A left hook the officials did not see
Cheslin Kolbe won Player of the Match in Cape Town on Saturday. By this morning he was at the centre of a very different conversation.
Footage circulating since the final whistle appears to show the Springboks winger throwing a left hook at All Blacks wing Leroy Carter. Kolbe had just been forced off the field and was down on the turf when Carter shifted him out of the way. Kolbe got to his feet and swung. Carter took it on the jaw. The pair shoved each other until teammates pulled them apart, and Kolbe walked off still fuming.
It happened in front of two officials. Neither acted, and no citation has been issued.
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Supporters cannot agree on it
Reaction online split almost straight away. One camp wants a suspension and argues a punch stays a punch however soft it looks on replay. “There should be no punches thrown in our game,” wrote one supporter, floating a two-match ban.
The other camp sees provocation. Carter dragged a player who was already on the floor, the argument runs, and Kolbe answered the way most players would. At 32, and routinely the smallest man on the field, Kolbe spends his working life being handled roughly by opponents built twice his size.
What happens next sits with the citing commissioner. Anything retrospective would rule Kolbe out of at least one of the two remaining Tests, and South Africa have just been reminded how badly they need him.
A series levelled, and still wide open
The Springboks won 33-26 to square the series at 1-1 with two matches to play. The contrast with the opener was hard to miss. New Zealand had blown South Africa away 33-16 at Ellis Park a week earlier. This time the hosts led early, absorbed a late All Blacks push and never really lost hold of the game.
Kolbe, Pieter-Steph du Toit and Eben Etzebeth carried them there. Rassie Erasmus gambled on his selection and the gamble came off.
The same weekend brought Australia a 27-21 win in Argentina, with rugby league returnee Carter Gordon crossing and scrum-half Ryan Lonergan keeping the scoreboard moving from the tee. Every point in that match was scored inside 54 minutes.
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