Kolbe on that charge down: ‘I did everything by the book’

Cheslin Kolbe says his experience of playing alongside Thomas Ramos at Toulouse helped him time his charge down of the French fullback’s conversion kick to perfection.

An onrushing Kolbe successfully prevented Ramos from adding an extra two points for France in the first half of the World Cup quarter-final in Paris.

ALSO SEE: Highlights of Boks v France, including that Kolbe charge down

In hindsight, the charge down proved to be a very significant moment in the match as the Springboks held out for a one-point win to progress to the semi-finals.

While French supporters tried to argue after the game that Kolbe started his charge down run before Ramos started approaching the ball to kick it, the Springbok winger said there was no chance he was offside.

‘I did everything by the book’

“I think it definitely helped that I played with Thomas for six years and knew what he was doing,” Kolbe was quoted by Netwerk24.

“I did everything by the book and within the rules. I was behind the line before he started his run.”

Jacques Nienaber said that Kolbe’s effort to prevent the conversion highlighted how the Boks were willing to do everything it took to win on Sunday night.

“Cheslin’s charge down, you don’t see that often – somebody chasing a lost cause,” the Bok coach said.

“We were opened up a couple of times but the scrambling, the effort the players put in was enormous.”

This story first appeared on sarugbymag.co.za. It is republished here with permission. For the original story click here.