Cheslin Kolbe, a great reason to love rugby -

20 Minutes

  • Weekend after weekend, Cheslin Kolbe wows the crowds and disgusts his opponents.

  • The support and the races of the South African winger of Stade Toulousain are devastating.

  • Athletics trainer Renaud Longuèvre deciphers the strengths of Springbok.

A feint of departure towards the outside, then a terrible inside hook.

With his 28 caps for the Irish team, Jacob Stockdale is not the first to come.

However, the Ulster winger was dropped off Sunday by Cheslin Kolbe, like hundreds of players before him, like Rochelais Rhule, West and Leys, all three stunned on a similar action eight days earlier. .

And many others will suffer the same fate against the "special" of the electric winger from Stade Toulousain, who will export his talent on Saturday to the English lawn of Exeter, in the semi-final of the European Cup.

"Elusive": the same qualifier returns to the mouths of partners and opponents of the 26-year-old Springbok.

Kolbe's fiery legs put Toulouse away just before the break.

The winger mystifies his opposite and signs a superb double.

Ramos transforms, widening the gap a little more in this quarter-final #TOUULS



▶ Follow the match live: https://t.co/zH4sPEAnX3 pic.twitter.com/0MdqJ0YR2N

- France tv sport (@francetvsport) September 20, 2020

“He reminds me of the Englishman Jason Robinson with his ability to make huge differences in small spaces, thanks to incredible support,” observes Renaud Longuèvre, former coach of the 110m hurdles world champion Ladji Doucouré and now director. national technique of Israeli athletics, which worked in rugby (Stade Français and Biarritz) at the turn of the 2010s.

When Jason Robinson was not doing any detail on the lawn ... pic.twitter.com/wXoYO1rD8Q

- Rugby World Cup (@RugbyWorldCupFR) March 31, 2020

Back-winger slightly exceeding 1.70 m but well "tanked" (like Kolbe), 2003 world champion (like Kolbe in 2019), Robinson first distinguished himself elsewhere than in the XV, by being vice- world champion at XIII.

Kolbe him, brought back a bronze medal from the Olympic Games in Rio in rugby sevens, in 2016. “The school of VII is very, very good, judge Longuèvre.

We see it with these players who go back to better start forward.

"

10''7 over 100 m

But this incredible explosiveness of Kolbe, where does it come from?

“It depends on the quality of the foot and the explosive force, on the ability to push the foot to the ground with great power, in a very short time.

"

In 2018, the Toulousain, cousin of Wayde Van Niekerk (Olympic champion and world record holder in the 400m), explained to RMC Sport that he had run the 100m in 10''7 when he was 18 years old.

“Is it a training timer, a manual timer, with or without starting blocks?

asks Longuèvre.

Either way, it's a great time for a rugby player.

But what matters is the “specific rugby speed”, that is to say the ability to repeat sprints at very high intensity for 80 minutes, with violent acceleration over 40 or 50 meters.

"

A fluctuating weight depending on the sources

Israel's current DTN sees other players with a profile similar to Kolbe, such as Marc Andreu, Gabriel Lacroix or Terry Bouhraoua.

But none combines "rugby speed" and almost defensive infallibility like the South African, whose weight varies, depending on the sources of information, between 74 and 90 kg (!).

“Frankly, when you weigh 74 kg, you don't catch a front as it does,” smiles Longuèvre.

But in fact, can magic withstand the weight of years?

Yes, according to the specialist, if the injuries, especially to the knee, leave him alone.

"It is the stabilizing muscles of the knee that give the ability to restart very quickly following a blockage in the race," he explains.

As for the question of age, “after 30 years, we can no longer improve the quality of speed, but we can maintain it, by compensating for the degradation of the nerve component with more muscle strength.

Up to 35-40 years, with optimized preparation and recovery, there is no reason not to go fast.

“So much the better for the Stade Toulousain and the spectacle, too bad for the defenses of the other teams.

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