Boks score big in Japan

ROUND THREE WRAP: Back-to-back World Cup-winning Springboks featured prominently on the scoresheets of Japan’s League One this weekend.

Malcolm Marx, Kurt-Lee Arendse and Kwagga Smith all featured in the ‘positive’ column, while Cheslin Kolbe was one of the players yellow-carded in a dramatic weekend.

A try five minutes from time by wing Haruto Kida sent the Heat to its first defeat of the season after the Spears won a thrilling contest 32-27.

Kida, who was a breakout star in the league two seasons ago when he scored 17 tries, but was held to just four last term, struck the decisive blow in a match where both sides scored four tries, and the lead changed hands seven times.

Bidding for a third consecutive win to start the campaign, Heat was given the perfect start when inspirational Los Pumas back row forward Pablo Matera crashed over from close range for his second try of the season in the 11th minute.

On a day when the big names stood up for both sides, Malcolm Marx was on the scoresheet before half-time as well, with the Springbok hooker rumbling over from a line-out drive for his opening try of the season – which was his 26th from 32 appearances in Japan – to help the Spears to a 15-12 half-time advantage.

Although popular fullback Lemeki Lomano Lava scored two tries in his first outing for the Heat after two seasons away at the Dynaboars, the Spears wouldn’t be denied, scoring the final two tries to jump into fourth, one place ahead of the Heat on the standings.

Brave Lupus moved into second, defying Kobelco Kobe Steelers 32-26 in a contest the defending champions always led, but seldom appeared to have total control of.

Despite trailing 20-5 after half an hour, Kobe always appeared capable of fighting back and did so just before half-time when Scotland hooker George Turner forced his way across from a tap penalty for his third try in as many weeks, to pull the Steelers back to within eight points at half-time.

The score hadn’t changed 20 minutes later when the pivotal moment came, with young Steelers prop Kauvaka Kaivelata sent off for a dangerous play.

Brave Lupus took advantage of their numerical superiority, with Japanese test wing Jone Naikabula scoring two tries in the final 12 minutes to secure the win, despite a courageous late rally from Kobe, which yielded a deserved bonus point.

Although they have lost two of their first three, the three bonus points collected by Dave Rennie’s men has allowed them to end the weekend holding one of the play-offs places in sixth.

Blue Revs sit three places above them, but there must be a secret agreement between themselves and the Dynaboars not to tackle after the teams shared 11 tries, having split 14 in the corresponding meeting last term.

The Kwagga Smith-skippered Blue Revs came up trumps this time, with the 40-34 win preserving their unbeaten record, while also producing what must be a first in professional club game after wing Malo Tuitama scored a hattrick and hooker Takeshi Hino scored twice, astonishingly mirroring last year’s match between the two sides when they also scored three and two tries respectively.

For the Wellington-educated Tuitama, who scored a try on debut for the Brave Blossoms last year, the hattrick was also his second in as many weeks, lifting the 28-year-old to the top of the individual standings – a position he occupied last term when he finished with 15 tries from as many outings.

Springbok wing Kurt-Lee Arendse scored his second try from three appearances for the Dynaboars, who led 19-12 at half-time, and 27-19 after 50 minutes, before the concession of three tries in 12 minutes proved the knockout blows.

The unbeaten Wild Knights moved to within two of 50 wins for the regular season since League One began after beating the Black Rams 39-16 at Komazawa Olympic Park, although it required a dominant last 25 minutes to get the job done after the home side had closed to within four points, 10-minutes into the second half.

In-form Brave Blossoms wing Tomoki Osada scored his second double in three games to start the season as Saitama eventually shook the Black Rams off by scoring the final three tries of the game.

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Last year’s semifinalists Yokohama Canon Eagles got off the mark with a comprehensive 40-12 win over Urayasu D-Rocks at Fukushima with utility back Jumpei Ogura scoring two of the winners’ six tries, while Brave Blossoms veteran Yu Tamara also contributed a try as part of a 15-point haul.

Maori skipper Billy Harmon scored his maiden try since joining the Eagles, although he had a mixed afternoon, being one of two Yokohama players to receive yellow cards.

Sungoliath and Verblitz were unable to record their first wins of the campaign, slugging out an entertaining 30-all draw, where the visitors will rue missed opportunities.

Sungoliath wing Cheslin Kolbe and centre Shogo Nakano both spent time in the sin bin, while Rikiya Matsuda and Tiaan Falcon missed goal-kicking attempts in the final moments as Verblitz was unable to break the deadlock despite outscoring their rivals four-tries-to-three.

Aaron Smith scored one of those tries while try-hungry wing Seiya Ozaki – who scored 32 tries for Sungoliath over the previous two seasons – opened his account for this year with a double.

Ultimately, it was Mikiya Takamoto who was his side’s saviour, scoring a try among his 20 points for the game.

The 23-year-old finished third on the individual points rankings last year with 157 in his maiden season as Sungoliath’s first-choice starting flyhalf.

The tie continued the difficult start for the Verblitz brains trust of Steve Hansen and Ian Foster, it being the worst opening to a campaign for Hansen since the former All Black boss joined Verblitz after the 2019 World Cup.

First-season Sungoliath coach Kosei Ono is also still to taste success after his first three weeks in charge, with the club itself now having gone six matches since their last win in the regular season spilling over from last year, with two of the six having been draws.