Stormers director of rugby John Dobson said he was astounded at the type of criticism flyhalf Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu and former captain Salmaan Moerat were receiving lately. Feinberg-Mngomezulu has been under the pump, first for underpar performances and having the captaincy taken from him after three games last month, and now for not trying a drop-goal in the dying minutes of their Champions Cup last-16 defeat to Toulon, which they lost by one point. The flyhalf, who played from the bench for the first time, admitted afterwards that in hindsight perhaps a drop-goal would have been best, though the Stormers did get over the line and only tough refereeing decisions saw them fail to snatch a win.

Meanwhile, long-serving lock Moerat, a fellow Springbok, has arranged to take up an opportunity in France next season, with reports linking him to La Rochelle. It comes amid a lengthy injury layoff. Sacha, Moerat deserve better The Stormers boss said they had Jurie Matthee start ahead of Feinberg-Mngomezulu to improve his match-readiness while taking pressure off the Springbok star.

“Sacha primarily is a number one 10. I think we can all see a bit of growth in him,” Dobson said on Monday. “I just don’t understand the world we live in now where you can destroy a guy like Salmaan Moerat or question a guy like Sacha, who is clearly a generational player, like is done in the social medias of this world.

It’s absolutely astounding and depressing.” Dobson said Moerat had received multiple player-of-the-match awards and turned in good performances before his toe injury “[He’s] a child of this community, and people are saying good riddance,” Dobson said of Moerat moving to France. “I don’t begin to understand it and it’s depressing to be honest. “In the same way, people were blaming Sacha for everything.

On the drop-goal thing at the end, we got across the line anyway, Adré scored. If you throw it back to Sacha [for a drop-goal], it’s a 50/50. “If you go wide, the way Toulon were defending… it’s certainly not Sacha’s fault.” He said they want to keep Matthee match fit so he may start at flyhalf on one or more occasion.

Then, Feinberg-Mngomezulu can cover 10, 12 and 15 from the bench. Otherwise, he’s a starting flyhalf in the long term.