Ox Nche: Law variations are ‘actually beneficial’ as Springboks face ‘unpredictable’ Wallabies
Ox Nche weighs in on the law variations and the Wallabies' scrum.
Ox Nche is eager to tackle the Wallabies scrum in their Rugby Championship opener at Suncorp Stadium and has weighed in on the new law variations in place for the tournament.
Nche says that the Australian scrum has become ‘unpredictable’ following the addition of highly-rated ex-All Blacks coach Mike Cron to Joe Schmidt’s coaching team and believes that the law variations aimed at speeding up the game won’t impact the Springboks much.
Scrum is not be depowered
SANZAAR has approved a host of law variations for the Rugby Championship, one of which requires forwards to set up a scrum within 30 seconds of the referee providing the mark for both teams.
Failing to do so will result in a free-kick against the team that is deemed to have caused the delay – the same countdown clock has been implemented to lineout while place kickers will have 60 seconds to complete their shots at goal, whether it is a penalty or a conversion.
With the scrum being a huge weapon in the Springboks’ arsenal, there are concerns over whether Rassie Erasmus’ charges will be impacted by the law change, but Nche is not fussed.
“It shouldn’t be a problem, we had a look at all our scrums even before the law changes and we were always there by the referee and ready to go way before the 30 seconds, so it shouldn’t be a problem for us,” he told reporters.
“We will have to adapt and we did speak about it and made plans for it, so we’ll just simply adapt but it shouldn’t be a problem for us.”
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There is also a belief that these laws are just another way in which the set-piece is being depowered and phased out of the game, but the cake-loving loosehead prop does not agree.
“I don’t think the law variation – the one making the scrum 30 seconds – is actually depowering scrums but it demands more from the entire pack,” he said.
“I’ve said before the people that don’t want scrums in the game should just go watch rugby league, there are no scrums there. But with these variations, it means the scrums take place a bit quicker.
“For us front-rowers it is about being able to come and deliver your trade and show the world that you are a really good tight forward. You have to meet the fitness requirements – make sure you set quickly, make sure the game keeps flowing and you don’t have guys milking injuries and slowing the ball down out just because they at a disadvantage [in the scrum].”
Tricky Wallabies
The Boks have been accused of slowing down the game with stoppages before the set-pieces and there is an assumption that the countdown clock will hinder their performance in the scrums but Nche disagrees.
“It’s actually beneficial [for us],” he added.
“But it obviously does require a bit more from the forwards but besides that, the teams that adapt quickest to the variations are the ones that will do well and I think we will.”
Turning his attention to this week’s challenge, the 29-year-old spoke glowingly about the Australian scrum and said that they are preparing for everything that the Wallabies could throw at them.
“Their scrum is very unpredictable but we can see that they actually want to scrum, they want to stay in the contest,” Nche said.
“They will do anything to dominate and go forward, so it will be a big challenge for us particularly because we are not in Super Rugby any more and this will be the first time since last year that we get to scrum against them.
“It’s going to be a good challenge but, from what we’ve seen, they can be very unpredictable as you don’t know what they are going to bring on the day, and we just have to be prepared for anything.”
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