{"id":411798,"date":"2026-01-14T07:20:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-14T07:20:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/411798\/"},"modified":"2026-01-14T07:20:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-14T07:20:08","slug":"ox-nche-backs-sharks-to-go-all-out-for-big-win-against-clermont-in-champions-cup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/411798\/","title":{"rendered":"Ox Nche backs Sharks to go all out for big win against Clermont in Champions Cup"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sharks prop Ox Nche says his side will be going all out for five points when they take on winless French side Clermont in their European Champions Cup clash in Durban on Saturday. <\/p>\n

The Sharks<\/a> need a win, mostly likely with a bonus point, to stand a chance of reaching the play-offs of the premier European competition, and after a disappointing 26-10 defeat to Sale Sharks with a second-string side this past weekend, should be back to full strength. \u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe aim is to get maximum points,\u201d Nche<\/a> said. \u201cWe want to win and hopefully pick up extra points as well to improve our points difference (currently \u201348). We\u2019re going all in and seeing this as a playoff match.<\/p>\n

\u201cClermont<\/a> play a very expansive game. Even though they\u2019ve got a big French pack, they like to offload and play with tempo. They\u2019ve been very consistent in how they play.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s going to be a good challenge for us. We need to contain their forwards so their backs don\u2019t get opportunities to shine.\u201d<\/p>\n

Much has been made about teams sending second-string sides to matches as coaches try to manage the heavy workload placed on professional players these days.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But Nche says teams, and players, simply have to adapt to the modern game and its punishing schedule.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s our job to play rugby,\u201d he said. \u201cWe were used to playing one competition before (Super Rugby), and now these competitions require bigger squads and more rotation than we were used to.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe just have to adapt. I actually think it will raise the quality of players coming through, because more guys get exposure. Every team has to find the right balance, make sure they\u2019ve got fresh players, and that everyone is at a similar level.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sharks prop Ox Nche says his side will be going all out for five points when they take…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":411799,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,760,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-411798","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-rugby","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-rugby","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/411798","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=411798"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/411798\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/411799"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=411798"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=411798"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=411798"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}