Bok coach Rassie Erasmus paid tribute to Cheslin Kolbe after the star winger delivered another electrifying performance that helped spark his team to a 29-20 win over England at Twickenham on Saturday.
Kolbe was a dynamo in attack scoring a try in each half and proved a general menace as he jumped resolutely under the high ball. Kolbe was in the mood and he made England pay. The double RWC winner’s star quality is undiminished.
“He’s just a special player,” opined Erasmus. “It doesn’t seem to go to his head. I don’t think there is a title he actually hasn’t won. Maybe only a Super Rugby title. He always stays grounded. If you rest him and then plays, he is up to speed immediately. One cannot praise him enough. It is not just the glamorous things. There is a lot of off the ball stuff that he does well. We are really fortunate that we have such a good crop of wingers,” said Erasmus.
Kolbe’s feet on the ground nature was soon evident in his post match comments.
“I’m immensely proud of the team. We knew coming to England and Twickenham was not going to be easy at all. The composure the boys showed when things weren’t going our way, they pulled together and found solutions on the field.
“It wasn’t our best performance but we can look back at that and improve going into the next game.”
The two tries he scored boosted his overall tally to 18 in 39 Tests. He doesn’t have the best Bok strike rate but he scores when his team is in need. Interestingly 14 of his Test tries were scored outside SA.
“It is always good to score tries as wingers,” said Kolbe. “A lot of credit to the guys on the inside for putting in all that hard work. The hard work doesn’t go unnoticed. They don’t always get the recognition they deserve.”
Speaking of which, inside centre Damian de Allende again toiled tirelessly but it was his burst through the tackle of sturdy England No 8 Ben Earl and deft offload to set up Kolbe’s second try that provided a moment for the highlights reel.
“It is someone we know and what he’s capable of,” said Bok captain Siya Kolisi about De Allende. “He’s a big guy and he has one of the best passes in the team. We never know what he is going to do. What I love about him is his attitude. He is not scared to try stuff. He is not scared to take it on his shoulders. When we need warriors he is not scared to put his hand up ‘give it to me’. That’s what makes the team so special.”
Up front Eben Etzebeth and Pieter-Steph du Toit were towers of strength, while Jasper Wiese brought ferocity to the collisions in which he involved himself.
The Bok bench also played their part in seeing out the contest with Vincent Koch and Malcolm Marx making telling interventions.
Now the Boks’ attention shifts to the Principality Stadium in Wales where they have won just two of their past six Tests. Crucially, their last two visits ended in triumph.
“Wales is never easy. It’s been like that since I made my debut in 2018,” said Kolbe who was on the losing side in Cardiff that year.
“We know what they can bring. We give them respect and prepare ourselves as well as we can and that we implement what the coaches want. In international rugby there is no walk in the park,” he said perhaps aware Wales had lost their last 10 clashes preceding Sunday’s Test against the Wallabies.
The Boks need one final surge this year as they cross the Severn Bridge into Wales. “It was a good victory [at Twickenham] and we will draw confidence from that but a lot of hard work lies ahead. That is the beauty of this game, it gives you the opportunity to be a better rugby player and better team as well,” said Kolbe.
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