Ox Nche calls Springboks' 3-1 All Blacks series 'the hardest four weeks' of his career

Springboks prop Ox Nche has called the four-Test Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry Series against the All Blacks “the hardest four weeks that I’ve ever had as a rugby player, from when I started playing rugby,” after logging more than 185 minutes of action across the series that South Africa won 3-1.

Nche started three of the four matches — two in Johannesburg and one in Cape Town — and came off the bench in the third Test, where the Springboks secured a bounce-back 33-26 victory at DHL Stadium. The fourth and final Test was played in Baltimore.

“It’s definitely the hardest competition I’ve had to participate in,” Nche said. “It was a great honour to be part of it but it was one of the hardest four weeks that I’ve ever had.”

Despite the physical toll, the 52-Test prop is already looking ahead. “Now we’re looking forward to Australia and the Nations Championship at the end of the year. We just have to try to build towards the next World Cup,” he added.

Nche made the comments during a coaching clinic for 40 children at Perth’s UWA Rugby Centre, where World Rugby also unveiled the 29 Outdoor Training Venues for Rugby World Cup 2027. South Africa, currently ranked first in the world 53 weeks out from the tournament, are bidding to become the first team to win the event three times in succession.

For the upcoming Test against the Wallabies, Nche has been named on the bench as coach Rassie Erasmus made 13 changes to the starting side. Eben Etzebeth and Ethan Hooker are the only two players to retain their places from the Baltimore match. The bench collectively carries 342 Test caps of experience, with Jasper Wiese set to earn his 50th cap and 2025 World Rugby Player of the Year Malcolm Marx among the replacements after a standout series against New Zealand.

Nche himself made history last year by becoming the first prop ever shortlisted for World Rugby Men’s Player of the Year, an achievement he attributed to the collective standards within the Springboks squad. “With rugby evolving and getting better, getting quicker, more physical, I feel like I still stayed the same — be very good at my fundamentals,” he said.