Ox Nché

Retshegofaditswe 'Tshego' Nché – more commonly referred to as Ox Nché – (born 23 July 1995) is a South African rugby union player for the Sharks in Super Rugby and the South African national team the Springboks. His regular position is prop, and he is one of the world’s most revered scrummagers.

Ox Nché

Full name	Retshegofaditswe Nché
Date of birth	(1995-07-23) 23 July 1995 (age 27)
Place of birth	Bloemfontein, South Africa
Height	1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Weight	114 kg (17 st 13 lb; 251 lb)
School	HTS Louis Botha
University	University of the Free State
Rugby union career
Position(s) Prop Current team Sharks / Sharks (Currie Cup) Youth career 2011–2016 Free State Cheetahs Amateur team(s) Years Team Apps (Points) 2015–2016 UFS Shimlas 10 (0) Senior career Years Team Apps (Points) 2016–2019 Cheetahs 66 (40) 2016–2018 Free State XV 5 (5) 2016–2019 Free State Cheetahs 27 (20) 2020– Sharks 33 (10) 2020– Sharks (Currie Cup) 7 (0) Correct as of 18 December 2022 National team(s) Years Team Apps (Points) 2012–2013 South Africa Schools 3 (0) 2015 South Africa Under-20 5 (5) 2017 South Africa 'A' 2 (5) 2018– South Africa 19 (0) Correct as of 18 December 2022

Club rugby

Youth (2011–14)

Nché first earned provincial selection in 2011, when he was included in the Free State squad that participated at the Under-16 Grant Khomo Week in Queenstown.

In 2012, Nché represented Free State at the premier high school rugby union competition in South Africa – the Under-18 Craven Week competition – held in Port Elizabeth, starting all three of Free State's matches, despite still being in the Under-17 age-group. After the tournament, he was selected in a South African Schools squad that played against France,^[1] Wales^[2] and England.^[3] He was an unused substitute in the first two matches, but started the match against England.

Nché once again played in all three of Free State's matches at the 2013 Under-18 Craven Week competition held in Polokwane, scoring a try in their opening match against Eastern Province.^[4] He was once again included in the South African Schools side in 2013, this time starting two matches against England^[5] and Wales.^[6] He also made three appearances for the Free State U19s during the 2013 Under-19 Provincial Championship.

Nché was a key player for the Free State U19 team in the 2014 Under-19 Provincial Championship, starting all thirteen of their matches in the competition as his side finished second on the log before losing 22–29 to eventual champions Western Province U19 in the semi-finals.^[7] Nché scored three tries during the round-robin stage of the competition, scoring in their matches against Western Province U19,^[8] Eastern Province U19^[9] and Golden Lions U19.^[10]

Varsity Cup

In 2015, Nché was named in the UFS Shimlas squad for the 2015 Varsity Cup competition. He started the competition as a reserve, playing off the bench on five occasions before being named in the starting line-up for the first time in their final regular season match against NWU Pukke. He retained his starting spot for their 21–10 victory over defending champions UCT Ikey Tigers in the semi-final^[11] and also started the final, helping UFS Shimlas to a 63–33 victory against NWU Pukke to win the competition for the first time in their history.^[12]

International

Nché was named in a 37-man South Africa Under-20 training squad^[13] and played for them in a 31–24 victory in a friendly match against a Varsity Cup Dream Team that was named at the conclusion of the 2015 Varsity Cup competition.^[14] He was then named in their squad to tour Argentina for a two-match series as preparation for the 2015 World Rugby Under 20 Championship.^[15] He started their 25–22 victory over Argentina in the first match,^[16] but did not feature in their 39–28 win in the second match four days later.^[17]

Upon the team's return, Nché was named in the final squad for the 2015 World Rugby Under 20 Championship.^[18] He started all three of their matches in Pool B of the competition; a 33–5 win against hosts Italy,^[19] a 40–8 win against Samoa^[20] and a 46–13 win over Australia.^[21] Nché scored one of six tries in their match against Australia to help South Africa finish top of Pool B to qualify for the semi-finals with the best record pool stage of all the teams in the competition. Nché started their semi-final match against England, but could not prevent them losing 20–28 to be eliminated from the competition by England for the second year in succession.^[22] He started their third-place play-off match against France, helping South Africa to a 31–18 win to win the bronze medal.^[23]

References

1. "SA Rugby Match Centre – South Africa 17–7 France". South African Rugby Union. 10 August 2012. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
2. "SA Rugby Match Centre – South Africa 24–16 Wales". South African Rugby Union. 14 August 2012. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
3. "SA Rugby Match Centre – South Africa 36–29 England". South African Rugby Union. 18 August 2012. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
4. "SA Rugby Match Centre – Eastern Province 21–32 Free State". South African Rugby Union. 9 July 2013. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
5. "SA Rugby Match Centre – South Africa 19–14 England". South African Rugby Union. 9 August 2013. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
6. "SA Rugby Match Centre – South Africa 14–13 Wales". South African Rugby Union. 17 August 2013. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
7. "SA Rugby Match Centre – Free State U19 22–29 Western Province U19". South African Rugby Union. 18 October 2014. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
8. "SA Rugby Match Centre – WP U19 50–26 Free State U19". South African Rugby Union. 12 July 2014. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
9. "SA Rugby Match Centre – EP Kings U19 17–13 Free State U19". South African Rugby Union. 22 August 2014. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
10. "SA Rugby Match Centre – Free State U19 34–0 Golden Lions U19". South African Rugby Union. 30 August 2014. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
11. "SA Rugby Match Centre – FNB UFS SHIMLAS 21–10 FNB UCT". South African Rugby Union. 30 March 2015. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
12. "SA Rugby Match Centre – FNB UFS SHIMLAS 63–33 FNB NWU-PUKKE". South African Rugby Union. 13 April 2015. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
13. "SARU names large group for Junior Bok trials". South African Rugby Union. 25 March 2015. from the original on 6 December 2016. Retrieved 6 December 2016.
14. "SA Rugby Match Centre – Varsity Cup XV 24–31 South Africa U/20". South African Rugby Union. 21 April 2015. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
15. "SARU names Junior Bok squad for Argentine tour". South African Rugby Union. 29 April 2015. Retrieved 29 April 2015.
16. . Unión Argentina de Rugby (in Spanish). 12 May 2015. Archived from the original on 22 May 2015. Retrieved 21 May 2015.
17. . Unión Argentina de Rugby (in Spanish). 16 May 2015. Archived from the original on 22 May 2015. Retrieved 21 May 2015.
18. "Liebenberg to lead Junior Boks at U20 World Championship in Italy". South African Rugby Union. 20 May 2015. Retrieved 20 May 2015.
19. "SA Rugby Match Centre – Italy U20 5–33 South Africa U20". South African Rugby Union. 2 June 2015. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
20. "SA Rugby Match Centre – South Africa U20 40–8 Samoa U20". South African Rugby Union. 6 June 2015. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
21. "SA Rugby Match Centre – South Africa U20 46–13 Australia U20". South African Rugby Union. 10 June 2015. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
22. "SA Rugby Match Centre – South Africa U20 20–28 England U20". South African Rugby Union. 15 June 2015. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
23. "SA Rugby Match Centre – France U20 18–31 South Africa U20". South African Rugby Union. 20 June 2015. Retrieved 11 November 2016.

External links

• Ox Nché at ESPNscrum 
• Ox Nché at ItsRugby.co.uk