Rugby Championship star left with egg on his face after bizarre try | Rugby | Sport

South African winger Cheslin Kolbe handed Argentina a try on a plate during The Rugby Championship after suffering a momentary mental lapse. The 31-year-old, regarded as one of the world’s finest players, would have been furious with himself following the blunder.

New Bath recruit Santiago Carreras had hoisted a kick deep into Springbok territory with 35 minutes on the clock, and Kolbe casually strolled over the try line expecting to make a routine touch down and take some pressure of his team. After grounding the ball, he casually drop-kicked it towards teammate Damian Willemse, who was positioned to take the goal line drop-out.

However, centre Santiago Chocobares recognised that Kolbe had effectively taken the drop-out himself, pounced on the loose ball and crossed directly beneath the posts. Carreras, who had delivered the original kick to Kolbe, was first to celebrate upon spotting his rival’s mistake.

The spectators remained silent initially, along with several players, until TMO Brett Cronan was summoned for a review by referee Angus Gardner. Following a brief discussion between the officials, they confirmed the drop-out had been legitimately taken and the try was perfectly legal. “So Brett,” referee Gardner commenced. “We just want to come up to you here to see what happened. At this stage, our on-field decision is a try. We believe that the winger took the drop out quickly, so we just want to see to make sure that was the case and that everyone was onside here as well.”

Cronan confirmed: “Sure. So I can confirm he drop-kicks it. I am going to show that now.” Gardner responded: “He drop-kicks it there, and he takes the drop-kick quickly.”

Cronan then added: “I am now going to get a wide camera angle so we can see a picture of everything else.” After reviewing the footage, Gardner verified that Chocobares was indeed onside. Cronan affirmed: “He is outside the five metres when he gathers the ball and then he grounds the ball, so I can confirm that your on-field try is correct.

“Let me explain this,” Gardner concluded. “He took the drop-kick, which was a goal-line drop-out. He kicked it, the Argentinian player was onside, regathered it and scored the try.”

In a video shared by CANAL+ on X, the French commentator was utterly astonished by the unusual event, with the broadcast cutting to the worried Springbok bench featuring Jesse Kriel, Handre Pollard, and Vincent Koch.

The try put South Africa at a disadvantage, with Argentina securing an additional two points from the conversion to take a 16-11 lead. However, the situation was swiftly reversed as Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu caught Argentina off guard after the restart with a strategic kick into space, chasing down the ball to score. The footage can be viewed below.

The Springboks ultimately dominated Los Pumas with a resounding 67-30 victory at Hollywoodbets Kings Park. Kolbe scored a try himself, while Feinberg-Mngomezulu achieved a hat-trick, and four other players also crossed the line for tries.

Following the match, ‘Boks boss Rassie Erasmus addressed the Kolbe incident during a press conference. “Well, it’s very simple what he did wrong,” Erasmus stated. “He didn’t try and kick a short kick-off. He just wanted to kick the ball to the guy who was kicking off. But it’s a legal try. He drop-goaled, they were five metres away and they caught it. Bit of a brain fart.”

“He did many other things great in the game. I think I’ve done stupid things like that when I was playing, all of us have. But you have to remember all the brilliant things that he also does. I think we can forgive him for that – seven points back, I’m sure he’s aware.”

The result puts South Africa one point ahead of New Zealand before the final round next week. The rematch against Argentina will be held at Allianz Stadium in London.