Springboks: Ox Nche update ahead of Wales after ‘deep cut injury’ against England
Springboks prop Ox Nche and an insert of assistant coach Deon Davids.
The Springboks have been dealt a timely boost ahead of their final Test match of the year against Wales in Cardiff.
Forwards coach Deon Davids has confirmed that loosehead prop Ox Nche will be fit to tackle Warren Gatland’s side, who are on a record 11-game losing streak.
Nche was forced from the pitch in the 32nd minute of South Africa’s 20-29 victory over England after sustaining a nasty cut above his knee.
Ox Nche injury concern
After the match, head coach Rassie Erasmus expressed concern for the prop and was unsure whether Nche would be able to recover in time for South Africa’s final Autumn Nations Series clash.
Erasmus likened the injury to the one that All Blacks tighthead prop Tyrel Lomax sustained at Twickenham against the Boks ahead of the 2023 World Cup which kept him sidelined for a month.
“I’m not a medical doctor or not a doctor at all, but I think it just depends on how quickly the stitches go, but it’s not in the knee, he’s not injured, it’s just above the knee,” he said. “Hopefully we won’t be without him again, but we won’t risk him if that thing is going to open again, but it’s not the knee, it’s a cut.”
The Boks named just two loosehead props in their touring squad with Nche and Gerhard Steenekamp making the trip north, with Thomas du Toit offering an option on both sides of the scrum.
After Nche was forced from the pitch, Steenekamp was sent to the sin bin, which required Wilco Louw to return to the action with Vincent Koch moving from his usual position on the tighthead to scrum at loosehead.
Speaking to the media on Monday, Davids confirmed that Nche has been given the green light to feature against Wales on Saturday.
“Ox got a cut above his knee but he recovered well. He went to the gym this morning and he, like any other players, are available for selection,” he said.
Davids added that while there were “a lot of bumps and bruises”, there weren’t any further injury concerns for the side.
It’s a huge boost for the Springboks as Nche was been in stunning form this year in Green and Gold. The 29-year-old was tipped by many to be shortlisted for the World Rugby Player of the Year Award with his omission certainly causing a stir.
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While Wales are enduring a torrid run of results, including a 52-20 thrashing by Australia at the weekend, one positive from the performance was their scrum which regularly put the Wallabies under pressure.
Nche would go a long way to nullifying that threat from the hosts, but the Boks do have options in the form of Steenekamp and Du Toit who could fill in.
Erasmus has chopped and changed his matchday 23s regularly this season but Davids did not want to get drawn into discussions of the Boks selecting a weakened side against Wales.
“We always want to select our best team whenever we make changes, especially when we bring in younger talent or less experienced players, to ensure that we surround them with good experience and leadership,” he added.
Wales challenge
Turning his attention to Wales, Davids believes that losing lock Adam Beard so early on in the match disrupted Wales’ flow and contributed heavily to their defeat.
“Wales showed what a gutsy team they are [versus the Wallabies]. Unfortunately, they started a bit slow but they came back and showed that they are a team that shows effort, but then Australia pulled away from them towards the end,” he said
“There are areas in the game that they were good at. Their scrums were good and they were unlucky to lose a player like Beard so early in the Test match that maybe influenced their rhythm in the line-outs. They are a team that maybe isn’t in a good place, but in terms of their effort and how they fought back, it’s a team that we respect.
“We know they don’t go away and we have to bring our A-game. We approach every Test match with pride and we have a lot of respect for our opponents and it won’t be any different this week.”
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