Sharks prop Ox Nche preparing for colossal scrum battle against the Stormers

The Springboks have barely touched down in the Republic, but a plethora of them will grace the turf at Cape Town Stadium this Saturday as the Stormers host the Sharks in a blockbuster URC derby.

There will be contests aplenty across the park, but perhaps the most feared place to be will be in the front rows. A combination of Bok behemoths Nche, Thomas du Toit and Vincent Koch will be deployed against the Stormers, who boast the equally destructive Wilco Louw, Neethling Fouche and Nthuthuko Mnchunu in their ranks.

Speaking to the press on Tuesday, Nche is relishing the chance to be the unstoppable force against the immovable object.

"I mean, it's always exciting when you go up against guys that you play with," said the World Cup winner.

"It doesn't matter. Obviously, it's a great challenge to play against them, but I honestly don't see it as a 'me' thing. It's more about what we can do as a pack, how well we prepare. We essentially have to work together as a pack to make sure that our pack does better and gets what we want at the end of the day.

"Obviously, I'm looking forward to the challenge, but I think our preparation will be to prepare as a pack and do things more together than anything."

The Durban franchise has taken endless flak from the media for their lack of consistency despite their plethora of Boks. But there is the spark of a different feel about the Sharks this year after they collected the full complement of ten points across their two URC matches.

Nche, who has been with the Sharks since 2019, acknowledged the vibes are a changing.

"I think we don't just say words," he added.

"One thing I've seen that's different is that we do what we say. There's a lot of action, and there's just a bit more belief and connection amongst each other. We're all on the same mindset; we're all more aligned, if I have to say. I'm enjoying it. There's definitely been a difference from the previous three seasons."

But vibes don't win matches. The Sharks dominated the set-piece against Ospreys and defending URC champions Leinster, winning all 19 scrums and 24 of 25 lineouts. 

Nonetheless, Sharks forwards coach Phil Lemmer is fully aware of the physical challenge the hosts will bring in front of the Cape Town faithful this weekend.

"I must say, they're extremely physical," he admitted.

"They pride themselves on the same things. They feel about scrums and mauling. They get a lot of advantage and a lot of metres from mauling. That's one thing their forwards do well.

"Anything we see with that maul and the lineouts is just as big of a threat. When it comes to mauling, stopping the maul and the scrum, it's really a physical battle. That's where they pride themselves, and we know that's definitely coming this weekend."

The Sharks enter the cauldron of Cape Town Stadium to face the Stormers at 16:00 on Saturday.

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