Springbok prop Ox Nche reveals that it was his soccer coach who got him into rugby as a youngster growing up in the Free State.
In a new YouTube series called “How rugby changed my life”, Nche says: “I was at soccer practice and the coach asked me, ‘why don't you try rugby?’”
The 27-year-old loosehead prop was not a big fan of the idea at the start, saying: “So I told him straight up no, that’s too rough.”
The bug didn’t bite initially, but Nche – who candidly says he’s always been a “chubby kid who could run a bit” – discloses that he eventually started playing rugby when they moved from Thaba ‘Nchu to Bloemfontein.
The penny dropped with Nche when he started playing against boys much heavier than him.
He recalls: “I realised I don’t necessarily have to become big, I just had to be able to stop the big kids coming down my channel.”
The always-smiling Nche, who enjoys sharing his love of cake with his Twitter following and has built a clothing business called The Ox Kraal, has racked up more than 130 games in the colours of the Cheetahs and Sharks, as well as 15 Test caps.
He will be adding to those caps when the Springboks face Ireland at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday.
Playing off the bench, Nche will be looking to make a big impact in the front row alongside Bongi Mbonambi and fellow prop Vincent Koch.
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