There was no dream start to Richie Murphy's stewardship of Ulster as the province's run of poor form continued with a loss to the Sharks yesterday, gifting the South African side just their second win of the season.
While the Irish side struggled across the pitch, their scrum fell victim to possibly the most exceptional piece of scrummaging you'll see in professional rugby, with South African prop Ox Nche absolutely dismantling Tom O'Toole and the Ulster scrum sending them straight into the air.
The taking apart of the Ulster scrum was just one flaw in a far-from-perfect performance where the province fell 22-12 to a side that before yesterday were bottom of the URC table and had only recorded a single win out of eleven games this season.
The loss marked a tough start to interim manager Richie Murphy's stewardship of the team Ireland and scrum coach John Fogarty, who also recently joined the coaching staff.
Scrum porn from Ox Nche 😍😍
OT pic.twitter.com/Y5z8qcGbyK— Old Downbadians RFC (@OldDownbadians) March 24, 2024
Fans go wild For Ox Nche Scrum against Ulster
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While Murphy and Fogarty might need more time to get the Ulster set-up back performing again, it did little to save Tom O'Toole any embarrassment with the prop left in utter disbelief at what had happened after the scrum.
As expected, Nche's destruction of O'Toole didn't go unnoticed with fans taking to social media to laud the South African giant for his phenomenal performance, with one fan calling him a 'bad man' and another likening the dismantling of the scrum to a ballerina.
@thepaulwilliams @oxnche and Tom O’Toole in that last scrum #SHAvULS pic.twitter.com/Rkx9Lh1HbI
— Stephen (@mcgeebers) March 23, 2024
Other fans couldn't believe what had occurred, claiming Ox Nche was simply playing at another level to O'Toole.
At this point the Ulster prop knew there are levels to this game and he just witnessed it from 10ft in the air. Go Ox! @oxnche @sharksrugbyfans @UlsterRugby pic.twitter.com/uvPZnDeek9
— A&E Rugby Podcast (@aerugbypodcast) March 24, 2024
This is very beautiful. Nche, Mbonambi and Koch is quite possibly the most destructive scrummaging front row in the world. https://t.co/APGmg37Rer
— Jonathan Brown (@Broonjunior) March 24, 2024
With calls for key Irish players to be rested in the lead-up to Ireland's top-of-the-rankings clash with South Africa in July, there's no doubt that once again Tom O'Toole and the Irish front row could be left fighting the might of the South African front row.
For Ulster, however, there will be little respite as they continue their South African tour and travel south to Cape Town where they must take on the DHL Stormers. If they are to secure a spot in the knockout stages of the competition, they'll need a significant improvement not only at scrum-time but all around the pitch as well.
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