Nche admits Springbok scrum fell below standard before France Six Nations clash

Ox Nche has acknowledged South Africa’s scrum malfunctioned against Italy last weekend, even as the world champions ran out 66-7 winners in Turin, with a significantly tougher examination awaiting them against France in this Friday’s Six Nations fixture.

The loosehead prop was candid in his assessment after reviewing the game, pointing to a lack of cohesion in the Springbok pack as the root of the problem.

“The Italians put a lot of pressure on us,” Nche said. “We’ve reviewed the game, and there’s quite a bit of work we have to do because we fell a bit out of system and we just weren’t on the same page as a pack. They were definitely more determined than we were, and I think we were just a bit loose. But we have solutions for that, and we’ll certainly look to fix it and put in a performance that matches our standards this weekend.”

The statistics from Turin support his concern. After a first half in which the two packs were largely level, it was South Africa who found themselves being marched back first after the break, on the wrong side of referee Eoghan Cross’s whistle. Only in the final quarter, after Nche had been replaced, did the Springboks begin to assert the scrum dominance that typically defines their forward play.

Rassie Erasmus has responded with a single change to his starting XV, bringing in Wilco Louw at tighthead in place of Thomas du Toit. Louw is regarded as the stronger scrummager of South Africa’s tighthead options, a pointed selection ahead of a French pack Nche holds in considerable respect.

“They love the scrum,” he said. “They have a lot of big and heavy boys who want to scrum, and that French team is a good example of rugby being a game for all shapes and sizes. They are really good at scrummaging, and you can see they’ve been very consistent throughout the Six Nations, and even with their clubs in European competition. It’s very personal for the guy you’re coming up against, and that’s probably the difference.”

France arrive at the fixture carrying a growing injury list, particularly at fly-half, but Nche is not prepared to discount them on that basis. “They’re a very dangerous team, and they definitely have options in the squad,” he said. “They’ve created quite a good culture of giving younger guys game time against top nations over the last two years or so. We don’t see them differently than we did last season — they have very good players who all understand the system, and we’re just as focused as we were for the game last year.”