Some players in world rugby find the haka intimidating, but for Springbok prop Ox Nche, it is a call to arms.
The roly-poly loosehead has been on the winning side in four of the Tests he has played against the Kiwis, and the sole loss was at Ellis Park in 2022.
He would love to avenge that defeat in Saturday’s Rugby Championship match at the same venue (5pm start).
And when he faces the haka, he will gladly accept the declaration of war.
“It gets you in the moment and you have to decide it is us or them,” the 29-year-old said, smiling, yesterday.
“When the All Blacks are lining up for the haka, it is the time when I think carefully about my job on the field. You respect New Zealand culture but are thinking about your job and how best to do it.
“When they are performing it, you see how proud they are of their country and you think, ‘What are you going to do to show your pride for your country? How are you going to stand up for your country?’ It lifts me.”
The scrum is an obvious area where the likes of Nche can make a statement, and he said that he takes the job very personally.
“The scrum is an opportunity for me to perform for South Africa, which makes it personal,” the Bok No 1 said.
“You always know the first scrum will be a biggie because the props are feeling each other out.
“I say to myself, ‘You are representing your country, take pride in that’.
“For me, there is no way the guy opposite me is going to come up with tricks that are better than mine. I will have done my prep on my opponent as well as I can. It is all about who has the biggest pride.”
Nche is set to square up against All Black No 3 Tyrel Lomax.
He said after the first scrum, he knows instinctively how the rest will pan out.
“After the first scrum, you think, ‘Okay, we have felt each other out’. And you know whether you can scrum him or not. You know who is going to be for in a long day.
“Your opponent might catch you out once or twice, but I always say whoever sings the longest will sing last.
“As soon as you get the upper hand in the second scrum, you start seeing the doubt in his eyes – that is when you know you have him.
“You have a gut feeling about how it is going, and then you pull out some new tricks to further empower you.”
The All Blacks have a good record at Ellis Park – they have won three of their last four games at the iconic venue of the 1995 World Cup final – but Nche said that it won’t be that impressive record that inspires them.
He felt that there is something more recent that will fire them up.
“The last time the teams played each other was in the World Cup final. They will be hurting and will come for us,” the Sharks front-rower said.
“They are not thinking about how well they have done in the past in South Africa. They will be thinking that the last game was the final where they lost by one point, and they will want blood.”
Nche said that analysis had shown the Boks why the All Blacks are such a difficult team to beat, and it is not because they have wonderful athletes.
“Yes, they have many individuals with X-factor, but when you look carefully at their game, it is their near-perfect basics that often pull them through in the last 20 minutes,” he said.
“When they are tired or under pressure, they go back to their basics, where other teams continue with trying to win the game through individuals. That is how they close out games.”
* In a big boost for the Boks yesterday, it was revealed that enforcer Eben Etzebeth has shrugged off a knee niggle and will play on Saturday, albeit off the bench. The player to drop out of the initial team selected is flank Marco van Staden.
“Our selection policy has always been that if a player does not train on a Monday he will not play on Saturday, but Eben has made it through training pain-free all week, so we had to make the tough call to name him in the squad at the expense of Marco,” Erasmus said yesterday.
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“There were back-up options for us at lock in the initial squad, but with Eben on the bench, it means we have another specialist in that position in the team.
“We are blessed to have an expanded squad of about 45 players who have all bought into our plans and who understand what’s best for the team, and it’s admirable how Marco accepted the news. It shows the quality of the player and person he is.”
Springbok Team
15 Aphelele Fassi 14 Cheslin Kolbe 13 Jesse Kriel 12 Damian de Allende 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse 10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu 9 Cobus Reinach 8 Jasper Wiese 7 Ben-Jason Dixon 6 Siya Kolisi (captain) 5 Ruan Nortjé 4 Pieter-Steph du Toit 3 Frans Malherbe 2 Bongi Mbonambi 1 Ox Nche.
Bench: 16 Malcolm Marx 17 Gerhard Steenekamp 18 Vincent Koch 19 Eben Etzebeth 20 Elrigh Louw 21 Kwagga Smith 22 Grant Williams 23 Handré Pollard.