FOX IS GOING FOR GOLD
Fox Nche is a prop just like her brother Ox – and she’s got her heart set on playing for the national rugby team one day too
WHEN you’re a rugby player and your brother is a world cup-winning prop, expectations are bound to be high. But for Goitseoone “Fox” Nche that’s not a bad thing – in fact, her big brother Ox’s heroics in France have inspired her to work even harder.
“He’s achieved great things and I too want to play for the national team one day,” she says.
Like millions of South Africans, Fox (26) was glued to her TV screen when the Boks played their hearts out for the Webb Ellis Cup, but for her it wasn’t just about the glory – it was personal.
“I’m always emotional when it comes to Ox’s success because we’ve come a long way. He’s worked really hard to get to where he is now. I’m left speechless by his achievements.”
After seeing Ox (28) in ackilled tion week after week in France, South Africans were delighted to hear the Bok hero had a younger sister who plays for the Free State Cheetahs senior women’s team and is a prop just like her brother.
The siblings are hugely supportive of each other’s careers. “If I feel I’ve had a bad game he’ll give me pointers on how I could improve or where I made a mistake. When he’s had a bad game, I’ll text him and say, ‘What happened?’ When he’s had a good game, I’ll tell him, “You it, Bro’,” she says.
Fox tells us one of her brother’s teammates came up with her nickname at high school in Bloemfontein and it just stuck.
“We were walking to class after break and the rugby team was walking behind us and one of the guys was like, ‘I’m going to call you Fox because you play backline and you run and stuff like that’. All the rugby girls started using Fox from there.” Fox’s team recently won the A-league, which means they get to move up to the premier division.
But these past few seasons haven’t been easy, she says. First the downtime enforced by the pandemic set her back and it took a while for her to regain match fitness. Then she had to deal with trolls who say she’s only in the team because of her famous brother.
“I don’t respond,” Fox says. “People will provoke you into reacting and then twist your words around.”
NATURALLY athletic as a child, Fox played many different sports but was drawn to those that weren’t considered “girl sports”. “If there was an option to play netball or soccer, I’d play soccer. I used to play soccer with the boys on the streets,” she says.
Shortly before she started playing rugby in Grade 10 at HTS Louis Botha, she was on the verge of joining Bloemfontein Celtic women’s soccer team but they took too long to get back to her. When rugby came into the picture, “I just took my opportunity and ran with it”.
“The Free State Cheetahs women’s team came to our school and told us about women’s rugby. I didn’t even know it existed until they came to our school. They asked people who were interested to stay behind and I was one of them. About a week later we started training with them,” Fox recalls.
She was a natural and by the end of her first year she’d made it into the under-16 provincial team.
Fox faced mixed reactions from some people at first, she says. “Some people were impressed, some were shocked. They told me, ‘That’s a man’s sport’.”
But her mom, Keitumetse, a primary school teacher, Ox (whose real name is Retshegofaditswe) and her younger brother, Moses (17), were supportive from the start.
“Fortunately for me, my brother was already playing rugby and doing well so my mom was kind of okay with it.”
Ox plays for the Sharks and lives in Durban while the rest of the family are based in Bloemfontein. Moses, who’s in matric, used to play rugby too but switched to hockey in Grade 9. Fox says she and her siblings inherited their athleticism from their mother, who played soccer as a child.
The rules of women’s rugby are exactly the same as the ones for the men’s game. “But there’s gear women can wear to protect themselves. For example, there are pads that go over the chest,” Fox says.
“During the game, you don’t really feel it when somebody tackles you because of the adrenaline. It’s only afterwards that you see the bruises and think, ‘What happened here?’”
She believes her training gives her the edge. “I know how to prepare my body before the game and I know how to fall when somebody tackles me. I’ve been really fortunate with injuries so far.”
Fox admits it’s sometimes hard being the sibling of someone so talented and successful.
“When some people find out Ox is my brother, they expect the same energy and performance from me. Others will even ask why I’m not in the national team. Now there’s more pressure and I’m working so much harder. I also get girls coming up to me to ask me for his number,” she adds with a smile.
FOX was one of Ox’s most loyal supporters as he headed to France for the world cup. “Before the tournament he was injured and we were worried he might not make the squad. So when he did it was a relief,” she says.
During the nerve-racking final she and her mom were so anxious they started praying. “At some point we sang Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika. It was stressful but thank God we won.”
In addition to rugby, she plays tennis and is also a talented singer.
“I’m not afraid to start the song at church. I can also cook and I make the best lasagne, after my mom.”
Fox, who is in a relationship but doesn’t want to disclose her boyfriend’s name, would love to have kids of her own one day and adds her mom is always telling her she expects grandchildren from her. Looking to the future, Fox says she really wants to see women’s rugby grow in South Africa.
“Society undermines women’s sports. Recently while the rugby world cup was going on, the Springbok women’s team was also playing but they were hardly mentioned. We need more exposure.”
Off the field, Fox hopes to do a degree in sports science one day. In the past she’s worked as a strength and conditioning coach for Bloemfontein Celtic women’s soccer team. She takes pride in her fitness and wants to open her own sports institute one day. But before that she wants to make her family just as proud as her brother has done.
“He’s set the bar really high so now I need to bring another world cup medal home.”