Kolbe a shock addition to Springbok squad

Rassie please try Kolbe at scummie !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Cape Town - Former Blitzbok and Western Province outside back Cheslin Kolbe has been added to the Springbok squad for the forthcoming Australasian leg of the Rugby Championship as the only uncapped player.

WATCH: Cheslin Kolbe sets up wonder try in France

The fleet-footed Kolbe was on Thursday named in the 31-man Springbok squad for the two Tests away to Australia and New Zealand. South Africa face the Wallabies in Brisbane on September 8, and the following week they take on the All Blacks in Wellington (September 8).

Rassie Erasmus, the SA Rugby Director of Rugby, has added six players to the squad that returned on Tuesday from Argentina. They are the 24-year-old Kolbe, Schalk Brits (hooker), Sikhumbuzo Notshe (loose forward), Ross Cronje (scrumhalf) and Jesse Kriel and Damian de Allende (both centres).(Please note all those struggling with understanding centre play!!)

Kolbe, a former Junior Springbok fullback who was a non-playing member of the 2016 Springbok tour squad to Europe, has established himself as a key backline player for Toulouse since joining the French club from Western Province. He is equally at home out wide on the wing. 

According to Erasmus, the new additions give the squad added experience in some areas while also providing him the chance to continue building squad depth for next year’s Rugby World Cup. 

De Allende has shrugged off his injury while Cronje, a regular in the Bok starting line-up last year, comes into the squad in a straight rotational switch with Ivan van Zyl, who will be getting some game time with his province in the Currie Cup. 

“Cheslin has certainly grabbed his opportunities for his French club and he has earned his spot in the squad. He is in good form and we are delighted have him in the group,” said Erasmus. 

“Damian was close to full fitness during our recent training camp, while Ross, Jesse and Notshe got some valuable game time while playing for their provinces in the Currie Cup last weekend.” 

De Allende and Wilco Louw have been released to play in the Currie Cup for Western Province on Friday evening and will link up with the squad before their departure in Johannesburg on Saturday. 

The other players who had been training with the squad but will not travel Down Under, Van Zyl, Lwazi Mvovo, Lionel Mapoe, Marvin Orie and Akker van der Merwe, are also released back to their respective provinces. ( Very hard on world class Akkers!! !)

“We would like to ensure these players remain match fit and the Currie Cup is the ideal place for them to ensure they don’t get rusty, which is why we decided it would be in their best interest to return to their provinces so that they can be considered for selection,” explained Erasmus. 

The Bok squad will assemble on Saturday in Johannesburg and they fly out to Brisbane later on the same day.

ALSO READ: Kolbe's Bok dream 'very much alive'

The Springbok squad for Australasia (in alphabetical order - name and surname, position, franchise/club, Test caps and points): 

Forwards:

Schalk Brits (Hooker, Unattached, 11, 5 - 1t)
Pieter-Steph du Toit (Lock / loose forward, Western Province, 38, 20 - 4t)
Thomas du Toit (Prop, Sharks, 5, 0)
Eben Etzebeth (Lock, Western Province, 69, 15 - 3t)
Steven Kitshoff (Prop, Western Province, 29, 5 - 1t)
Siya Kolisi (captain - Loose forward, Western Province, 33, 25 - 5t)
Francois Louw (Loose forward, Bath, 59, 45 - 9t)
Wilco Louw (Prop, Western Province, 8, 0)
Frans Malherbe (Prop, Western Province, 21, 0)
Malcolm Marx (Hooker, Golden Lions, 16, 15 - 3t)
Bongi Mbonambi (Hooker, Western Province, 18, 5 - 1t)
Franco Mostert (Lock, Gloucester, 22, 5 - 1t)
Tendai Mtawarira (Prop, Sharks, 103, 10 - 2t)
Sikhumbuzo Notshe (Loose forward, Western Province, 4, 0)
RG Snyman (Lock, Bulls/Honda Heat, 4, 0)
Marco van Staden (Loose forward, Blue Bulls, 1, 0)
Warren Whiteley (No 8, Golden Lions, 19, 15 - 3t) 

Backs:

