Cheslin Kolbe's story is further proof of sport's ability to be life changing. Growing up in the crime-filled streets of Kraaifontein, a northern suburb of Cape Town, the 5' 7" winger/full-back recalls hearing gun shots between rival gangs on an almost daily basis.
Talking to friends back home, he says the scale of the coronavirus in South Africa has made things 10 times worse, due to "people losing their jobs and becoming more desperate to get food on the table. So they do whatever it takes."
For as long as he can remember, athletics, rugby and football were his obsessions, and rugby his salvation. For this he is indebted to his father, Andrew, as well his innate speed and blinding footwork.
His father played anti-apartheid rugby with the Hands and Heart rugby club in Kraaifontein, and Kolbe’s match-sealing try in the Rugby World Cup final was all the more symbolic given that he was born six months before Nelson Mandela became president of South Africa, thus bringing an end to one of the world’s most reprehensible systems.
His father provided young Kolbe with a role model and a constant source of guidance and encouragement.
“I’ve always grown up in an environment of rugby; my dad obviously played rugby in his younger days. I literally went everywhere he went and that was to training, to rugby games on weekends, and it was just where I lived each and every day, to be honest.
“When I was a kid, there wasn’t the opportunities I would have liked that I currently know are out there in today’s life, but that’s definitely grown me into a player wanting to succeed more and more each and every time I get onto the field.”
He was also blessed with lightning speed - a running rival was his cousin, Wayde van Niekerk, the 400m Olympic gold medalist - and mesmerising footwork, which helped him survive in under-age rugby when invariably the smallest player on the pitch.
“My footwork and everything has definitely played a part of me playing in the streets, having fun with my friends and, obviously, just being competitive with the big boys.
“Where my dad played his club rugby, I’d always play touch rugby with them, get smashed, get stepped, get hand-offs, but that’s what I enjoyed, that’s what I did each and every week. So I think that definitely helped me in terms of the bit of talent that I’ve got today and that I can showcase to the rest of the world.”
Too small
Yet Kolbe was regularly told he was too small to make it as a professional rugby. He heard this through under-12 to Under-15 trials in Western Province, and even when breaking into the Stormers' team his size was regurgitated whenever he fell off a tackle, with former coaches such as Nick Mallet maintaining he should switch to scrumhalf.
I'm a firm believer that this game is meant for each and every human being, no matter how big or small you are
In the Chasing the Sun documentary about South Africa’s World Cup triumph, his father revealed: “It was very tough for him. When you open the newspaper, you read comments about how small Cheslin is. But Cheslin’s words always stuck with me: ‘Dad, I will become a Springbok’.”
Kolbe once said: “I’m a firm believer that this game is meant for each and every human being, no matter how big or small you are.”
Opting to move to Toulouse in 2017 was the making of him.
With their emphasis on footwork rather than size among their backs, Toulouse were the perfect fit and Kolbe was an instant hit, scoring 10 tries in 23 games in his first season.
Rassie Erasmus gave him his debut off the bench in a 23-18 defeat by Australia in Brisbane in September 2018 and just over a year later Kolbe provided the X factor in the Springboks' World Cup triumph.
When speaking to the media form his home in Toulouse this week, behind him was a framed montage of Kolbe, his wife Layla and their daughter Kylah (in November last year they welcomed their second daughter Mila Skye) posing with the William Webb Ellis trophy, and to the backdrop of a portrait of Nelson Mandela.
He talks passionately of achieving more, “not just for myself but the team I play for.”
“It’s another opportunity for me this coming weekend. Hopefully, I’ll get a few cracks with the ball, but I’ll just stay in the moment and just make sure that whatever I do, it’s to the best of the team’s ability to go forward.”
The Stade Toulouse training complex has plenty of framed reminders of its past four triumphs in this competition, from the inaugural European Cup in 1995-96 through to 2003, ‘05 and ‘10. The H Cup in the DNA of les rouge et noire.
Yet that creates pressure as well as inspiration. Kolbe freely admits that he has been more nervous in the build-up to today’s decider than he was for the World Cup final, primarily he says because of the “long wait” since their last appearance in the final 11 years ago.
“We definitely do discuss it. We have a lot of old memories all around the stadium, with the four stars and the various teams that have played in the finals. And I think it also just brings a bit of motivation into the group that’s going to be playing this coming week.
“And I think that Toulouse has got an incredible history with the incredible players it’s produced throughout the years and, obviously, achieving so much with the Champions Cup and the Top 14. So, yeah, definitely a bit of history all around, but I think it’s there to motivate us to, hopefully, succeed this coming Saturday.”
This could be another enormous year in Kolbe’s career to even rival that of 2019, when Toulouse also won a cherished bouclier de brennus for the 20th time. Toulouse also lead the Top 14 table and, of course, the Lions are coming to South Africa in July.
Kolbe was 15 when the Lions last visited South Africa and had just broken into the Western Province under-16 team.
“I was always in love with the game, but that’s when I definitely fell more and more in love with the game. Just watching it on TV, all the supporters, the majority in the stadiums were wearing red jerseys and, just the atmosphere all around was, like, insane. I’ve never seen South Africa, as crazy as what it was back in 2009.
“It’s going to be interesting. It’s been more than a year and a half now without any international rugby. I’m actually quite excited to see how the boys are going to be going. I know once you pull on that green and gold jersey you just leave everything out on the field.
“I’m sure each and every player will give their all to the jersey, and hopefully we will play for each other, but most of all for our country, and hopefully continue to make the jersey proud.”
