Cheslin Kolbe

Cheslin Kolbe

Kolbe playing for South Africa in 2022
Date of birth	(1993-10-28) 28 October 1993 (age 31)
Place of birth	Kraaifontein, South Africa
Height	1.71 m (5 ft 7+1⁄2 in)[1]
Weight	75 kg (165 lb; 11 st 11 lb)[1]
School	Hoërskool Brackenfell
University	University of the Free State
Notable relative(s)	Wayde van Niekerk (cousin)
Rugby union career
Position(s) Wing / Fullback / Fly-half Current team Tokyo Sungoliath Youth career 2009–2012 Western Province Senior career Years Team Apps (Points) 2012–2017 Western Province 43 (65) 2013–2017 Stormers 49 (74) 2017–2021 Toulouse 82 (172) 2021–2023 Toulon 30 (50) 2023– Tokyo Sungoliath 8 (25) Correct as of 24 May 2023 International career Years Team Apps (Points) 2013 South Africa U20 5 (10) 2015–2016 South Africa Sevens 30 (113) 2018– South Africa 39 (111) Correct as of 16 November 2024
Medal record Representing  South Africa Men's Men's Rugby Sevens Olympic Games 2016 Rio de Janeiro Team competition Men's Men's Rugby 15's Rugby World Cup 2019 Japan Squad 2023 France Squad

Cheslin Kolbe (born 28 October 1993) is a South African professional rugby union player who currently plays for Tokyo Sungoliath in the Japan Rugby League One and the South Africa national team.^[2] His regular position is wing, but he also plays at fullback. He has also recently featured at fly half for Toulouse in the Top 14, and as a scrum half internationally. Kolbe was a member of the South Africa Sevens team that won a bronze medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics. He has won the Rugby World Cup twice with South Africa, in 2019 and 2023. Kolbe was nominated for 2019 World Rugby Player of the Year but lost to teammate Pieter-Steph du Toit. He previously played for Toulouse, Toulon, Stormers, and Western Province. He has also won the Rugby Championship and the Lions Series with the Springboks, the Top14 and Champions Cup with Toulouse, the Currie Cup with Western Province, and the Challenge Cup with Toulon. He is one of the highest paid rugby players in the world, with a reported salary of between ¥130–155 million yen per season.

He has scored 14 tries in 31 tests for South Africa. He is one of the fastest rugby players ever with a time of 10.70 for the 100m. Kolbe is famous for his outstanding defensive capabilities-despite his diminutive frame-and stunning stepping and speed, as well as power in contact. He made his debut for South Africa in 2018 in a 23–18 loss to Australia. He rapidly became more well known and was soon regarded as a world-class player.

Early life

Kolbe played for Hoërskool Brackenfell. He represented Western Province at various youth levels, from the Under-16 Grant Khomo Week in 2009 to the 2012 Under-21 Provincial Championship.

Club career

Western Province

He made his provincial first class debut in their Vodacom Cup match against Boland Cavaliers.^[3] and a month later he was named on the bench for the Stormers for their Super Rugby game against the Sharks.^[4]

In October 2014, he was part of the Western Province team that won the Currie Cup by beating the Lions 19–16.^[5]

He penned a three-year deal to remain at Western Province until 2016.^[6]

Toulouse

Kolbe with Toulouse in 2017

Kolbe moved to France to join Top 14 side Toulouse for the 2017–2018 season.^[7] Kolbe received a call-up to the South Africa national team for the 2018 Rugby Championship. He made his debut for South Africa against Australia on 8 September, during Round Three of the competition, coming on in the 33rd minute as an injury replacement for Makazole Mapimpi, in a match that South Africa lost 18–23.

In June 2019, Kolbe started for Stade Toulousain in the Top 14 final winning the French Championship. In 2021 Kolbe won both the European Cup and the Top 14 with Toulouse.

