Cheslin Kolbe is STILL strapped up from the World Cup final, 4 days later

The Springbok celebrations have shown no sign of stopping since they beat New Zealand 12-11 in the Rugby World Cup final at the Stade de France on Saturday night.

With the late kick-off of 21:00 in Paris, the celebrations went well into the night, culminating in the likes of Eben Etzebeth getting a new haircut because of teammate RG Snyman at 4:30am the next morning.

“I said ‘if we win the world cup, I’ll cut my hair the same as yours’ and obviously after the win in the final, it was about half past four in the morning… Yeah… the last time I drank water was in the game,” explained Etzebeth upon arrival in South Africa yesterday.

RWC Final – New Zealand v South Africa

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RWC Final – New Zealand v South Africa

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“Obviously I wanted to be a man of my word, and I mean, winning the cup with these guys, I’ll do anything, so I decided to cut my hair. He sat me down and Damian Willemse cut my hair.”

😂 “We weren’t drinking water!”

Elizabedi talks us through the story behind his new trim, which involves RG Snyman and Damian Willemse 💈

A man of his word 🔒#RWC2023 | #StrongerTogether pic.twitter.com/W9tE4w1h8Y

— SuperSport Rugby (@SSRugby) October 31, 2023

On Sunday night it was the World Rugby awards, where Etzebeth was included in the Dream Team of the Year but missed out on World Player of the Year to Ardie Savea.

On Monday the entire squad left to fly to South Africa, and images surfaced on social media showing star winger Cheslin Kolbe still with strapping on his wrists and shoulders.

When arriving to thousands at OR Tambo airport in Johannesburg on Tuesday, some noticed that he hadn’t taken them off.

 

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He writes his family’s names on his wrist-strapping, so they are always with him, so perhaps he’s planning to keep it on until returning home to them.

A try-scorer in the 2019 final, Kolbe was yellow carded late in the game in Paris, and famously couldn’t watch those last few minutes after he thought he’d let his teammates down.

After the final whistle, the 30th birthday boy was part of a memorable and somewhat unfortunate team celebration when Siya Kolisi lifted the trophy, and the speedy winger got himself in a comical tangle with a South African flag.

🇿🇦 “You were fighting for your life!”

Cheslin Kolbe had the South African flag wrapped around his face when the photo of the Siya Kolisi lifting the Rugby World Cup trophy was taken!

Also, Cheslin’s voice though 😂 pic.twitter.com/aqxstrP4oY

— SuperSport Rugby (@SSRugby) November 1, 2023

Today is Wednesday, and as the celebrations continue, with the players arriving at broadcasting partner Supersport’s central offices in Randburg, Johannesburg, Kolbe is still wearing the protective strapping.

He was actually filmed today placing his gold world cup winners medal around the neck of young Desmond Koolen, who recently went viral for singing James Brown’s ‘I feel good‘ in a Springbok top. That in itself is an unbelievable story of selflessness and another life-changing moment for the boy.

 

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Pure class! Selfless moment by @CheslinKolbe today! The @Springboks are back and celebrations continue at Multichoice City @SSRugby @SuperSportTV pic.twitter.com/UEFLltXe4q

— Yusuf Jackson (@The_Yusman) November 1, 2023

So as we can see, Cheslin has decided that the strapping needs to stay on, and with South Africa starting their trophy tour all around the country tomorrow, don’t be surprised if nothing changes over the next few days.

Is that man still wearing Saturday’s strapping 😂😂

— Twak_Praat (@NotFromHereToo) November 1, 2023