On the For the Love of Rugby SA podcast, Ox Nche named Frans Malherbe as the best scrummager he's ever faced — edging out fellow guests Nyakane and Kitshoff in the conversation. The reason isn't brute power: Nche puts it down to Malherbe's ability to stay composed, communicate mid-scrum, and adapt in real time to whatever an opponent throws at him. The picture that emerges is of a tighthead who wins through simplicity and tactical intelligence rather than a single dominant trait — someone who, even when an opponent thinks they've got him, has already found a counter.
The podcast also draws out Nche's own psychological toolkit. He describes two specific ploys — one involving a fake confidence call mid-scrum to trigger panic in the opposition prop, another a 'gentlemen's agreement' he has no intention of honouring. It's a rare, candid window into the mental chess that runs alongside the physical contest at the coalface, straight from one of the Boks' own.