Nché: SA teams can cope with the schedule, just need to rotate players

Sharks prop Ox Nché believes South African teams need to grow their depth to compete properly in European tournaments. Picture: Steve Haag Sports/Gallo Images Springbok prop Ox Nché says South African rugby’s heavier schedule since joining European competitions is manageable, provided teams strengthen their fringe players and rotate more. The increased load has been a topic of debate since South Africa left Super Rugby to join the United Rugby Championship in the 2021/22 season and the EPCR Champions and Challenge Cups the following year.

Moving from one tournament to two, with more matches, and travelling more, and switching from the Southern Hemisphere calendar (February to August) to the Northern Hemisphere’s (September to June) has been more demanding, especially when factoring in the international season. So much so that last year Nché’s head coach at the Sharks, John Plumtree warned the extensive injury list at the club – created by the increased load – could impact Springbok performances. Plumtree’s solution at the time was to rotate teams, blooding fringe and young players to strengthen the overall squad.

He often did this for away matches but failed to find a balance between rotation and being able to compete in important games. He saw his second-string team exit the Challenge Cup in the round of 16 last year after a poor performance against Lyon. This strategy continues under new interim coach JP Pietersen, whorested 13 Springbokswho played against the Lions in the URC two weeks ago, for last weekend’s Champions Cup pool match against Sale.

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Led by 22-year-old Nick Hatton, the younger teamwent down 26–10but showed plenty of fight. The Stormers, who rested several Springboks but played four debutants against Harlequins, were hammered 61–10, bringing their 10-match winning streak to a close. Stormers boss John Dobson called it a“desperately disappointing performance”. Nché argued, however, that playing more fringe and younger players is the answer to the tough schedule.

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