Cheslin Kolbe hoping to set things right against Wallabies in Brisbane

Springbok flyer Cheslin Kolbe is excited to return to the place where he made his Bok debut, the Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane, when they battle it out against the Wallabies in the opening match of the Rugby Championship on Saturday morning (6.45am SA time).

In his 33-match Test career so far, Kolbe has surprisingly only played the Wallabies twice, the first being his debut in the green and gold in Brisbane in 2018, where the Boks were edged 23-18 on the day.

The 30-year-old is thus hoping to make things right as the Boks try to get off to the perfect start in the competition Down Under.

“I made my debut in Brisbane and it was not a happy result, so to be back here with a team looking to build an exciting future is very cool,” said Kolbe.

“There is fresh talent coming through, and you know that there is always somebody pushing you for your position, so you must make the most of the healthy competition and play your best.

“But I’m not a player who looks too far ahead, because that is when you stumble. For me, it is just contributing as best I can, but mostly enjoying myself. That is why I play this game.”

Poor record

With the Boks’ poor record in Australia, Kolbe knows just how much of a challenge the match against the Wallabies will be, but is hopeful that they can get off to a winning start and set them on the way to a first Rugby Championship title since 2019.

“It will be unbelievable to get another one (Rugby Championship). But for us as a team, we are just looking forward to this coming Saturday,” admitted Kolbe.

“As I mentioned, we also don’t have a good history here in Australia. It’s not the World Cup, it’s the Rugby Championship and that’s our focus now.

“They have got good X-factor in their back three, guys that can make things happen out of nothing. But for us, we look forward to the opportunity.

“We analyse them, but our main focus is purely on ourselves, on what we want to achieve out of the game. And yeah, everything happens up front and whoever wins that, will have a good day on Saturday.” 

The Boks are also slowly developing into a more rounded team, thanks to new attack coach Tony Brown, who Kolbe holds in high regard, especially having heard about him coaching previously in Japan.

“Coach Tony comes with a lot of fresh ideas, it’s a new voice to the group. He was highly respected as a player and now as a coach. There is a lot of experience we can learn from,” said Kolbe.

“With me playing in Japan, the Japanese boys spoke highly about him, and since I’ve been back with the Springboks, coach Tony has been unbelievable. He just wants us to play rugby and express ourselves.”