OPEN LETTER TO SPRINGBOKS: Start Ox in Rugby World Cup final

The Springboks owe their snatch-and-grab semi-final victory over England largely to Ox Nche and he should be rewarded with a start in the Rugby World Cup final.

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Nche caused destruction and mayhem in the scrum, as he always does, when he came onto the pitch against England. Furthermore, his scrum penalty almost single-handedly won us the game. With the Boks trailing 15-6, England had a scrum in our 22m and Ox won us a crucial scrum penalty to give us hope.

Then, he won a massive penalty that gave us territory, setting up an attacking line-out that eventually lead to RG Snyman’s try. Finally at 15-13, he helped win the decisive penalty on the half-way line. Thus, giving Handre Pollard the chance to kick the winner.

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DEAR SPRINGBOKS, START THE WORLDS BEST SCRUMMER

Ox is hands down the most dominant loosehead in world rugby. In fact, Nick Mallett called him “the most destructive prop in world rugby,” in a post-match analysis on SuperSport. He has dismantled every scrum he has faced in this year’s Rugby World Cup. I believe he should start and empty the tank against the All Blacks so that we can start fast. The Boks have started slow in all their big matches to date. They trailed England 15-6. France lead 7-0 after a few minutes and despite dominating territory they trailed Ireland 7-3 at half-time. Therefore, it is crucial Ox starts to enable a fast start, some massive penalty wins can give the Boks scoreboard pressure, territory and defensive relief in a game where every moment matters.

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HUGE DECISIONS FOR JACQUES NIENABER AND RASSIE ERASMUS

Ox Nche or Steven Kitshoff to start? That is not the only massive selection headache. In fact, Handre Pollard kicked the winner and was Man of the Match, pressing his cause for a starting berth in the final too. Libbok has been excellent on attack and the Boks know they need plenty of points on Saturday evening.

This makes for interesting selection. Then, the bench split. It was the famous 7-1 split that the Springboks used when they last faced New Zealand and beat them by a record 35-7 scoreline. So, the temptation will certainly be there. However, with Pollard back in the picture, he is unlikely to drop a him or Libbok. Meaning, a 7-1 split is highly unlikely and in essence, probably off the table.

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