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WP Rugby statement: The alleged Stormers offer for Cheslin Kolbe

Cheslin Kolbe in his Stormers days in 2017 (Photo by Steve Haag/Gallo Images via Getty Images)

Western Province Rugby have issued a statement about the recent speculation linking them to signing Cheslin Kolbe for the Stormers. It emerged last week that the Springboks winger doesn’t have a club for next season after the last year of his deal with Toulon in France was scrapped and it has left him looking around for a post-Rugby World Cup option.

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It has since been speculated that the 29-year-old, who exited the Stomers in 2017 to join Toulouse in the French Top 14, had been made an offer to return to Cape Town, but that isn’t the case according to a club statement.

It read: “Western Province Rugby has moved to clarify that no formal offer has been made to Cheslin Kolbe or his representatives to join the DHL Stormers.

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“Recent media reports have suggested that Kolbe was made an offer to return to Cape Town, but these engagements did not progress beyond initial exploratory conversations.”

A WP Rugby spokesperson explained: “There was an informal discussion around Cheslin’s availability and interest in joining our squad, but it is important to note that at no point was there a commitment to any figure or contractual details.

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“Cheslin Kolbe is one of the premier rugby talents in the world and a proud product of our system, but there was never any formal offer made to him or his representatives.

“We are committed to building on the huge strides that our team has made over the last two seasons by continuing to develop the considerable talent we already have within our system and making strategic acquisitions where necessary.”

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Tom 59 minutes ago
England player ratings vs South Africa | 2024 Autumn Nations Series

That 2019 performance was literally the peak in attacking rugby under Eddie. If you thought that was underwhelming, the rest of it was garbage.


I totally get what you're saying and England don't need or have any God given right to the best coaches in the world... But I actually think the coaches we do have are quite poor and for the richest union in the world, that's not good enough. 


England are competitive for sure but with the talent pool up here and the funds available, we should be in the top 3. At the very least we should be winning six nations titles on a semi-regular basis. If Ireland can, England definitely should.


England's attack coach (Richard Wigglesworth) is Borthwick's mate from his playing days at Saracens, who he brought to Leicester with him when he became coach. Wigglesworth was a 9 who had no running or passing game, but was the best box kicker in the business. He has no credentials to be an attack coach and I've seen nothing to prove otherwise. Aside from Marcus Smith’s individual brilliance, our collective attack has looked very uninspiring.

 

England's defence coach (Joe El-Abd) is Borthwick's housemate from uni, who has never been employed as a defence coach before. He's doing the job part time while he's still the head coach of a team in the second division of French rugby who have an awful defensive record. England's defence has gone from being brutally efficient under Felix Jones to as leaky as a colander almost overnight.


If Borthwick brings in a new attack and defence coach then I'll absolutely get behind him but his current coaches seem to be the product of nepotism. He's brought in people he's comfortable with because he lacks confidence as an international head coach and they aren't good enough for international rugby.


England are competitive because they do some things really well, mostly they front up physically, make a lot of big hits, have a solid kicking game, a good lineout, good maul, Marcus Smith and some solid forwards. A lot of what we do well I would ascribe to Borthwick personally. I don't think he's a bad coach, I think he lacks imagination and is overly risk averse. He needs coaches who will bring a point of difference.


I guess my point is, yes England are competitive, but we’re not aiming for competitive and I honestly don't believe this coaching setup has what it takes to make us any better than competitive.


On the plus side it looks like we have an amazing crop of young players coming through. Some of them who won the u20 world cup played for England A against Australia A on the weekend and looked incredible... Check out the highlights on youtube.

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