Faster than Cheslin Kolbe! Toulon coach stunned by rapid France rookie with ‘really rare’ trait
Cheslin Kolbe playing for RC Toulon and an inset of French winger Gael Drean.
RC Toulon coaches have been stunned by the pace of winger Gaël Dréan, who has broken speed records at the club.
Dréan has been a star performer for Toulon since the 2022/23 season, making 65 appearances and crossing for 37 tries, and eventually caught the eye of the French national team, earning a call-up to the Les Bleus squad for the 2026 Six Nations.
He was a late call-up to the run-on team for the clash against Italy and marked his debut with a try.
France’s rising star
His raw pace is a standout feature of his game and something that took the Top 14 club’s backs coach, Andrea Masi by surprise.
“From the very first training session, I was surprised by his speed,” the 95-cap former Italian international told RugbyRama.
“He had some incredible bursts of acceleration.”
Masi says that while the raw pace was a real asset when Dréan started out in the Top 14, he has become a more rounded player.
“Now, he’s much smarter in his movement. He gets to the loose ball because he makes better running decisions,” he added.
“He’s also become an excellent one-on-one because he’s worked on a move that has become his signature: the fend-off. He’s developed an incredible technique for this move; he works on it every week.”
Dréan was voted as the Top 14 Revelation of the Year last season and has continued that sterling form this campaign, crossing 14 times in 18 matches for Toulon, which includes five Champions Cup tries.
While Masi is happy to have a rocket of a winger on attack, he is equally pleased that he is a force on defence.
“He loves the physical aspect, the collision, the big attacking tackles,” he said, adding that he ‘is ready for the international level’.
But it’s not just the back coach who has been stunned by the winger, but Anthony Couderc, too, the club’s head of research and development in the performance department.
“He’s the fastest player I’ve ever worked with. His top speed record was 36.8 km/h last season, while this year his defensive recovery against Munster reached 35.6 km/h,” he explained.
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Quicker than Kolbe
Toulon have had their fair share of rapid backs in the past, including double Rugby World Cup winner Cheslin Kolbe, but even the Springboks’ jaw-dropping pace doesn’t compare to Dréan.
“According to our data, during the 2022-2023 season, Cheslin reached a top speed of 36.2 km/h,” Couderc added.
Furthermore, the head of research and development says that Dréan is a rare talent with his impressive acceleration and explosiveness.
Over 10 metres, he clocks in at 1.54 seconds with almost a tenth of a second quicker than the next-best at the club.
“That’s really rare. Most backs top out at 5.10, with an average around 4.90,” he said.
“Gaël therefore possesses this dual quality: top speed and explosiveness.”
READ MORE: Ex-Springbok: Cheslin Kolbe has ‘changed everyone’s mindset’ in rugby
