‘You’ve got to give Ox Nche his flowers’ – All Blacks star hails impact of Springboks ‘freak’
All Blacks loosehead prop Tamaiti Williams (inset) and Springboks counterpart Ox Nche.
Injured All Blacks front-row Tamaiti Williams has sung the praises of Springboks counterpart Ox Nche for his performances in Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series.
Nche is widely regarded as the world’s best loosehead prop and has delivered several dominant scrummaging performances for the world champions in the four-Test series against the All Blacks.
The Springboks head into Saturday’s final Test in Baltimore holding a 2-1 series lead over the All Blacks.
Williams, who has made 27 Test appearances for the All Blacks, is currently sidelined due to a spinal infection and despite being out of action, revealed that he has enjoyed watching the Greatest Rivalry series Tests.
‘I feel like a little boy watching the team you dream to play for’
“I love watching rugby. My dad’s called me four times today talking about the scrums and it’s been a positive part of this process being a fan again,” he told The Good, The Bad & The Rugby Australia & New Zealand podcast.
“I feel like a little boy watching the team you dream to play for. And I guess from our lens now, it’s our job so we understand it a lot more.”
Williams revealed that his dad is also watching the Springboks v All Blacks encounters with a keen interest and is always asking him questions about the technical aspects of the game.
“He’s quick to blame the ref. Like we all are sometimes but he just asks questions because it’s not just (about) the boys running out on Saturday and hope they go well,” he said.
“A lot goes into a Test week and especially the scrums against the Springboks.”
Former All Blacks captain and number eight Kieran Read asked Williams what made Nche such an excellent scrummager and whether the Springbok was doing things at the set-piece which other props were not doing.
‘He is so powerful and strong’
“I reckon he can get into positions and get out of positions better than anyone,” replied Williams.
“He’s so strong where other people could be vulnerable. We always talk about perfect pushing positions and what your knees look like, what your back looks like on the hit. But he is so powerful and strong.
“I just think the way their whole scrum functions is it works for them and it works well.”
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Williams believes having Nche in the Springboks team gives them a definite edge over their opponents at scrum-time and attributes his self-assurance for that.
“I think you’ve got to give him his flowers,” he said. He’s a freak and he’s made a name for the way he’s played.
“And I guess it’s a confidence thing too, right? When you’re going well, you usually have more confidence and he’s full of confidence when it comes to scrums.
“I think the weekend (in Soweto) we knocked the ball on and he didn’t even want to keep playing. He’s like, ‘we’ll take the scrum, sir’.
“So, it goes to show his mindset and personally I think that’s a big part of scrummaging is your mindset.”
