Cheslin Kolbe is fast making a name for himself in the French Top 14.
Having arrived at the club in August from the Stormers in Cape Town, the 24-year-old has hit the ground running and gone on to score six tries from just eight appearances for his new club.
His latest contribution was his first ever brace in French rugby as Toulouse ran out 38-37 winners in a thrilling contest against Bordeaux.
Kolbe, reports suggested after the match, was instrumental in his side’s win as the crowd at Stade Ernest-Wallon chanted his name following a second-half interception that brought the house down.
Always a fan favourite during his time at Newlands, Kolbe was used primarily as a fullback under Allister Coetzee before Robbie Fleck shifted him to the wing in 2016.
Toulouse’s South African winger Cheslin Kolbe runs to score a try during the French Top 14 rugby union match Toulouse v Pau at The Ernest Wallon Stadium in Toulouse, southern France on September 2, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / PASCAL PAVANI (Photo credit should read PASCAL PAVANI/AFP/Getty Images)
Toulouse coach Ugo Mola expressed his satisfaction with Kolbe.
“This is all the more a good recruit, when you fight to have a boy of 70 kilos while everyone asks you if you are sure, because the others take boys of 120 or 130 kilos,” he was quoted as saying on French website Rugbyrama.
“Cheslin Kolbe is a different guy who will gradually finish filling the stadium which was already almost full … it’s super nice.”
Having never been capped at international level, Kolbe is unavailable for the Springboks until 2019 in line with SA Rugby’s newly-implemented policy on overseas-based players.
