Eleven kicks from eleven in two Tests, after a Friday night spent awake. Cheslin Kolbe, on For The Love Of Rugby: South Africa.
The night before the first Test against the All Blacks, Cheslin Kolbe told his wife he could not sleep.
“I told my wife the Friday before the first test I literally can’t sleep because all I’m doing is laying in bed trying to work out my kicking routine my processes and everything,” Kolbe said.
The next day he went four from four at Ellis Park. The Cheslin Kolbe goal kicking record across the first two Tests ended up at 11 from 11.
The Springboks wing told Steven Kitshoff about that night on For The Love Of Rugby: South Africa, published on Wednesday 21 October.
Should a wing ever be a Test side’s first-choice kicker?
Cheslin Kolbe goal kicking was “all over the show”
He has kicked since primary school. In France he took over the tee when the internationals left for the Six Nations.
The accuracy came later, in Japan. He became Tokyo Suntory Sungoliath’s first-choice kicker early this year and worked on it with the club’s coaches.
“just tweaking small things that could like make me more accurate because I was literally a bit all over the show like I was never guaranteed is going over or not will be close or just miss.”
Rugby365 reported that he finished as League One’s leading points scorer, with 185 points in the regular season.
Tony Brown kept fine-tuning it
The calm, Kolbe said, came from coaches who trusted his kicking when he returned from Japan, among them the Springboks attack coach.
“Tony Tony coach Tony Brown um that’s worked with me just literally also trying to fine-tune and see how I can be better and more accurate”
Handré Pollard never played a minute of the series against New Zealand, and Kolbe took the tee. He does not envy the specialists.
“I’m glad I’m not a guy like [Handré] or [Sacha] or any of the kickers because man it’s stressful”
What a wing’s kicking routine has to survive
A goal-kicking wing reaches the tee from somewhere else. He has just chased a kick, or gone up for a contested high ball, or finished a carry down the touchline.
The routine has to produce the same strike with the heart rate still up. Kolbe spent that Friday night in bed rehearsing his.
His practice is short and regular.
“I’m working on my kicks every week, whether it’s 30 minutes here kicking a few balls just to get my strike or my my my rhythm in.”
Watch for it on his return. If the routine looks identical after a 60-metre chase, the work is holding.
A week after Ellis Park, on Saturday 29 August, he went seven from seven and 18 points in Cape Town. That was three conversions and four penalties in a 33-26 win.
The phone call from his dad
A week later, his jaw broke nine minutes into the Soweto Test. His father rang.
“my dad just called me when I broke my jaw and said like listen obviously it’s tough um not being able to complete the the series but that he’s proud … he’ll always be the one checking up on me making sure that I’m doing the extra effort I’m still working on my kicks”
Kolbe said he had never thought about it that way until that call.
Cheslin Kolbe’s jaw: the blender and the dinner table
It is the second time he has broken his jaw. The first was against Wales in July 2022.
He called it the most frustrating injury there is. His face stayed swollen for about three weeks. For weeks, every meal went through a straw.
“Sometime I’ll just walk out the house and walk around and while the family’s eating because like it’s so like it’s frustrating”
“the amount of things you thought that you can’t put in a blender. I’ve probably put in a blender”
He did not give a return date. Watching is “the most frustrating thing”, he said.
“you can see all the space on the TV and you like try and encourage and shout on the TV, go there, go there.”
In Japan he missed the school runs, and now he does them.
“I don’t think time or money or anything can buy that.”
For The Love Of Rugby: South Africa has the full interview with Cheslin Kolbe on YouTube. The kicking passage starts at 35:05.
Your turn: wing or 10 on the tee
One side says a wing who went 11 from 11 keeps the tee. The other says the job belongs to the 10, who kicks every day and controls the game.
When Kolbe is fit, who should kick for the Springboks?
Frequently asked
Did Cheslin Kolbe kick for the Springboks against the All Blacks?
Yes. He went four from four at Ellis Park and seven from seven in Cape Town, 11 from 11 before his jaw was broken in Soweto.
When will Cheslin Kolbe return from his broken jaw?
No date has been given. He broke it nine minutes into the Soweto Test on 5 September 2026, and it is the second jaw fracture of his career.
Was Cheslin Kolbe the top points scorer in Japan?
Yes. Rugby365 reported he was League One’s leading points scorer in 2025-26, with 185 points in the regular season for Tokyo Suntory Sungoliath.
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