Cheslin: Focus not just on Willie

It’s going to be one of the huge face-offs at Newlands - Cheslin Kolbe versus Willie le Roux. But Kolbe wants his play, and not his mouth, to do the talking.

Cape Town - It’s going to be one of the huge face-offs at Newlands on Saturday - Cheslin Kolbe versus Willie le Roux. But Kolbe wants his play, and not his mouth, to do the talking.

It’s the ultimate showdown with the incumbent Springbok fullback, the magician that Le Roux has become in South African rugby.

But the Stormers have their own wunderkind, who can create something out of nothing, in the “Brackenfell Blitz” in Saturday’s Super Rugby clash between the Stormers and the Sharks (5.15pm kickoff).

Size counted against him when Heyneke Meyer was in charge of the Boks, but with a new sheriff soon to be in town - and quite possibly Kolbe’s ex-coach, Allister Coetzee - on-field performance will be what it’s all about in 2016.

You would like to think everyone starts on a clean slate this year, with a new Bok coach set to be appointed on April 1 and possibly also new selectors.

So, there’s no reason why Kolbe cannot crack a Springbok squad this season, starting with the three-Test series against Ireland in June. There aren’t too many seasoned top-class fullbacks apart from Le Roux in Super Rugby, with SA Under-20 star Warrick Gelant playing in his first full season at this level.

But Kolbe is not getting involved in “fighting talk” with Le Roux before Saturday’s 5.15pm kickoff. “Willie is a good player, but the focus point is not just Willie. It’s a collective thing on the field, and we must just put in the hard work and get the right plans going, enjoying every moment,” the 22-year-old said at the Stormers’ Bellville training headquarters this week.

“I think personally, if you are going to put that into your mind, you are not going to have a good game. You have to take every game as it comes and enjoy it. And hopefully at the end of the day, the team can pull through.

“So I am not going to focus on the individual’s performance and try to get motivated by certain players. I get motivated by the guys within the circle and guys who are going with you on to the park.”

One of those guys “within the circle” is rookie left wing Leolin Zas, who was impressive in his first Stormers start in last weekend’s 20-10 win over the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein.

The 20-year-old Zas rounded off smartly as Kolbe laid on the final pass after quick thinking by Jano Vermaak to shift the ball to the blindside, with captain Juan de Jongh finding Kolbe with good hands.

“Definitely a good guy - not just on the field, but off the field as well. I think a guy like Leolin, coming from Under-21s, it seems like he’s been here for years already. Just the way that he’s performing,” Kolbe said.

“His job is being made easier by the players around him, by communicating with him, know that he has to do what he has to do, and just not get distracted. Hy’s nogals vinnig ja (He’s quite quick, yes)!”

Zas faces a serious challenge from fit-again Kobus van Wyk for a starting berth, but coach Robbie Fleck explained that there would be a rotation policy implemented when required, and he cited prop, loose forward and now wing as positions where the started may interchange with the bench players regularly.

So it seems as if Zas has done enough to be retained when Fleck names his team on Thursday for the Sharks game. “If the team is performing on a consistent basis, then selection is quite easy. Look, I think it’s great that he (Zas) did do well. He created a good opportunity for Jubies (De Jongh) there in the second half and he scored a good try,” the coach said about the youngster - whom he knows well, having coached the WP Under-21s last year.

“We would’ve liked to have got it to him a little bit more. I think there was another opportunity where Schalk probably tried to offload, and Notshe dropped it, where hands would’ve just done it. Plenty of situations that happened in the game which would’ve released the likes of Zas and them.

“So, I am happy with him at the moment. He is playing well, and like Chessie says, he is showing good maturity. We would like to see him get a bit more ball.”

ashfak.mohamed@inl.co.za

@IndyCapeSport

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