Nche anticipates another epic encounter against All Blacks in Soweto

Ox Nche, who became the latest Springbok player to reach the career milestone of earning 50 Test caps, said while the victory in Saturday’s second Test of the Castle Double Malt Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry Series over the All Blacks in Cape Town was pleasing, they expected another epic encounter against their arch-rivals at the FNB Stadium in Soweto next weekend.

The Boks travelled from the Mother City back to their training base in Johannesburg on Sunday morning to resume their preparations for the Test match and will have a recovery day before returning to the training field on Monday.

Commenting on the prospect of playing in front of a crowd of more than 80 000 at the FNB Stadium, Nche said: “I think it’s going to be massive and we hope it will be sold out. It’s going to be a huge occasion, and a challenge for both teams, and we’re looking forward to it.”

The Bok prop was delighted about earning his 50th Test cap in the memorable match, which South Africa won 33-26 and he praised everyone who had an influence in playing a role in this achievement.

“Looking back at the journey, it was special, in fact, one of my high school coaches messaged me this afternoon,” said Nche.

“He literally used to take time out of his family schedule to come and help us with gym and on the field sessions during the holidays. From him to all the coaches who have been involved in my life over the years, it’s amazing.

“It was a day of reflection, seeing how far I’ve come and thinking about all the people who believed in me and backed me through the years, I just wanted to make them proud and keep going.”

Looking back at Saturday’s game against the All Blacks at the DHL Stadium, Nche was satisfied with the result but he said there were areas of the game they could work on with two more matches left in the series.

“I think we played and defended very well,” said Nche.

“I feel like we could have done better in attack and taken a few more chances and we didn't look after the ball as well as we could have. But the result is what matters.

“We saw the mistakes we made last week and tried to fix them this week. They’re (the All Blacks) are probably feeling now the way we felt last weekend and they will obviously come back better, so it’s our responsibility to keep improving and capitalise on our chances.”

The match at FNB Stadium on Saturday, 5 September, kicks off at 5.10pm and will be broadcast live on SuperSport.