International career

Kolbe made his test debut in 2018 and played an important part in Springboks winning the 2019 Rugby Championship. On 2 November, Kolbe was part of the 2019 World-Cup winning team in Japan, scoring a try late in the second half of the Final against England. Kolbe was again instrumental in the 2021 British & Irish Lions tour to South Africa, starting in all three test matches and the South Africa A match. Kolbe scored the Springboks' only try in the third and deciding test of the tour to propel South Africa to a series win. He was also instrumental to victory in the 2023 World Cup, where he received a yellow card and was sent off for a deliberate knock-on in the last ten minutes of the World Cup final, as South Africa held on to win 12–11 against New Zealand.

South Africa Under-20

In 2013, he was included in the training group that toured Argentina in preparation for the 2013 IRB Junior World Championship.^[8] He was then included in the squad for the 2013 IRB Junior World Championship.^[9]

National sevens team

Between 2012 and 2017, he represented the South Africa Sevens team. In 2013, he was included in the squad for the 2013 Rugby World Cup Sevens.^[10] Kolbe was included in a 12-man squad for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.^[11] He was named as a substitute for their first match in Group B of the competition against Spain, with South Africa winning the match 24–0.^[12][13]

Honours

Western Province

• 2014 Currie Cup winner

Toulouse

• Heineken Cup European Champions/European Rugby Champions Cup: 2021
• Top 14 French League : 2019, 2021

Toulon

• European Challenge Cup: 2022–23

South Africa

• 2019 Rugby Championship winner
• 2019 Rugby World Cup winner
• 2019 World Rugby Men's 15s Player of the Year nominee
• 2021 British & Irish Lions tour to South Africa winner
• 2023 Qatar Airways Cup vs New Zealand at Twickenham winner
• 2023 Rugby World Cup winner
• 2024 Rugby Championship winner

South Africa 7's

• 2016 Olympics Bronze medal

Test Match record

As of 16 November 2024

Against	P	W	D	L	Tri	Pts	%Won
Argentina	4	4	0	0	2	10	100
Australia	4	3	0	1	0	0	75
British and Irish Lions	3	2	0	1	1	5	66.67
England	3	3	0	0	3	15	100
France	3	2	0	1	1	13	66.67
Italy	2	2	0	0	3	23	100
Ireland	4	1	0	3	2	13	25
Japan	2	2	0	0	2	10	100
New Zealand	8	4	1	3	3	17	50
Scotland	2	2	0	0	0	0	100
Wales	4	3	0	1	1	5	75
Total	39	28	1	10	18	111	71.79

Pld = Games Played, W = Games Won, D = Games Drawn, L = Games Lost, Tri = Tries Scored, Pts = Points Scored

Test tries (18)

Try	Opposition	Location	Venue	Competition	Date	Result	Score
1	New Zealand	Wellington, New Zealand	Westpac Stadium	2018 Rugby Championship	15 September 2018	Win	34–36
2	New Zealand	Pretoria, South Africa	Loftus Versfeld	2018 Rugby Championship	6 October 2018	Loss	30–32
3	Argentina	Salta, Argentina	Estadio Padre Ernesto Martearena	2019 Rugby Championship	10 August 2019	Win	13–46
4	Japan	Kumagaya, Japan	Kumagaya Rugby Stadium	Test match	6 September 2019	Win	7–41
5
6	Italy	Fukuroi, Japan	Shizuoka Stadium	2019 Rugby World Cup	4 October 2019	Win	3–49
7
8	England	Yokohama, Japan	International Stadium Yokohama	2019 Rugby World Cup Final	2 November 2019	Win	12–32
9	British and Irish Lions	Cape Town, South Africa	Cape Town Stadium	2021 British & Irish Lions tour	7 August 2021	Win	19–16
10	Wales	Pretoria, South Africa	Loftus Versfeld Stadium	2022 Wales tour	2 July 2022	Win	32–29
11	Italy	Genoa, Italy	Luigi Ferraris Stadium	2022 end-of-year rugby union internationals	19 November 2022	Win	21–63
12	New Zealand	Auckland, New Zealand	Mount Smart Stadium	2023 Rugby Championship	15 July 2023	Loss	35–20
13	Ireland	Saint-Denis, France	Stade de France	2023 Rugby World Cup	23 September 2023	Loss	8–13
14	France	Saint-Denis, France	Stade de France	2023 Rugby World Cup	15 October 2023	Win	28–29
15	Ireland	Pretoria, South Africa	Loftus Versfeld Stadium	2024 Ireland tour of South Africa	6 July 2024	Win	27–20
16	Argentina	Mbombela, South Africa	Mbombela Stadium	2024 Rugby Championship	28 September 2024	Win	48–7
17	England	London, England	Twickenham Stadium	2024 end-of-year rugby union internationals	16 November 2024	Win	20–29
18

