Nche was nominated alongside Springbok teammates Pieter-Steph du Toit and Malcolm Marx, with French wing Louis Bielle-Biarrey the fourth name on the shortlist.
Nche has been outstanding in both the scrum and the loose, and in many people’s eyes is the most deserving. Du Toit certainly agrees.
“Ox is a special person and an incredible rugby player,” he told reporters on Tuesday. “I’m very grateful he’s getting the recognition coming his way. Everyone understands the type of player he is and how well he plays the game.
“For him to get this type of recognition is special. I’m very glad for him. If I could have it my way, I’d obviously have him win it.”
Du Toit was asked if he might make the list next year after Nche broke the mould.
“I’m not going to push my luck; this is the first time a prop’s been part of it. I don’t know when the next one will be,” he said.
South Africa are in Dublin to face Ireland on Saturday for what will likely be their toughest game on tour, though Du Toit plays down suggestions this might be a grudge match, with plenty of mudslinging between fans in recent years over who is the top team in the world.
“I think the media, maybe the newspapers, would like to portray it that way, but we don’t see it like that,” he said. “What we’ve done well over the last couple of months is take every match and put it in its own box.
“We don’t think too much about the past, whether we’re coming off a good week or a bad one. We try to put each game in its own little box and focus as much as we can on that specific match for that specific week.
“So no, I don’t feel that in the team at the moment. I don’t think the team feels that way. But we are putting a massive emphasis on this week, the same way we have every other week.”
South Africa are unbeaten in their three matches on tour against Japan, France and Italy, winning the latter two with 14 men. They had to dig deep, and Du Toit expects the same this weekend.
“There are a couple of things that will be similar to what we faced against France and Italy, both unbelievably physical sides,” he said. “The one thing that might be different is the level of structure, almost structure within structure.
“From my time playing over here (at Munster), and from speaking to the guys who play here now, they (Ireland) really understand their game very well. They understand the general play and the set-phase play.
“They’re a couple of phases ahead, they know who they want to target. That’s probably the biggest difference. But it doesn’t change anything for us. We do our homework as best we can, and we adapt on the day.”
Several of the other Springbok players and coaches have worked in Ireland before, with Munster lock RG Snyman the most notable at present.
“From a forward perspective, RG obviously brings a lot of expertise. He knows the Ireland players very well and trained with many of them. So there are definitely some personal insights into the team and the players who play for Ireland. That’s very beneficial.
“But those guys have also played against some of our players, so they’ll have good insights too.
“At the end of the day, the real test is on Saturday.”