Ex-England winger claims All Blacks star has Cheslin Kolbe for speed but footwork is ‘best there’s ever been’
Will Jordan v Cheslin Kolbe
Former England stars Ben Youngs and Anthony Watson have argued that one winger stands out above all others in the global game right now.
Appearing on the For The Love Of Rugby podcast, the duo compared double World Cup winner Cheslin Kolbe with the All Blacks’ record try scorer, Will Jordan, ahead of the four-match Test series between South Africa and New Zealand.
The Springboks and the All Blacks will come face to face in Johannesburg on August 22, in one of the most highly anticipated southern hemisphere rugby tours of all time. Besides the obvious rivalry, there will be plenty of subplots and match-ups over the course of the Greatest Rivalry tour, not least on the wings.
Kolbe is often regarded as one of the most complete rugby players in the world, and arguably the most devastating one-on-one attacker in the game. Jordan, meanwhile, dwarfs all other legendary All Black try scorers.
But out of the two players, who is better?
Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry: Will Jordan v Cheslin Kolbe
One of the key attributes for any winger is speed. They need to have the ability to race past backtracking defenders. But who is faster?
“They are both completely rapid,” admitted Watson, “but I do think if they put them on a straight out-and-out foot race, I actually reckon Will Jordan is probably faster.
“Will Jordan’s got one of those running techniques that looks like he’s gliding. It never looks like he’s really going for it.
“Both of them, in my opinion, are probably among the top 10 fastest rugby players. But I think that Will Jordan has got him for speed.”
Speed is, of course, not the be-all and end-all when it comes to quality in the wide channels; other attributes can prove equally as important.
“We’ve also got to mention the all-court game that Cheslin’s got,” continued Watson. “These two are extremely complete rugby players in terms of their ability to ball play, kick, see space, go to it.
“But Cheslin is one of one in terms of being able to play multiple positions on the park, throw into lineouts, kick for goal, sub in at 10 when he needs to, go to nine when he needs to, full-back.
“I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say he’s one of the most complete rugby players ever. There’s no real weakness. If he was six foot two, people wouldn’t be talking about any weakness that he has.”
Despite his impressive ability around the park, Kolbe does have one key shortcoming: his strike rate. He averages 0.5 tries per match for the Springboks, but much lower at club level – well below the expected for a man of his quality.
Jordan, on the other hand, averages almost a try a game at international level, and maintains a ratio of 0.6 for the Crusaders. This led Watson to claim that Kolbe would not match Jordan’s strike rate if he played for New Zealand.
“It’s just purely that right place, right time, it’s anticipation, it’s knowing where the offload is going to come,” Youngs said, talking about Jordan’s ability to score tries.
Kolbe’s all-round game
While Kolbe may not have the try-scoring efficiency that Jordan has on a game-to-game basis, his ability to convert chances one-on-one is unrivalled.
Youngs, who faced Kolbe on many occasions, including that fateful 2019 World Cup final in which the Springbok star scored a wonderful try against England, spoke about the prospect of facing him one-on-one: “You know it’s coming, and you can do your best to try and shape and try, but you still can’t stop it. There’s literally nothing you can do about it.”
Watson, also a member of that England team in 2019, said: “When someone can move laterally as fast as he can, even if you guess right, they’re so powerful and agile that at the very best you’re getting an arm to it, but he’s so strong – in and around his waist – that he’s gone.
“One on one, there’s no one worse to face than Cheslin Kolbe.”
It’s one thing to face the Springboks and know that Kolbe may provide a threat down your channel; it’s another thing to know that he will.
“For me, he’s got the best footwork there’s ever been”, claimed Watson.
“Every time he touches the ball, there’s a bare minimum he’s going to do, and no one’s tackling him first up every time. That’s what puts him in a different realm.”
A new name has emerged in the north – Louis Bielle-Biarrey
While these two rule the wide channels in the south, a new name has emerged in the north, Louis Bielle-Biarrey.
At just 23 years of age, he’s already regarded as one of the greatest wingers in the game, and is set to obliterate Damian Penaud’s France try-scoring record within the next few years.
But for all his brilliance in recent seasons, Watson doesn’t believe that LBB yet operates on the same level as the other two.
“Will Jordan is definitely number two,” stated Watson. “LBB is less complete in my opinion than the other two.”
So what’s the gap? What areas of the game does LBB fall short on?
“Well, you don’t see LBB stepping up to first receiver,” explained Watson. “You don’t see him throwing a 20-metre miss pass to free up people on the outside. Both Will Jordan and Cheslin Kolbe can do that.
“LBB has obviously got the brilliant short kicking game, and he’s decent in the air. I would probably put the other two as better than LBB still in the air, and footwork-wise, i.e. one-on-one, five metres either side, Cheslin is undisputed. Will Jordan is probably just ahead of LBB in that regard at the moment.”
Bielle-Biarrey has been rested this summer after yet another busy season of club and international action, but at next year’s World Cup, he’s expected to flourish – a point that Watson wholeheartedly agrees with.
“I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that at some stage in his career he will be the number one winger in the world.”
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