Kolbe: 'I surprise myself'
VIDEO: South Africa’s World Cup winner Cheslin Kolbe said he was stunned by his own ability.
His reaction followed after scoring twice as Toulouse started their European Champions Cup campaign with a 29-22 victory at Ulster on Friday.
Kolbe crossed in superb fashion either side of the break as he took his tally to 10 tries in as many games since the sport’s restart in September.
For Ulster, it was a first loss at their Kingspan Stadium since October 2018.
“There are not a lot of teams that come here and get a win,” Kolbe said in his post-match reaction.
“I think we can take a lot of confidence from this and keep on building.
“To be honest, I surprise myself and I just think it’s my body that just takes over.
“It’s not about me, it’s about the team and the forwards who lay the foundation for us backline players to give us opportunities to finish them off,” he added
The hosts’ coach Dan McFarland made five changes from their Pro14 hammering of Edinburgh two weeks ago as hooker Rob Herring and three-quarter Jacob Stockdale returned from Ireland duty.
Australia lock Rory Arnold and New Zealand’s Rugby World Cup winner Charlie Faumuina returned to Ugo Mola’s starting lineup after last Saturday’s league victory at Bayonne.
McFarland’s men led 12-0 after 16 minutes as Herring and fly-half Ian Madigan crossed in greasy conditions.
Mola’s side responded immediately as Kolbe chipped and chased to finish from 50 metres in a sublime individual effort as he beat three defenders.
The joint-four time record winners led 14-12 at the break as Antoine Dupont broke from halfway and sold opposition fullback Michael Lowry a dummy to slide over.
The home team dominated after the interval as scrumhalf John Cooney kicked a penalty and Herring added a second either side of 2.13-metre Arnold’s first try of the season for a 22-21 lead with a quarter of an hour to play.
Kolbe’s second moment of brilliance came as the former Stormers wing received the ball on the left touchline.
He sidestepped Stockdale within centimetres of the whitewash and then found his way through for a try despite falling to all fours.
Thomas Ramos made up for the missed conversion with a 50-metre penalty goal to seal the win and a repeat result of last season’s quarterfinal.
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Saints ‘worry’
Earlier, Argentina wing Santiago Cordero dived over with seven minutes remaining in Bordeaux-Begles’ 16-12 victory at Northampton Saints.
Saints coach Chris Boyd said after the loss he will focus on the league and is likely to pick a vastly different side for next Saturday’s trip to Leinster.
“We’ll worry about the Premiership for now,” he said.
“We’ll probably change tack and give some youngsters a run and give some boys a rest,” he added.
On Saturday, four-time winners Leinster head to Montpellier as Toulon host Sale Sharks, who will be without head coach Steve Diamond after he resigned during the week.
On Sunday, champions Exeter Chiefs welcome Glasgow Warriors with 16 players remaining from October’s final win over Racing 92, who in turn host Connacht.
