Being handed the responsibility of kicking for his club team in Japan helped to sharpen his goal-kicking and turned him into a prolific points machine for the Springboks, Cheslin Kolbe says.
The ace backline star contributed 18 points off the kicking tee when the Boks bounced back to beat the All Blacks 33-26 in Cape Town after losing the opening Test in Johannesburg.
Kolbe said every player needed to bring something new to the table so that the Boks could grow and prosper.
After playing a starring role in Cape Town, Kolbe said the Boks were expecting a tough battle in the third Test in Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series at the FNB Stadium on Saturday (kickoff 5.10pm).
“This season in Japan [playing for Suntory Sungoliath], I had the responsibility of taking over the goal-kicking and that’s contributed to my style and technique,” Kolbe said.
“I can also give credit to the coaches in Japan, and Springbok assistant coach Tony Brown for doing a few things for me so I can get more consistency.
“That’s the same for every rugby player because you always need to bring something new to the team.
“It’s contributing to the team’s success.”
Kolbe said the Boks were expecting a fierce backlash from the All Blacks in the third Test at the FNB Stadium.
“When you lose, the team is always going to come back with a point to prove,” he said.
“We need to go back to the training field and see where we didn’t capitalise on opportunities.
“New Zealand are a quality team and they attack well and they cut us open a few times.
“We definitely need to look at where we can improve and get better as a team.
“The Boks could feel the atmosphere from the fans in Cape Town.
“Not negativity but less energy, throughout the week because of the loss in Johannesburg.
“As they always say, when we lose, it’s ‘n Blou Maandag [a Blue Monday]. We felt that, but we just wanted to rectify it.
“It wasn’t easy at all and we needed to stay in the fight.
“It’s going to be like that for the next two matches.”
All Blacks centre Quinn Tupaea said pressure from the Boks had resulted in his team making mistakes in Cape Town.
“The Boks started strong and put us under a lot of pressure, but we did well to fight back and give ourselves a chance to win,” he said.
“Yes, scoreboard pressure was a word, but we felt we put a lot of pressure on ourselves in the game through key moments we won’t be too happy about.
“It’s just footy. You have to nail those little moments.
“I guess they had more moments than us and we were poor in some areas and the Boks made us pay.
“We have a couple of lessons to take from this, and we’ll look forward to the third Test on Saturday.
“They caused us a lot of problems under the high ball; that’s something we need to tidy up.
“We’ve been pretty good at it the last few weeks, but that’s still a work-on from our side.
“As a centre, I don’t catch too many high balls, but overall, we were right there.
“We had a lot of width in our game. I love the way our coaches set us up, it’s all about connection.
“The change room is pretty sombre after the loss.
“We had a big goal of going up 2-0 in this series, and the boys are definitely hurting.
“We will regroup and reset for the third Test.”
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