Cheslin Kolbe is seeing the silver lining of his recent injury setback despite the fact that the Springboks superstar is unable to even chew on a steak.
The double World Cup winner was in fine form in Green and Gold, hot off the back of being the top points scorer in the Japan Rugby League One season. His success off the tee with Suntory Sungoliath saw him take over the kicking duties for Rassie Erasmus’ charges during the Nations Championship, and he held onto that responsibility for the Tests against the All Blacks in Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series.
The added responsibility of kicking for posts didn’t take away from Kolbe’s overall performances as he continued to be a threat with ball in hand to the All Blacks defence while being superb in the air.
Cheslin Kolbe opens up on breaking his jaw
However, his fine form and involvement in the series came to a grinding halt in the third Test match in Soweto when his jaw collided with an All Blacks carrier’s knee. That ended his game early into the third Test and has delayed his Stormers homecoming, as he has been mending his jaw since.
“It’s the most frustrating injury to have,” Kolbe told former Springboks teammate Steven Kitshoff on an episode of For the Love of Rugby South Africa.
“Firstly, you can’t eat, you have a swollen face for about 3 weeks, got a lot of pain. The worst is you get home, your wife’s cooking or getting dinner ready, or you’re having to go buy food, and you can’t eat at all.
“Sometimes I’ll just walk out of the house and walk around while the family’s eating because it’s frustrating, and all I could obviously do is be on a liquid diet, having to drink everything out of a straw, and the amount of things you thought that you can’t put in a blender- I’ve probably put in a blender because I was craving a piece of steak, a piece of sausage, even chocolate. It’s the second time that I broke my jaw.”
Despite the pain and lack of solid food, Kolbe can still see the silver lining as his forced absence from the game has given him the opportunity to spend more time with his family. During his spell in Japan, Kolbe’s wife and kids remained in South Africa.
“I just try to look at the positive side of things from when it happened until where I am now with my recovery; it’s obviously tough not being able to play and be on the field every weekend,” he continued.
“And for me, it’s the most frustrating thing to watch rugby because now I know what it feels like as a supporter; you can see all the space on the TV, and you try and encourage and shout, ‘Go there, go there’, but it’s a blessing in disguise; I get much more time with my wife and my kids. Just the small things that I couldn’t do when I was in Japan: take them to school, fetch him from school, watch my kids do extra murals, go to sport, just enjoy being a dad and being present.
“During this injury period, the time I get at home is, I don’t think time or money or anything can buy that.”
“You never know”
Many fans were taken aback by Kolbe’s ability off the tee during the Test against England in the Nations Championship and then again versus the All Blacks later in the year. However, the speedster revealed that he has always worked on his placekicking since his youth days.
Until his final season with Suntory, Kolbe was never the first-choice kicker for his club but has fulfilled the duties on occasion for the likes of Toulouse and RC Toulon during his spell in France.
“I’ve been kicking since I was in primary school, continued in high school and in France, especially when the guys were off for international duty in Six Nations, I would be taking the kicks,” he said.
“In Japan early this year, taking over as the first-choice kicker definitely helped me a lot. The amount of work I’ve put in with the coaches in Japan, just tweaking small things that could make me more accurate because I was literally all over the show; I was never guaranteed that it was going over or it would be a close miss.
“I was always working on my kicks, whether it was 30 minutes here kicking a few balls just to get my strike or my rhythm in. So funny, it shows that if you stay on top of things all the time, you never know when you’re going to need it, whether that’s early in your career or later.”
While he is happy to do the job for the Springboks, he doesn’t envy the pressure the likes of Handre Pollard, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu and others have endured having been the first-choice kickers throughout their careers.
“Especially at the international level, taking over the kicking responsibilities, I’m glad I’m not a guy like Handre or Sacha or any of the kickers because, man, it’s stressful,” Kolbe admitted.
“I remember with England, like, the nerves were there, but with the Greatest Rivalry, I told my wife on the Friday before the first Test, I literally can’t sleep because all I’m doing is lying in bed trying to work out my kicking routine, my processes, and everything.
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“It shows you that if you just stay on top of it and want to fine-tune every part of your game, you never know when you’re going to need it.
“Japan helped me because I managed to do really well there and
get top points scorer in the league this year and take that confidence into the Greatest Rivalry – it gave me more confidence and made me calmer, as did the coaches who really believed in my kicking ability. Tony Brown worked with me, trying to fine-tune it and seeing how I can be better and more accurate.
“I just want to learn every day and sharpen up on every skill set that is possible. I’m happy to take over the kicking responsibility as long as I can contribute to the team’s success in a positive way at the end of the day, and I’m comfortable; I’m more than happy to do so.”