Rassie Erasmus ‘forgives’ Cheslin Kolbe’s ‘stupidity’ after ‘brainfart’ for bizarre Argentina try
Cheslin Kolbe in action for the Springboks and his drop-kick gaffe for Argentina try.
Springboks boss Rassie Erasmus stated that Cheslin Kolbe suffered a “brainfart” during their victory over Argentina in the Rugby Championship.
South Africa’s world-class speedster seems to rarely make mistakes but on Saturday he gifted Los Pumas a try when he drop-kicked the ball straight to Santiago Chocobares.
After touching it down over the whitewash, which gave the Boks a goal-line dropout, Kolbe looked to give the ball to his decision-makers, who would then clear it.
Usually, when the ball is dead players would pass it, but on this occasion the wing kicked it in the manner of a dropout and it became active, allowing the visitors to pounce.
Erasmus’ verdict
Erasmus had no qualms with the awarding of a try and that it was a clear mistake from the 31-year-old, but the Springboks boss also pointed to the positive things he did in the match.
“It’s very simple what he did wrong. He wasn’t trying to kick a short kick-off, he just wanted to kick the ball to the guys kicking off, but it’s a legal try, he drop-goaled it and they were five metres away, and they scored it,” he told reporters.
“It was a bit of a brainfart.
“He did many other things that were great in the game. I’ve done stupid things like that when I was playing, all of us have, but you have to remember all the brilliant things that he also does – I think we can forgive him for those seven points.”
Kolbe’s gift to Argentina was one of a fair few errors from the South Africans in the opening period. That included a yellow card for Malcolm Marx and a penalty try which enabled the visitors to go in front towards the end of the half.
The performance of Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu rescued them before the break, however, with the fly-half scoring a brace of tries, including one with the clock in the red, to give them a 25-23 advantage.
Improved second half
Feinberg-Mngomezulu was then joined by his team-mates after the interval as the Boks produced a much-improved display to blow Argentina away in the second half and take them top of the Rugby Championship.
“There were a few things that we did stupidly, giving them tries – a yellow card and Cheslin’s drop-goal from the dead-ball area,” Erasmus said.
“We are happy because we know this is a very good Argentinian team. We had to sort out a lot of things at half-time.
“I thought both teams were up for it and wanted to play really well, but also some individual brilliance made a massive difference in this game.”
