'I felt arms hitting me but I knew I wasn’t held' - Cheslin Kolbe on his RWC Final Try
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Rugby World Cup-winning winger, Cheslin Kolbe has spoken about his match-winning try against England in the 2019 Rugby World Cup final.
Kolbe spoke to Alex Payne and former England flanker James Haskell on the latest The Good, The Bad and The Rugby podcast where he recalled his journey to Springbok greatness, critics, the impact his father had on his career, what was running through his head in the lead-up to his game-winning try in the 2019 Rugby World Cup final and much more.
The Springbok hotstepper become just the second Springbok to score in a Rugby World Cup Final following Makazole Mapimpi, who scored just seven minutes prior.
In the final 10 minutes of the game, Malcolm Marx dislodged possession from the grasps of Henry Slade with Pieter-Steph du Toit quickly pouncing on the ball and getting it wide to the danger man Kolbe.
Asked by Haskell what he was thinking once he got the pop pass from du Toit, Kolbe said:
'I told myself before the game, a World Cup Final, if I am going to be able to touch the ball I am going to make the most of it because do not touch the ball in a World Cup Final as a winger - that much.'
'You either chasing the ball or its penalties or it's kickoffs. I just saw that opportunity, the loose ball, and receiving the ball on full speed and the first thing for me was just the try line - was the first thing I thought of'.
'For me I just had to avoid being tackled', he continued.
‘I got the ball and went on the goose [step] because I saw two forwards covering across and I just backed my pace on the outside.’
'I had one more man in front of me and I went on the double step, to the outside first and then whacked in as hard as I could to the inside. I felt arms hitting me but I knew I wasn’t held and then it was just the tryline in front of me’
Looking back in hindsight, Kolbe says he probably could have gone in under the posts or closer to the posts but said he just wanted 'to dot that ball down' as he was scared that he could make a mistake or ruin the moment.