Personal life

Kolbe married Layla Cupido in 2018 and they have three children together.^[14][15]

He is a devout Christian.^[16][17]

Kolbe is a cousin of famous South African track and field sprinter Wayde van Niekerk,^[17] who won the gold medal in the 400 metres at the 2016 Olympics and is the current 300m and 400m world record holder.

References

1. "Cheslin Kolbe player profile". rugbyworldcup.com. Retrieved 22 October 2023.
2. "SA Rugby Player Profile – Cheslin Kolbe". South African Rugby Union. Retrieved 30 May 2016.
3. "SA Rugby Match Centre – Regent Boland Cavaliers 17–17 DHL Western Province". South African Rugby Union. 9 March 2013. Retrieved 1 July 2016.
4. "Van Aswegen to start at flyhalf". Stormers. 10 April 2013. Retrieved 10 April 2013., then he took a year out to join moyvalley rugby club
5. http://www.sport24.co.za/Rugby/CurrieCup/WP-crowned-Currie-Cup-champs-20141025/accessdate=2015-09-14 ^{[dead link‍]}
6. "New deal for WP's Kolbe". Planet Rugby. 13 August 2013. Archived from the original on 27 December 2013. Retrieved 16 August 2013.
7. "Communiqué officiel Cheslin Kolbe sera Stadiste en 2017-2018" (Press release) (in French). Stade Toulousain. 18 January 2017. Archived from the original on 18 January 2017. Retrieved 18 January 2017.
8. "SA U20 training group named for Argentine tour". South African Rugby Union. 28 March 2013. Archived from the original on 7 June 2016. Retrieved 6 June 2016.
9. "Steenkamp leads powerful SA U20 JWC squad". South African Rugby Union. 25 April 2013. Archived from the original on 7 June 2016. Retrieved 6 June 2016.
10. "Kyle Brown back to command Springbok Sevens for Mission Moscow". South African Rugby Union. 20 June 2013. Archived from the original on 7 June 2016. Retrieved 6 June 2016.
11. "Rugby Sevens squad for Olympics named". South African Rugby Union. 14 July 2016. Archived from the original on 9 August 2016. Retrieved 9 August 2016.
12. "Men Schedule & Results – Olympic Rugby Sevens (RSA–ESP)". Rio 2016. 9 August 2016. Archived from the original on 9 August 2016. Retrieved 9 August 2016.
13. "Olympic Games Men's Sevens, Match 2". World Rugby. 9 August 2016. Archived from the original on 9 August 2016. Retrieved 9 August 2016.
14. "Cheslin Kolbe ties the knot on Top Billing". www.topbilling.com. Retrieved 18 December 2023.
15. Karimi, Cindy (7 July 2023). "Rugby WAGS: Meet Layla Kolbe, Cheslin Kolbe's wife [Pics]". The South African. Retrieved 18 December 2023.
16. "Twee neefs soek goud". Netwerk24 (in Afrikaans). 16 July 2016. Retrieved 19 July 2016.
17. de Villiers, Ockert (17 July 2016). "Rio a family affair for Wayde, Cheslin". Independent Online. Retrieved 23 September 2019.

External links

• Cheslin Kolbe at Springboks
• Cheslin Kolbe at the World Rugby Men's Sevens Series (archived)
• Cheslin Kolbe at European Professional Club Rugby
• Cheslin Kolbe at ESPNscrum
• Cheslin Kolbe at ItsRugby.co.uk
• Cheslin Kolbe at Olympedia