Springbok star Ox Nche on his 'happy place'
02/05/2024 09:48
x Nche's big, kind eyes take on a smouldering intensity. He shifts forward in his chair a little. He carries the air of a predator stalking its quarry.
We are talking about scrums. Or more specifically, a scrum. Paris, under the glare of the floodlights and the eyeballs of the entire rugby universe. South Africa stumbling beneath a flurry of English blows and none of Rassie Erasmus' startling innovations turning the tide. The Springbok World Cup defence is in grave jeopardy.
Up in the stand, the brains trust huddles around its general, who is vociferously laying out his plan and giving instruction. The Bomb Squad is deployed. Nche rumbles off the bench and in short order, atomises England's scrum again and again. The creaking, inexorable pressure too much for the white chariot. Ben O'Keeffe's arm shoots out; penalties are won and in time, the Webb Ellis Cup saved.
Nche takes us into the arena. "It's all about breaking them. We say, in Afrikaans, the dam wall is going to break. Normally you won't get your reward from the first, second or third scrum, but it might come when the bench guys are on and you have worn them out.
"If Steven Kitshoff hadn't done his job, Dan Cole wouldn't have been tired, they wouldn't have had to put in Kyle Sinckler. It's death by a thousand cuts. Let's take them as low as we can, put lead in their legs.
"We go hard through the middle, on the hooker, and scrum as straight as we can. We knew they would try and take away our hit or wheel the scrum but if we stay honest and give the referee good pictures it should show our dominance. We'd done our individual analysis. Kyle, after the hit, has good shape and gets low and if you don't match him there you are in trouble. Vince Koch had analysed Ellis Genge who is a pretty strong guy. We brought all that together and made it work."
Maybe their diverse web allows the Boks to find strength when others fray. Maybe it's because, for all the dysfunctional elements of South African life, the load shedding and the carjacking, the poverty and the inequality, the corruption and the crime, this team is a light its people can cling to.
"It was for South Africa," Nche says, succinctly. "If the Springboks are doing well, it is one of the few things which actually functions well. We understand when we play, we play for something bigger than ourselves.
"I got to OR Tambo Airport in Joburg and realised, this is way bigger than I expected. The passion you see in people's eyes is incredible. I remember I went to have supper with friends, walked past the bathroom and said hello to these people, and a lady started tearing up because she couldn't believe I was there. She started telling me how much it meant for her and her family when we won. You walk around South Africa and people don't even want a photo, nothing, they just want to thank you for what you did. I don't know how much I actually did, but I helped people, and that's something I changed in South Africa."
Nche has seen his profile rocket back home. Supermarket Woolworths have pledged to supply him with a year's worth of cake, a nod to the prop's famous sweet tooth. He has a popular clothing brand with the tagline 'salads don't win scrums' and averages a couple of sugary slices a week. The Sharks' Challenge Cup semifinal against Clermont will be staged in London this Saturday, allowing Nche to sample new treats on tour.
"Chocolate caramel is my standard favourite. I had this triple chocolate cake in Swansea when we played the Scarlets, amazing, a lot of flavour, one of the softest cakes I've ever had. We are off on Wednesday, so I'll definitely have a slice of cake on Tuesday. I'll have one after our session on Thursday. I'll see about dessert after the game on Saturday.
"The dieticians don't mind it. They know my skinfolds will be fine, my fat percentage will be low, and I'm not gaining any weight."
The Sharks have been a pale reflection of the talent in their ranks; foundering near the bottom of the URC, losing ten of their first eleven matches, succumbing even to Zebre Parma, who had not won a game in over 18 months. South African icon John Smit recently likened his old team to a Ferrari without a gearbox. Rand has been ploughed into a franchise now wielding more world champions than a hall of fame convention but only now, with all their Boks in tow, are they beginning to look anything close to the sum of their parts.
The Challenge Cup has applied the defibrillators to a flatlining season. It is a rare shot at tangible success for a club who, bizarrely, never won the Super Rugby title before flitting across the equator.
"It's a mindset thing," Nche says. "We created chances but instead of staying focused, having a calm head and executing, we tended to be too erratic or inaccurate and guys would give up, I guess. It's not that we've played horribly. You have a bad start and confidence goes down.
"Our fans don't deserve any of that. They have been supporting us throughout and it's our duty to give them something.
"Now we are building nicely. Winning this competition would be massive for us – it would be one of the biggest trophies some of the players have ever won – and massive for the union as well. We owe it to ourselves, our fans and the Sharks."
South African sides are not allowed to host EPCR semi-finals in the Rainbow Nation this year, but the Sharks will harness a huge expat diaspora to make the Stoop feel like home. Clermont are a big team with a meaty pack. They will throw the kitchen sink at the Durbanite scrum, for sure. The Sharks will lob an immovable, unbendable bar fridge right back at them.
By Jamie Lyall, Rugbypass
