Cheslin Kolbe wisely opts to fight smallest player instead of one 25kg heavier
Cheslin Kolbe is not much of a fighter on a rugby pitch, he usually leaves that to the likes of Eben Etzebeth, but the Springbok knows how to pick his battles.
The Toulon star found himself in a little scuffle on Friday night against Glasgow Warriors in the Challenge Cup final in Dublin.
The fullback was covering and running towards the corner to prevent Glasgow from scoring when centre Huw Jones put in a grubber kick. Kolbe collided with Glasgow captain Kyle Steyn, and this did not go down too well with the wing.
The Scotland winger went over to Kolbe and started their little skirmish, however, this was not an even contest as the South African born winger weighs over 25 kg heavier than Kolbe. After initially grabbing Steyn, the Springbok wisely decided to shift his attention towards scrum half George Horne in this little battle, which was a much more even contest. Weighing in at 79 kg, just four more than Colby, Horne was a much safer opponent than Steyn and his 102 kg frame.
This was all part of a defensive masterclass from the South African, as Toulon went on to win comfortably 43-19. Kolbe produced quite a number of important interventions whether that was tackling, fielding high balls or on this occasion possibly blocking Steyn on his way to chase the kick. He has even added a 50:22 to his arsenal which he seems to pull out the bag almost every game.
Take a look at Colby’s performance
Steyn lamented his side’s slow start after the match, saying: “It’s disappointing and a pretty tough one to process.
“We weren’t where we needed to be in the first 20 minutes, but credit to Toulon – we were too soft.
“To come this far, and progress the way we have, and then to come unstuck in two play-off games will take some time to get over.
“We had enough belief that we could get this done. I thought there were lessons we could have learned against Munster that would have put us in a position to win this, but we didn’t react enough to them.
“I’m proud of the way the boys kept on fighting. We created chances, but in play-off rugby you have to take your chances.
“At the start of the season we said we wanted to play rugby in a way that inspired people to follow us and support us and with the number of people following us in Dublin it felt as though we had done that to some degree.”
