THE PEOPLE'S CHAMPION
One of the key selection criteria for the current Springboks coaches involves looking for a point of difference among players. What sets an individual apart? Call it X-factor or that special something; the Boks under Rassie Erasmus and Jacques Nienaber have placed a premium on looking for a player who boasts qualities that set him apart from the crowd.
In that context, there is probably no player who better epitomises this selection criteria than Cheslin Kolbe.
Through sheer weight of performances over his first two years on the test stage, the diminutive Springboks star has blazed his own unique trail in world rugby.
Such has been his success that any conversations around his size have faded into the distance as if mirroring the flailing English defenders who were left in his wake as he blitzed through for his famous try in last year’s World Cup final.
Kolbe – who punches above his weight on defence and seems to defy gravity with his abilities under the high ball – has proven that little men can make it big on the test stage.
Yet, despite his rise to prominence as one
