Ox Nché is far from being a polished product. By his own admission, the Springboks prop has only just grasped the fundamentals. He’s not bad at the finer details, but there’s still a long road ahead in his development. In essence, he’s a work in progress. “I’m still learning, really. I can manage one layer so far,” he confesses. “And of course, the icing.” Nché is, of course, referring to cake-making. The 17-stone loosehead is obsessed with baking. His favorite is chocolate caramel, and his motto is “salads don’t win scrums.” When asked about the secret to his scrummaging prowess, he bursts into his gentle, infectious laughter and quips, “cake!”
He was awarded a year’s supply of cakes by a South African supermarket after his pivotal role in helping the Springboks defeat England in last year’s World Cup semi-final. He’s also in charge of catering whenever there’s a birthday in the squad. We’re speaking in Jersey, where South Africa chose to hold a training camp, and his eyes light up when he learns that the Channel Island is renowned for its cream.
Clearly, the 29-year-old Nché has more than a passing interest in pastry, but there’s also a sense of modest deflection. He seems more comfortable discussing his recent baking ventures than his exceptional scrummaging skills. As part of the “Bomb Squad,” he played a crucial role in dismantling England’s scrum in that semi-final in Paris. According to his head coach, Rassie Erasmus, he “doesn’t bend.” If there’s any justice, he’ll be the first prop to be shortlisted for the world player of the year award in the coming weeks.
He laughs again when it’s suggested that he has a habit of making opposing tightheads pass out in training. He explains matter-of-factly: “A practice session involves one scrum, 30 seconds, another scrum. It becomes tougher for them to catch their breath and get oxygen back to their heads.” But he really comes alive when discussing the intensity of battle, the confrontation between loosehead and tighthead.
“The first scrum, you’re going to look each other in the eyes, it’s all about confidence, mano a mano. By the fourth scrum, if you’ve done your job, he’s no longer looking at you in the eyes, he’s doubting himself,” he says. “That’s where we aim to be as soon as possible. You see the other team’s forward pack, they don’t feel confident anymore, and that gives me great pleasure. Knowing that they’re starting to give up as a pack gives us an extra mental boost.”
Nché works tirelessly on his craft. Mondays are his “leg sessions” – just hearing those words is enough to make you wince – before he starts his video analysis with live scrummaging in training on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. He lists Tadhg Furlong as his favorite opponent – “he doesn’t back down, he takes a lot of pride in the set piece, and I enjoy that” – and though he acknowledges the role of genetics, he says scrummaging is 70% technique.
“It’s technique and knowing what you’re doing. The rest is when you can’t think anymore, but the habits, being in good shape, good form, that’s when it kicks in. If you practice well, it’s easier when you’re tired. You still do the same thing over and over again.”
It soon becomes clear why South Africa’s scrum is so feared. Against Scotland last week, there was an inevitability to their total dominance, and England can expect a similarly tough day on Saturday. Steve Borthwick is so aware of the challenge that when his best scrummaging loosehead, Joe Marler, informed him of his plans to retire, the head coach urged him to have one last hurrah against the Springboks. Without him, the England scrum looks all the more vulnerable. In the World Cup semi-final, it was Kyle Sinckler who fell victim to Nché – both players came off the bench in Paris – while it’s set to be Dan Cole and Will Stuart against him on Saturday.
“I like the confrontation, I’m a very niggly player,” admits Nché. “Tightheads… I’ll hold you down just to get you more tired. I guess it helps when it comes to scrum time; they think, ‘This guy has been niggling me the whole time,’ and they’re thinking about emotion rather than what they have to do.”
Nché’s rise to stardom is a perfect example of why any plans to devalue or depower the scrum should be resisted. The introduction of a shot clock and the removal of the option to reset from a free-kick are further indications of the direction the game is heading. However, as England has been keen to point out this week, an unintended consequence of the clampdown on “escorts” is more scrums during this autumn window.
“A lot of people have opinions about it, but the reason many of us play rugby is because it’s a sport for all shapes and sizes,” says Nché. “It doesn’t matter how you look; you have a place on the field. So, for us in the front row, if you say we need to speed up the game, we just have to adapt and become fitter.”
“For me, if you take it away, it loses a dimension of the game. That’s my opinion. I don’t mind speeding it up as long as there’s a focus on the set-piece. If you look at the scrums in the Rugby Championship, I think teams adapted pretty well in terms of scrum completion. There were no injuries at scrum-time. If we have to get fitter, then so be it.”
What makes Nché’s scrummaging superiority even more impressive is that he didn’t take up rugby until he was 13. Before that, growing up in Thaba’ Nchu, the Free State town settled by his Barolong tribe ancestors, only 10% of children had access to any form of sporting activity, and Nché was “a chubby kid playing soccer.”
That was until his grade seven coach convinced him that he might be better suited to the rugby field. A return home last year, at the invitation of the king who bestowed upon him the Tlotlo ya Morafe wa Barolong-Boo-Seleka – the honor of the nation – demonstrated to Nché just how far he has come.
“It was special for me because I didn’t even know that so many people know about rugby and care about it,” he adds. “The king organized a tour of my hometown. We haven’t spoken in a while, but we speak and try to ensure there are better opportunities for kids in the country and the community. It was a humbling experience to see how many kids know about the Springboks and are interested.”
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