CAPE TOWN — Cheslin Kolbe will miss the remainder of the Springboks' 2026 season after fracturing his jaw, with Stormers director of rugby John Dobson confirming the double World Cup winner is set to return at the start of December. The speedster suffered the injury in the early stages of the third Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry Test against the All Blacks in Soweto, delaying his highly anticipated second debut for the Cape-based club after nine years abroad with Toulouse, RC Toulon and Suntory Sungoliath.
Dobson said the timeline is roughly two months from the Soweto Test and ruled Kolbe out of South Africa’s end-of-year tour, while confirming his availability for the Stormers. “I think it was two months from when he sustained that injury, which was the Soweto Test,” Dobson said. “So, look Chessie is not going to make the Springboks tour but he’s available for us from the start of December, our first game back. He’s attending team meetings; he’s so involved. We can’t wait to have him. There’s a silver lining in that.” He added: “I’m sure the Springboks are going to miss him on the end of your tour. I don’t know if he makes it, maybe later on in the tour, I’m not close enough to it, but I know he’s with us from the beginning of December onwards.”
In classic fashion Dobson joked that Kolbe’s enforced liquid diet means he has at least had his mandatory rest, the so-called ‘beer and braai’ break in South African rugby. “What’s also nice is that he can’t have been eating a rare eland or anything, but he has had his rest,” he said. “In South African rugby speak, they have three-week compulsory rest periods called beer and braai. I think neither would apply for Cheslin but at least he’s got his rest and he’s raring to go, so he’s very excited by that.”
Kolbe himself described the setback as hugely frustrating on the For the Love of Rugby South Africa podcast with former Springbok Steven Kitshoff, revealing he has been restricted to drinking through a straw. “It’s the most frustrating injury to have,” Kolbe said. “Firstly, you can’t eat, you have a swollen face for about three weeks, got a lot of pain. The worst is you get home, your wife’s cooking or getting dinner ready, or you’re having to go buy food, and you can’t eat at all. Sometimes I’ll just walk out of the house and walk around while the family’s eating because it’s frustrating, and all I could obviously do is be on a liquid diet, having to drink everything out of a straw.” He said he has blended steak, sausage and even chocolate in a blender, noting it is the second time he has broken his jaw. His absence is a blow for the Springboks heading into the Nations Championship, with France facing an injury crisis ahead of their clash with South Africa in Paris.