Retshegofaditswe 'Tshego' Nché – more commonly referred to as Ox Nché – (born 23 July 1995) is a South African
rugby union
Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...
player for the in
Super Rugby
Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Building on various Southern Hem ...
and the South African national team the Springboks. His regular position is prop, and he is one of the world’s most revered
scrummagers.
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
The Craven Week is an annual rugby union tournament organised for schoolboys in the Republic of South Africa. The tournament started in July 1964, and is named after the legendary Springbok rugby union player and coach Dr Danie Craven.
The to ...
competition – held in
Port Elizabeth
Gqeberha (), formerly Port Elizabeth and colloquially often referred to as P.E., is a major seaport and the most populous city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is the seat of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality, Sou ...
, 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
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
,
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...
and
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
.
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
, scoring a try in their opening match against Eastern Province.
He was once again included in the South African Schools side in 2013, this time starting two matches against England
and Wales.
He also made three appearances for the s during the
2013 Under-19 Provincial Championship
The 2013 ABSA Under-19 Provincial Championship will be contested from 12 July to 26 October 2013. The tournament will feature the Under-19 players from the fourteen provincial rugby unions in South Africa.
Competition
Group A
There are seven part ...
.
Nché was a key player for the team in the
2014 Under-19 Provincial Championship
The 2014 ABSA Under-19 Provincial Championship was a rugby union competition held between the Under-19 players from the fourteen provincial rugby unions in South Africa, plus the sub-union. It was contested from 11 July to 25 October 2014.
Grou ...
, starting all thirteen of their matches in the competition as his side finished second on the log before losing 22–29 to eventual champions in the semi-finals.
Nché scored three tries during the round-robin stage of the competition, scoring in their matches against Western Province U19,
and .
Varsity Cup
In 2015, Nché was named in the squad for the
2015 Varsity Cup
The 2015 Varsity Cup was contested from 9 February to 13 April 2015. The tournament (also known as the ''FNB Varsity Cup presented by Steinhoff International'' for sponsorship reasons) was the eighth season of the Varsity Cup, an annual inter-univ ...
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 . He retained his starting spot for their 21–10 victory over defending champions in the semi-final
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.
International
Nché was named in a 37-man
South Africa Under-20 training squad
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.
He was then named in their squad to tour
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
for a two-match series as preparation for the 2015 World Rugby Under 20 Championship.
He started their 25–22 victory over
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
in the first match,
but did not feature in their 39–28 win in the second match four days later.
Upon the team's return, Nché was named in the final squad for the
2015 World Rugby Under 20 Championship
The 2015 World Rugby Under 20 Championship was the eighth annual international rugby union competition for Under 20 national teams. The event was organised for the second time in Italy by rugby's governing body, World Rugby. Twelve nations played i ...
.
He started all three of their matches in Pool B of the competition; a 33–5 win against hosts
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
,
a 40–8 win against
Samoa
Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands (Manono Island, Manono an ...
and a 46–13 win over
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
.
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
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
, but could not prevent them losing 20–28 to be eliminated from the competition by England for the second year in succession.
He started their third-place play-off match against
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
, helping South Africa to a 31–18 win to win the bronze medal.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nche, Ox
South African rugby union players
Living people
1995 births
Rugby union players from Bloemfontein
Rugby union props
Free State Cheetahs players
South Africa Under-20 international rugby union players
South Africa international rugby union players
Cheetahs (rugby union) players
Sharks (rugby union) players
Sharks (Currie Cup) players