Lukhanyo Am (Centre, Sharks, 5, 5 - 1t)
Ross Cronjé (Scrumhalf, Golden Lions, 10, 10 - 2t)
Damian de Allende (Centre, Western Province, 30, 15 - 3t)
Faf de Klerk (Scrumhalf, Sale Sharks, 16 , 10 - 2t)
Aphiwe Dyantyi (Wing, Golden Lions, 5, 15 - 3t)
André Esterhuizen (Centre, Sharks/Sanix Blues, 4, 0)
Elton Jantjies (Flyhalf, Golden Lions, 26, 215 - 2t, 41c, 41p)
Cheslin Kolbe (Outside back, Toulouse, 0, 0)
Jesse Kriel (Centre, Blue Bulls, 32, 45 - 9t)
Willie le Roux (Fullback, Wasps, 46, 55 - 11t)
Makazole Mapimpi (Wing, Sharks, 3, 15 - 3t)
Embrose Papier (Scrumhalf, Blue Bulls, 3, 0)
Handré Pollard (Flyhalf, Blue Bulls, 31, 254 - 3t, 46c, 46p, 3d)
Damian Willemse (Flyhalf, Western Province, 2, 0)

Probably a move to prevent that guy from playing for another side.

Guy is being conned and will lose opportunities.

Other SA players playing in the North were smart enough to decline, claiming injury.

Well, glad I called that right. Boks need a few players who have speed and elusiveness. Relying on wee Willie as the only one with these attributes would be crazy.

Dear me...now we are going south faster than the speed of lightning.

We need stopping power at centre, we already have speed out wide. What Rassie has to do is figure out how to get outside a rush on the outside. Los Pumas caught us well with that. A few tweaks will suffice, panic selections revisiting old haunts is going to put Rassie under unnecessary pressure. 

Rassie has shown his hand with this squad,  he's lost the plot. I said the next test will define him, what I also should have said is that his next team will define him as well......and it has, he is toast.

I agree, the next test is going to show us a lot about his ability to analyze a loss, evaluate players and game plan. I think I know where he is going, and it frightens me. I hope I am wrong. 

Kolbe was an average 7's player as well as an average S15 player.....what does the foo l Erasmus think is going to change at test level?

When I was analysing the Stormers in 2014 to 2015 I saw a lot of good things from Kolbe, but he is still a vulnerability. The Stormer's backline really lacked a big hitter. Right now, we have a nice balance of size, pace and skill. We've leaned towards these smaller players many times in the past, few have delivered. 

He's too small for a test outside back.

Skill and heart isn't the issue here. Finding him on a stretcher after Ioane runs over him is. 

Another stupid decision by Coach Erasmus.

How shit were the Stormers this year without Kolbe...

You are right Sharkbok, Willie is not a great defender. Kolbe is definitely a great attacker. Willie, though, is our second key decision maker. So much of our play runs through him. I can't see any other player who can replicate what he does. We don't have many great options at fullback. 

I'm with Dragon on this one, Kolbe is too small, it's another attempt to "midgetise" the team. The  choice is between Combrink and Kriel at fullback, Combrink has the added advantage of goal kicking.

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Payback huh? No problem, I've never had a problem admitting to an error.....do you know of anyone else on here who does? Hen's teeth bro...hen's teeth. Let me know when you do.

Glad to see the kid doing well, never rated him in 7's...one of Rassie's better selections, Kolbe has been a revelation and a delight. Glad to be wrong, that said for what it's worth I still tipped the Boks to make the semi's and the final as well as a Bok win before the commencement of the tourney. Did you? 

Combrink would have been very handy in this WC.

Don't forget Moffie's comment on this thread  before the 2018 EOYT:

"Is Kolbe really going to work out as a test wing? I doubt it."

Of course, after Kolbe's great performances on that tour - being Moffie - he still promoted himself as the "lead supporter" of Kolbe . . . even though you won't find a single post of Moffie's before Novem ber 2018 where he had anything good to say about Kolbe while some of us have been punting him since 2013 . . . but Moffie claims he's the one who discovered Kolbe while his Servile Gimps all squeal with delight.

LMAO!

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Jerome if you recall Giteau was  moved to scrummie, because he was deemed too small .... and never made the transition. I take your point on defence, but Kolbe could survive by going low. Aplon who was even smaller brought the big guys down like giant Redwoods. 

The Beeno comment was the most sensible. Kolbe would have been the premier scrummie in the world and made the Boks team years earlier. 

If only our people had vision. 

Yet, now he is the premier wing...and our scrummies ain't half bad either..win-win.