Ox Nche on the charge. Photo: SA Rugby website
Ox emerges as find of the season for Boks, Willie misfires | RATINGS
In an end-of-year review for the Springboks, we dish out ratings to impressive Ox Nche and misfiring Willie le Roux.
Ox Nche on the charge. Photo: SA Rugby website
OX NCHE (8)
When legendary Bok prop Beast Mtawarira retired after the 2019 World Cup, the understandable expectation was that Steven Kitshoff would be the man entrusted with the No 1 jersey. Interestingly, though, the Boks opted to go a different route, instead entrusting the affable Ox Nche with a regular starting berth, and it’s proven to be a masterstroke.
The 26-year-old has been the Springboks’ breakthrough star of the season, starting in eight Tests, while appearing to grow in confidence and comfort levels each time he takes to the pitch.
With the Bok coaches clearly identifying Nche as the right man to bring the heat in the first half, he has risen to the occasion superbly, while Kitshoff has remained part of the lethal Bomb Squad.
Nche, Bongi Mbonambi and Trevor Nyakane seem to have particularly settled into a tightknit combination, who are empowered to go flat out for 40 minutes before the full front row is typically replaced around the half-time mark.
There is no doubt that this season would have served as a massive morale booster for the aptly-named Ox, with his scrummaging and general play setting him apart as a real X factor player.
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WILLIE LE ROUX (4)
Too often Le Roux is made out to be the scapegoat when the Boks misfire, but there is no doubt that he has been lacking his usual confidence and swagger this year.
Much like the Springboks’ season as a whole, Le Roux has produced a real mixed bag of performances, with some key contributions interspersed with several uncharacteristic howlers.
The stalwart started all three of the Tests against the British & Irish Lions, and a lot of his hard graft went unnoticed, or was overshadowed by glaring errors. More than any other player, it seems Le Roux is either viewed as a hero or villain, with very little in between.
He of course also came in for plenty of criticism after a subpar performance in the first half of the final Rugby Championship clash against the All Blacks, which led to him being replaced at half-time.
By the time the Springboks headed on their end-of-year tour, the plan was for Damian Willemse to bank some meaningful game time at fullback, but a concussion he suffered then led to Le Roux starting the final two Tests against Scotland and England, with mixed results once again.
As the Boks begin to plot and plan for the 2022 season, it will be interesting to see if Willemse and Aphelele Fassi are increasingly brought into the mix at fullback, particularly when considering there is rather limited time to expose these youngsters before the fast-approaching 2023 Word Cup rolls around.
With 72 Test caps to his name, the irreplaceable experience of Le Roux will remain integral to the Bok cause going forward, but there is no doubt a big step up in consistency will be required next season.
