Springboks star Ox Nche reflects on Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series

Springboks prop Ox Nche has described the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry Series against the All Blacks as “one of the hardest four weeks that I’ve ever had” as a rugby player, with the front-rower playing more than 185 minutes across the four Test matches.

Nche, who last year became the first prop to be shortlisted for World Rugby Men’s Player of the Year, and some other Springboks players and staff participated in a coaching clinic for 40 kids at Perth’s UWA Rugby Centre on Friday morning.

Those Springboks were present for a significant announcement, as World Rugby unveiled the 29 Outdoor Training Venues for Men’s Rugby World Cup 2027. The Boks are, of course, looking to become the first team to win the event three times in a row.

South Africa remain the top side on the World Rugby rankings 53 weeks out from the event, having taken out a triumphant 3-1 series over the All Blacks. That included two matches in Johannesburg, one fixture in Cape Town, and the fourth Test was played in Baltimore.

Nche started three of the four matches, which included an important shift off the bench as the home side secured a bounce-back 33-26 victory at DHL Stadium. The 52-Test prop started the next two matches, as the Boks made a statement one year out from the World Cup.

“It’s definitely the hardest competition I’ve had to participate in,” Nche told RugbyPass and The Daily Telegraph.

“It was a great honour to be part of it but it was one of the hardest four weeks that I’ve ever had as a rugby player, from when I started playing rugby.

“There’s a lot to improve on.

“Now we’re looking forward to Australia and the Nations [Championship] at the end of the year. We just have to try to build towards the next World Cup.”

Nche has been named on the bench for the upcoming clash with the Wallabies, with coach Rassie Erasmus making 13 changes to the run-on side. Eben Etzebeth and Ethan Hooker are the only two to have retained their spots, following the fourth Test in Baltimore.

There are 342 Test caps of experience between the bench players, with Jasper Wiese in line for his 50^th appearance. 2025 World Rugby Player of the Year Malcolm Marx will provide impact as a replacement, following a series of impressive performances against the All Blacks.

Springboks great Victor Matfield presented Marx with the POTY trophy last November, while Nche and Pieter-Steph du Toit also made history.  Du Toit drew level with Beauden Barrett and Antoine Dupont with the equal third most nominations, and Nche became the first prop to be shortlisted.

But as Nche explained, as a cool Western Australia breeze brushed across the training fields, being in the mix for that honour was a team effort. Nche credited other Springboks for raising standards and being able to get improvement out of one another.

“With rugby evolving and getting better, getting quicker, more physical, I feel like I still stayed the same; be very good at my fundamentals, be able to scrum more, obviously tackle well, carry well,” Nche said.

“Then besides that, adding a bit of extra, get into the breakdowns, counter-rucking and hopefully try to make more line breaks and increase my skill set in passing, offloading and all of that.

“But always the fundamentals, always remain important for me, and make sure that I’m good at that and then improve all other areas.”

The 2023 Rugby World Cup winner added: “It’s more of a pack effort. Even guys in the squad… always give each other on our position and we’re always just very prepared.

“That’s what it’s all about really, working together, making sure that every single player in the squad feels and gets better in their department. That’s what we try to encourage in the squad.

“It becomes a lot of pressure with actually being known as a pack that scrums well. Obviously we always try to make sure every single game we put a lot of pride in that.”

Taniela Tupou and Jeremy Williams have already spoken this week about the upcoming challenge the Wallabies have, as they prepare to face the Springboks. Tupou believes the Boks have the best set-piece in the world.

Nche and Marx have been a big part of that scrum and lineout dominance over the years, with the influence of others like Eben Etzebeth and Franco Mostert also significant. The Boks remain the world’s number one side, one year out from another Rugby World Cup defence.