youth and talent and right now he is using it to his advantage and to the advantage of a Springbok team that is gladly accepting the timely boost of a new superstar.

But some may feel that borders on arrogance, especially the confidence that the Springboks’ newest star is playing with right now.

They would be wrong - according to former Springbok coach and Supersport pundit Nick Mallett, who believes that a talent like Feinberg-Mngomezulu needs to be nurtured and backed, and understood.

DON’T CONFUSE CONFIDENCE WITH ARROGANCE

“With self confidence often you're accused of arrogance and it's not necessarily the same thing,” Mallett told the Talking Boks podcast.

“To be self confident in sport is a massive advantage. It's a massive massive advantage - give me the ball, I want the ball and I want to do something for my teammates. I know I can. And that instead of going to your shell and saying ‘no no I don't want to make a mistake’, it works.

“Now those two types of attitudes in sport are either a winning attitude or a losing one and Sacha's got a winning attitude. He wants the ball in his hand and if he kicks the ball badly he's not worried about the next time he kicks the ball. He wants the opportunity again to show that that's a 1 in 10 mistake and it's not a 9 out of 10 mistake.

“So that's self confidence and sometimes it bubbles through on the field and you've got a bit of a swagger. I think you've just got to be careful not to call it arrogance. You've just got to say ‘listen this guy is confident in his own abilities, he really wants the ball and he wants the chance to show what he can do and to do the best for his teammates’ . It's not necessarily saying that I'm arrogant, I'm much better than the rest of you guys.”

TEAM ALWAYS COMES FIRST

Mallett added that as long as Feinberg-Mngomezulu continues to put the team first, there will never be a time when his confidence becomes a negative thing.

“As long as you're not selfish and he's definitely not selfish. You get a guy who's confident, who loves his teammates and that's a fantastic advantage in a team game. Remember if you're playing tennis or if you're an athlete, you've got to believe you can win, you've got to believe I'm going to win this 100m race.

“When (Usain) Bolt ran the race and he did that whole performance afterwards, I loved it. I absolutely loved it because it just showed he was on top of the game and he wanted to show the world you're seeing something special now. You can't win individual sports unless you are very self-confident.

Hai lo mfana 🤯🇿🇦

Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu gets his brace 😤

📺 Stream #RSAvJAP on DStv: https://t.co/0P0NNho4A4 pic.twitter.com/U1iEq0wcDT

— SuperSport Rugby (@SSRugby) November 1, 2025

EXCITEMENT MATTERS

“Equally in a team game it's the more guys you've got in your team who can't wait to play the All Blacks or they can't wait to play against France this weekend that drive a team. Instead of saying jeez I hope I don't make a mistake this weekend , if you have those guys in your team, the better chance you have of winning that game as a coach.”

The Boks will name their side for the clash against France on Thursday.