Nick Mallett says scrumming powerhouse Ox Nche’s absence will have a ripple effect on the Bok front row.
Speaking to the media after the Boks’ 61-7 hammering of Japan at Wembley, coach Rassie Erasmus revealed that Nche sustained a serious injury, and would likely miss the Tests against France, Italy, Ireland and Wales.
“It’s pretty serious,” said Erasmus. “I don’t think he’ll play the rest of this tour. It happened in a tackle situation – his ankle and knee – so unfortunately he’s out.
“We’ve got Gerhard Steenekamp, who played well tonight, and Thomas du Toit back next week. But if another loosehead goes down, we’ll be in trouble, so we’ll probably bring in Asenathi Ntlabakanye [who featured for the Barbarians against an All Blacks XV in Brentford on Saturday]. Thomas can swing between tighthead and loosehead for us if needed.”
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Reacting to the injury news on the Talking Boks podcast, Mallett said Nche’s loss would be felt immediately given his dominance at scrum time and his consistency in recent seasons.
“Well, that throws a whole new aspect on the rest of the tour because he is so dominant,” said the former Bok coach. “With [Steven] Kitshoff or Beast [Mtawarira] we’ve been really privileged to have looseheads who get on top of their opponents.
“Now with young Jan-Hendrik Wessels out for eight games, he was also backing the Boks up on the loosehead side. So there’s quite a lot of work to do there now with Stenna [Steenekamp] and Boan Venter. With those guys, maybe we just won’t quite get the [same] dominance as with Ox.”
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Looking ahead to Saturday’s Test in Paris, Mallett says Cheslin Kolbe’s performance at fullback has made him a real contender to retain that jersey even if Damian Willemse is declared fit to face France.
“Absolutely. I think he’s become such an experienced player,” Mallett said.
“There’s no arrogance there at all, but jeez, there’s a lot of self-confidence. He absolutely believes that that he can bump off a lock.
“I love his judgement. His judgement at the back is good – when to kick, when to counter-attack.
“He took a real look at that counter-attack run of his and he saw there was there were two forwards, I think, and he got in between the two of them. And when he ran between those two players, I mean, there was such good execution and understanding that there was a good opportunity to to get ahead.
“And then, you know, he could have looked for the pass, but the pass was a bit difficult because there was someone between him. So the little kick ahead was perfect and then Kurt-Lee [Arendse] was on the end of that.”
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Photo: Paul Harding/Getty Images
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