The Internet can’t get enough of Cheslin Kolbe sitting down 105kg France flanker
Cheslin Kolbe had quite an eventful game against France on Saturday in Marseille as the Springboks lost 30-26.
The winger kicked eight points, including an impressive long range penalty, and saw plenty of the ball. Of course, the most noticeable part of his game was being tackled in the air by France captain Antoine Dupont which resulted in the scrum-half being red carded.
But the most impressive moment of the winger’s match probably came early in the second half after carrying the ball from the back of a maul. With a five metre run up, the World Cup winner smashed into France flanker Anthony Jelonch and sent him flying. Despite the Frenchman having a 30kg advantage over the Bok, he was unceremoniously dumped onto his backside as Kolbe carried on his run. This was actually followed by what looked to be a fairly suspect high tackle from France’s Romain Taofifénua on Kolbe which was ignored.
This was not the only time in the match that Kolbe got the better of Jelonch though, as the flanker also failed to stop him in the first half. On that occasion it was some nifty footwork that beat him rather than brute force.
RugbyCoach8 shared a video of Kolbe’s performance online. Take a look at his match:
Springboks head coach Jacques Nienaber was full of praise for France after the match.
“They (France) are certainly close to one of the favourites,” he said when looking ahead to the World Cup next year on French soil.
“The last game they lost was against Australia in 2021 and they have won 12 on the trot now. I don’t think there is any other team that has come close to that streak recently.
“That said, one could see by Italy’s win (against Australia earlier on Saturday) that there is a lot of competition in world rugby at the moment.”
