‘Stunned silence’ greets ‘bizarre’ Cheslin Kolbe gaffe that gifts Argentina a Rugby Championship try versus Springboks
The Cheslin Kolbe drop-kick gaffe that gifted Argentina a try against the Sprinboks
Saturday’s Rugby Championship clash in Durban witnessed the bizarre incident of Springboks winger Cheslin Kolbe gifting Argentina an extraordinary 36th-minute try.
Rassie Erasmus’ team were leading 11-9 with four minutes of the first half remaining when Kolbe raced back behind the South African try-line to comfortably touch down a kick ahead from Santiago Chocobares near the corner.
That resulted in a goal-line dropout for the home team. However, rather than pass the ball from his hands to whoever was to take the dropout, Kolbe inexplicably dropped-kicked a misdirected kick from out wide towards Damian Willemse that drifted into the field of play with some of his other teammates still retreating to get back behind the line.
Realising the ball was now live, Chocobares took a backward step to make sure he was outside the five-metre line before handling and, after he gathered, he had the simple task of diving over to score the try that put his team 11-14 ahead.
“I can confirm that your on-field try is correct”
Kolbe looked stunned with what had happened, and his embarrassment was confirmed by referee Angus Gardner, whose on-field decision of a try to Argentina was quickly confirmed following a review with his TMO Brett Cronan.
Here is how the review conversation unfolded between the referee and his TMO:
Gardner: So Brett, we just want to come up to you here to see what happened. At this stage, our on-field decision is a try. We believe that the winger took the drop out quickly, so we just want to see to make sure that was the case and that everyone was onside here as well.
Cronan: Sure. So I can confirm he drop-kicks it. I am going to show that now.
Gardner: He drop-kicks it there, and he takes the drop-kick quickly.
Cronan: I am now going to get a wide camera angle so we can see a picture of everything else.
Gardner: That player is onside.
Cronan: He is outside the five metres when he gathers the ball and then he grounds the ball, so I can confirm that your on-field try is correct.
Gardner: Let me explain this. He took the drop-kick, which was a goal-line drop-out. He kicked it, the Argentinian player was onside, regathered it and scored the try.
L’ÉNORME BOULETTE DE KOLBE ET LA RÉACTION IMMÉDIATE DES SPRINGBOKS 🤯
La séquence complètement folle entre l’Afrique du Sud et l’Argentine 🙌#RSAvARG pic.twitter.com/rAss672Kh7
— CANAL+ Rugby (@CanalplusRugby) September 27, 2025
The bizarre moment was initially greeted by silence from the host South African TV broadcaster before pundit Schalk Burger, the legendary Springboks back-rower, piped up: “Cheslin Kolbe with the try assist, you would say.
“If ever there was stunned silence in the commentary booth or around the stadium, that was it.”
Argentina’s lead disappeared in the blink of an eye, however. After Chocobares’ try was converted for a 16-11 lead, the Pumas conceded off the restart play when Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu exposed slack defending with a kick from inside his own half that he raced forward to regather.
