Tighthead, loosehead … even lock, Nyakane will play where Boks need him

Trevor Nyakane isn’t too concerned about the number on his back or in what position he is asked to play, as long as the Springbok scrum moves in the right direction.

The Bok prop has shed some light on the challenges facing a versatile front-row forward like himself who is able to swap between the two prop positions.

Nyakane has the ability and skill set that allows him to pack down on the tighthead as well as loosehead side of the front-row.

“I’ll even play at lock, but I’m not sure how good I’ll be in the lineouts,” he said with a chuckle this week.

Nyakane has played most of his recent rugby on the tighthead side of the front-row, but in his early career, and just last week in the second Test against the British and Irish Lions, he played as a loosehead.

The Bulls prop’s impact from the bench last Saturday was massive, helping the Springboks to record a 27-9 win against the Lions, to square the series at 1-1.

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Asked this week about the challenges of swapping between loosehead and tighthead, Nyakane said: “From a technical perspective there are a lot of differences. It’s a challenge to move from one to the other.

“The last time I played loosehead (before the second Test) was in 2016.

“But I got a lot of help last week from guys like Ox (Nche) and Kitsie (Steven Kitshoff), who’ve played loosehead a lot.”

Nyakane added the contribution of all his team-mates, and scrum coach Daan Human, helped him swap roles without too much difficulty. He also credited the locks and loose-forwards for the Boks’ powerful scrumming so far against the Lions.

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“All credit to the back five; they give us so much firepower,” said the 32-year-old. “It’s not about me or someone else, it’s about the team and what’s best for the team. So, really at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter what number is on your back. We’ve all got a job to do.”

Asked which position he preferred, Nyakane said: “It’s a tough one. Earlier in my career, in my younger days, I was a loosehead but when the team was short of tightheads, I was asked to cover tighthead.

“At that time I would say I was a loosehead who helped out at tighthead. But, as time has gone on, I’m now a tighthead who is happy to help out at loosehead.

“Right now I’m on loosehead and what it comes down to is what is needed by the team. It’s not about me, it’s about South Africa and the green and gold.”