To quote a lyric from Mango Groove’s 1990 hit, ‘There’s a special star that shines’.
Cheslin Kolbe, who stands 172 centimetres tall and weighs less than 80 kilos, was originally considered ‘too little’ to be an international player.
However, the small flyer has become a ‘giant’ in the Springbok setup, a fixture and vital to how they play the game.
According to Michael R. Yormark, President of Roc Nation Sports International, Kolbe’s’mindset’ sets him apart from most other players.
“Cheslin looks at everything in his career as an opportunity,” Yormark told @king365ed.
Now, having played the game in numerous nations throughout the world, he is ready to’shine’ if selected to face Scotland, England, and Wales on the year-end tour.
Fixture Internationals
Scotland 18:10 November 24
South Africa: Statistics and Data
Fixture Internationals
England: 19:40, November 16, 24.
South Africa Stats and Data Fixtures Internationals
Wales 19:40 November 23, 24
South Africa: Statistics and Data
“He has played in South Africa, France, and now Japan – absolutely loving it,” the RNSI manager said of the 31-year-old.
“Everybody is different, and everyone looks for something different in their careers,” Yormark said, adding that Cheslin is enthusiastic about the game, but he is also passionate about playing in new cultures and nations.
“He travels the world as part of his job.
“I salute him, because it is not easy to do that, especially when it often separates you from your family,” he said of the 38-times-capped Bok’s journey.
Kolbe began his career with the Stormers in South Africa from 2012 to 2017, before moving on to Toulouse, France.
Kolbe started for Toulouse in the Top 14 Final in 2019, and the club went on to win the French Championship. He was then voted the Top 14 Player of the Season and Try of the Season.
Kolbe won both the European Cup and the Top 14 with Toulouse in 2021 before transferring to Toulon, where he appeared in the 2022 European Challenge Cup Final.
Kolbe joined Tokyo Sungoliath in 2023, and he helped the club finish third in Japan League One in his debut season.
He hopes to carry that form into the year-end trip, having also played a key role in South Africa’s successful Rugby Championship campaign.
While Kolbe has settled in Japan, Yormark expects that “at some point” Kolbe will wish to return to South Africa and complete his career there.
“It would be a storybook ending,” he stated about Kolbe’s possible ‘homecoming’.
“I can see it occurring,” Yormark told @rugby365com, adding, “I’ve talked to him about it.
“It is on the radar screen.”
* Roc Nation Sports International is now closely associated with Rugby Union, yet only five years ago, the agency had little knowledge of the sport.
Siyamthanda Kolisi, the first black Test captain of a Springbok squad, peaked their interest, prompting them to study more about him.
They were won over by something other than the historic captaincy.
The manner Kolisi handled and carried himself convinced the worldwide brand that he was exactly who they were looking for.
Roc Nation Sports International, a sub-division of Roc Nation, was founded in 2019, and the rest, as they say, is history; Bok talents such as Kolisi, Kolbe, Aphelele Fassi, Tendai Mtawarira, Jordan Hendrikse, and other South African youth are now on the RNSI roster.
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