'A big challenge' - Fit-again Tyrel Lomax excited for front-row clash with Ox Nche
By
SABC Sport
2nd September 2025
The All Blacks have received a welcome boost ahead of their Rugby Championship clash with the Springboks, with star tighthead prop Tyrel Lomax ready to return to action.
Lomax has been declared fit after recovering from a fractured thumb, which he sustained in New Zealand's third Test victory against France in Hamilton in July.
The injury meant the 29-year-old was unavailable for selection for New Zealand's opening Rugby Championship Tests against Argentina, with Fletcher Newell wearing the number three jersey for the All Blacks in those encounters.
However, Lomax is ready for action and looking forward to a potential head-to-head battle with Springbok loosehead prop Ox Nche, whom he has had memorable battles with in the past.
"I've scrummed against him a lot in the past few years," he told reporters at a press conference in Auckland on Monday.
"He's a powerful scrummager, so that's something we need to get right during the week.
"He is a big part of their game, so he's going to be a big challenge, and the Boks have set the standards in scrums and lineouts.
"As a forward and front-rower, I'm excited by the challenge."
South Africa were not at their best when they started this year's Rugby Championship campaign, and their lineouts and scrums were areas which were targeted by their opponents Australia, who clinched a 38-22 victory in Johannesburg before the Boks bounced back by sealing a 30-22 win in their rematch in Cape Town in round two.
Meanwhile, New Zealand made a fine start to their campaign when they cruised to a 41-24 win over Argentina in their tournament opener in Cordoba before Los Pumas avenged that result by beating the All Blacks 29-23 in the corresponding fixture in Buenos Aires.
The Boks' style of play has evolved considerably of late as they have experimented with a more expansive game-plan, but Lomax is bracing himself for another tough physical onslaught from the world champions at Eden Park on Saturday.
Lomax believes it's important that the All Blacks improve on their discipline this weekend, as it was a facet of play that cost his side dearly in that defeat to Argentina in Buenos Aires.
"They are obvious in how they want to play the game," he said.
"They're going to be a big challenge for me as a front-rower if I get the chance to play.
"We had to make a lot more tackles with three yellow cards in the game, so that catches up with you at the back end of the game."
