Kolbe leads Springboks' dominance in Japan
IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Every time he takes to the field, Springbok star Cheslin Kolbe reminds the rugby world exactly why he is regarded as one of the game’s elite talents, with the electrifying back dominating Japan Rugby League One this season.
Kolbe’s 65th-minute penalty kick during last Sunday’s 39-22 win over BlackRams Tokyo resulted in the 32-year-old becoming the fifth different top point-scorer across the five regular seasons of League One.
The kick allowed the Sungoliath star to pip the BlackRams’ impressive flyhalf, Ichigo Nakakusu, by a point, with Kolbe returning 185 points from 16 appearances – a tally that included nine tries.
Fellow Springboks Malcolm Marx and Manie Libbok have also enjoyed standout campaigns in Japan, further underlining South Africa’s growing influence in the competition.
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In taking top spot, Kolbe joined the Saitama Wild Knights’ Kyohei Yamasawa, Kobelco Kobe Steelers’ Bryn Gatland, Kubota Spears’ Bernard Foley and Sungoliath’s Damien McKenzie as the leading regular-season point-scorers across League One’s five editions.
Yamasawa collected 209 points from 16 outings last term to deny Gatland – who finished second – the honour of going back-to-back, while also becoming the first Japanese player to head the standings.
A former Super Rugby flyhalf for the Blues, Chiefs and Highlanders, Gatland was top dog during League One’s third edition, picking up 217 points, bettering the mark set by his New South Wales Waratahs counterpart Foley, who gathered 173 points during his side’s championship-winning run-in season two.
All Blacks utility back Damien McKenzie contributed 191 points during his Japanese sabbatical in the competition’s maiden season.
While Kolbe’s work thus far has taken his career tally to an impressive 271 points in 30 games for the Fuchu-based club, he still has at least one opportunity to add to his tally this season, as Sungoliath face BlackRams Tokyo on the opening weekend of the finals on May 23.
World Rugby Player of the Year Marx continues to rewrite the record books in Japan.
Despite being limited to just five tries this season, the powerhouse hooker remains the leading foreign Test try-scorer in League One history, crossing the whitewash 33 times in 56 matches – two more than former All Black Brodie Retallick from four fewer appearances.
Division Two also featured strong Southern Hemisphere influence, with Libbok and Wallaby flyhalf Noah Lolesio battling for supremacy.
Libbok, representing Hanazono Kintetsu Liners, accumulated 165 points in 14 appearances to narrowly edge Lolesio, who scored 153 points in only 10 matches for Toyota Industries Shuttles Aichi.
The Springbok playmaker has flourished under the guidance of former Wallabies stars Quade Cooper and Will Genia at Kintetsu.
The Shuttles also provided the joint-leading try-scorer, as their former Super Rugby centre, Chance Peni, joined Kintetsu winger Tomoya Kimura in crossing the chalk on 13 occasions.
This was five fewer than Davidson, who scored a section-record 17 tries from 12 games for the championship-winning SkyActivs in Division Three, while SAYAMA SECOM RUGGUTS’ New Zealand flyhalf Daniel Waite was a comfortable winner for the most points, with his 170 from 11 outings putting him 73 points ahead of the SkyActivs’ Issen Kano, who was next in line.
Leading try-scorers:
Source: Japan League One
