Unsurprising and hasty departure of Toulon star Cheslin Kolbe. At 29, the South African international winger is leaving the club before the end of his contract in 2024 and three months from the start of the World Cup, the French rugby club announced on Monday. “Rugby Club Toulonnais and Cheslin Kolbe have decided by mutual agreement to release each other from their commitments at the end of the 2022-2023 season. This allows Cheslin Kolbe to commit to a new project from the 2023-2024 season, “said the RCT in a press release.
World champion with the Springboks in 2019, Cheslin Kolbe who “should announce his future destination soon” further specifies the Var club, had nevertheless repeated lately that he intended to go until the end of his contract with the RCT, where he had arrived in the fall of 2021 from Toulouse. “I would have liked to stay in Toulon but the financial constraints of the clubs and the injuries made things difficult”, explains the South African, quoted in the press release.
Twisted ankle
At the end of March, the pocket winger (1.72m, 80kg), who scored 6 tries in 18 games with Toulon this season, suffered a sprained ankle, which kept him away from the field. for four weeks. He was able to return in time to play in the Challenge Cup semi-final against Treviso, before becoming part of the starting XV who won the competition on May 19 in Dublin against Glasgow (43-19).
At the end of the match, the South African seemed very moved, as he was also on Sunday evening, during the 26th and last day of the Top 14, for the victory of Toulon against Bordeaux-Bègles (35-19) at the Mayol stadium.
Departure Rumors
After the meeting, he was not expected to participate in the celebrations paying tribute to the departing Toulon players. However, he waited in the hallway of the stadium with his wife before entering the field with her, splitting the guard of honor, when the New Zealand fly-half Ihaia West was announced by the announcer, a observed an AFP journalist.
A sort of farewell on the sly which surprised the Toulon supporters and further fueled the rumors of departure to Japan. In an interview with AFP in February, he said he was frustrated by his first season on the Rade, due to too many injuries, before strongly affirming his desire to honor the rest of his contract with the club. var.