Cheslin Kolbe has shared his excitement about working with the Springboks’ new assistant coaches, Jerry Flannery and Tony Brown, while also looking forward to the upcoming series against Ireland.
Flannery and Brown have been hard at work in their new roles in charge of the Springboks’ defence and attack respectively, taking over from Jacques Nienaber and Felix Jones.
A renowned innovator, Brown has won a Super Rugby title as a coach at the Highlanders and was a key part of Japan’s charge towards the playoffs at the 2019 World Cup.
As a player, he got an inside experience of South Africa by playing under Rassie Erasmus at the Stormers, while he also had a stint in Durban at the Sharks.
In an interview with News24, Kolbe said that the Springboks could get a lot more opportunities to keep the ball in hand under the former All Blacks flyhalf.
“It’s definitely going to be exciting working with two new coaches,” Kolbe told News24.
“I got to know a bit about Jerry [as a consultant] in the build-up to the World Cup in 2023, he’s a hard worker who’s very passionate about the game and the Springboks, he’ll definitely add value to the team.
“On coach Tony, speaking to the Japanese boys they’ve told me how much they love him and what a good person he is on and off the field.
“With his experience of playing in New Zealand and in South Africa, it’ll be exciting to see how the Springbok attack will grow – hopefully we’ll get a lot more opportunities to run with the ball.”
New Springbok attack coach Tony Brown has a very special connection with South Africa 🦈🤝⛈️
📺 Full interviews are available on Catch Up. pic.twitter.com/SpIb2WtSVe
— SuperSport Rugby (@SSRugby) June 12, 2024
Kolbe was withdrawn from the Springbok training camp preparing for the first Test of the year against Wales at Twickenham to manage a knee niggle and ensure he is ready for the upcoming series against Ireland.
Ireland were the only team to beat the Springboks at the 2023 World Cup and are coming into the series as the two-time defending Six Nations champions.
“There’s been a lot of hype and a lot of talk about it,” Kolbe said.
“Obviously, we badly wanted to beat them in the pool match at the World Cup, but they had the better of us on the day.
“So, a lot of excitement about [us playing] Ireland in July, but we’re not going to get ahead of ourselves, we’ve got Wales at Twickenham and then the focus will shift onto Ireland.
“There’s been a lot of talk about Ireland deserving to win the World Cup, we’ll see in July.”
Photo: Steve Haag/Gallo Images