THE BLOCKBUSTING RIEKO Ioane made his first outing of the year for the All Blacks last weekend but things didn’t go quite according to plan for the superstar against the Springboks.
The 22-year-old will understandably take time to find his best form at Test level again, and he is deservedly favourite to be the top try scorer at the World Cup, so let’s underline that we’re not trying to write off one of the game’s best players.
Last weekend, though, it was the Springboks’ Cheslin Kolbe who proved to be the most impressive wing on the pitch as he delivered an impressive performance on his own first Test appearance of the year.
The 5ft 7ins flyer enjoyed a sensational campaign with Toulouse in 2018/19, helping them to the Top 14 title and a Heineken Champions Cup semi-final.
Kolbe played at fullback and on the wing for the French side to equally devastating effect and he now looks set to carry his form into the World Cup for Rassie Erasmus’ Springboks.
There are several options for Erasmus to consider out wide, while Willie le Roux looks likely to continue as the first-choice fullback, but fitting Kolbe in is essential.
The 25-year-old’s latest performance against the All Blacks showed several of the high-quality aspects of his skillset. Kolbe may not be a big man in stature, but he regularly has a big impact on the games he’s involved in.
It was Kolbe’s chip kick that resulted in replacement scrum-half Herschel Jantjies scoring the last-minute try that allowed the Boks to earn a draw in Wellington, underlining his ability to positively affect games when he gets on the ball.
The Boks do well to create this opportunity in the dying moments of the game, with le Roux’s work-rate off the ball proving important to Erasmus’ side taking advantage of a disconnect in the All Blacks’ defence.
Three phases before the score, le Roux is involved in a ruck on the far side of the pitch, as we can see below.
But by the time the Boks are ready to strike wide on the right, le Roux has worked across to feature on that side of the pitch.
As we can see below, le Roux [white] is motoring across to get outside out-half Handré Pollard, while Pieter-Steph du Toit runs a hard screen line [red] ahead of the out-half to interest Vaea Fifita in the All Blacks’ defensive line.
Jantjies delivers a pass behind du Toit to Pollard [yellow above], while Kolbe [green] does the important job of holding width.
The All Blacks will have been disappointed with their defence in this instance, as George Bridge gets up well ahead of Fifita and, most importantly, Richie Mo’unga on his outside, as indicated in red below.
That disconnect between the Kiwi defenders allows Pollard and the hard-working le Roux to catch-and-pass skilfully, releasing Kolbe into space up the right touchline.
The All Blacks scramble hard here but, having accelerated upfield, Kolbe makes a decision to chip infield. It’s not simply a case of hit and hope.
As we can see below, Kiwi fullback Beauden Barrett [yellow] is closing up on Kolbe.
However, there isn’t another player covering across in the backfield on the line indicated by white, as would be ideal, with right wing Ben Smith having held his position on the other side of the pitch.
Aaron Smith [red] is retreating at pace but Kolbe identifies the opportunity infield behind Barrett and delivers an accurate chip into that space.
Smith is left in a difficult position racing back to claim the ball and Jantjies is able to win the contest, collecting the ball after it bounces off his neck and grounding it for his third try in two Tests.
There is a degree of fortune in Jantjies beating Smith here, but Kolbe’s involvement symbolises his ability to deliver incisive attacking moments for his team, whether through his footwork, pace, decision-making or even his kicking.
As we discussed yesterday, Kolbe delivered another attacking kick following a clever scrum play from the Boks that resulted in his team earning a superb position for an attacking lineout.
But Kolbe had just six genuine touches of the ball in this particular game – going a full 33 minutes without a touch before his try-assisting chip kick above.
As Eoin Toolan noted in his article on this fixture, the Boks need to get players like Kolbe and le Roux involved more often.
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Kolbe’s sensational footwork, which we see above, makes him a constant danger, particularly in this kind of unstructured situation – with Sonny Bill Williams having been stripped by Kwagga Smith as Lukhano Am makes an excellent tackle.
Kolbe – who earned a bronze medal at the 2016 Olympic 7s with South Africa – beat an incredible 52 defenders in his eight Champions Cup games last season to top the European charts, while he was second only to Arthur Retière in the Top 14, having beaten 85 defenders in his 16 games.
But there is more to Kolbe than his ability to make a show of defenders. Despite his relative lack of size – he is a lightweight at around 80kg – he is brave, aggressive and technically sound in contact situations.
We saw him carry directly off a scrum platform on one occasion for the Boks last weekend and though Brodie Retallick emptied him in another tackle after Kolbe collected a loose lineout, he is rarely found wanting physically.
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Kolbe is a game kick-chaser too, as highlighted above with a win in the air ahead of the much taller Ioane underneath one of Faf de Klerk’s effective box kicks.
Kolbe will probably feel he might have won the ball back on two other occasions as de Klerk hung the ball up, but it’s clear that his height does not prevent him from competing successfully in this important area of the game.
It’s true that Kolbe has been bulldozed by much bigger players on a handful of occasions in the past, but he is more often an effective and intelligent defender who shows strong work-rate, as in the instance below.
Kolbe is circled above, having made a tackle on Jack Goodhue off a Kiwi lineout.
The Springboks have given up a big gainline on first phase and Kolbe is aware he will be needed back on his feet immediately, so he rolls out of the tackle and springs up to reload, working across to his right wing as Smith crucially adds a second to the ruck by jackaling.
Kolbe is indeed needed to make an excellent low tackle on Ioane on his right shoulder, bringing the All Blacks wing immediately to ground and then clinging on in the tackle to ensure Ioane can’t get up for another carry, as he attempts to do.
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While Boks defence coach Jacques Nienaber might have been disappointed with how his charges gave up the gainline on first phase and possibly even their organisation on phase two, Kolbe’s work rate and tackle technique are impressive.
The Boks’ right wing made another strong one-on-one tackle low on Ioane later in the game, while assisting in two other tackles on the All Blacks, contributing to a frustrating outing for the prolific Blues flyer.
Kolbe completed 11 tackles in total last weekend and had two misses on the edge of the defence while shooting up as part of the Boks’ defensive strategy of having their wings race up hard in a bid to shut down the ball.
Clearly, the Boks are still finding the balance in their defensive system but there is excitement in the fact that they have so much scope for progress in all areas.
Whatever lies ahead at the World Cup, it’s clear that Kolbe is ready to stamp his class all over the tournament. He may be one of the smallest players involved but the Springbok hot stepper looks set to be one of the World Cup’s biggest stars.
