Now Exeter are in his sights

CHESLIN KOLBE is the World Cup winner who learned to run to stay alive.

The South African’s dazzling footwork left Owen Farrell floundering and England mourning the end of their dream in last October’s final.

The winger’s killer sidestep also befuddled Ireland star Jacob Stockdale five days ago as Toulouse breezed past Ulster into the Champions Cup’s last four.

Next up are Exeter Chiefs, who take on the French giants at Sandy Park tomorrow for a place in next month’s th’s European final.

They know what to expect, but so did England and Ulster – for all the good it did them.

Kolbe, 26, does not make a habit of getting ting caught. Growing up on the h northern edge of Cape Town, that could have proved fatal.

He said: “It was a community in which random gang wars and stuff happened. Whenever you played in the street, a gang war or a shooting could break out and you’d just run for your life.

“You don’t want to be a victim of things like that. So that’s where everything comes from, trying to avoid getting shot.”

His childhood days were spent playing with his cousin, Wayde van Niekerk, above, who could also move a bit. Four years ago he won Olympic 400m gold Rio in a world record time.

Kolbe said: “We were very competitive. Playing touch rugby in the street, we always wanted to beat each other.”

They went to school together and when Kolbe got home, he would work on his sidestep.

“Whether I was going to take a shower or get something from the fridge, I would always run and sidestep something,” he said with a smile.

He taught himself to step off both feet and years later, with the gaze of the rugby world on him in Yokohama, it paid off as he cut inside Farrell to seal World Cup final victory for the Springboks. It was an emotional triumph for Kolbe as his father, Andrew, a brilliant inside- centre in the Apartheid years, was denied the chance to play top- level rugby.

Kolbe said: “He always told me, ‘ You have everything going for you, make sure you make the most of it’. That’s what kept motivating me – making sure I make my Dad proud.”

He says he wants to “inspire those people in my community to not fall into the trap of gangsters and drugs”.

A European medal beside the World Cup would do that nicely. in