Springboks star in thriller in Japan
ROUND FOUR WRAP: On a great weekend for Springboks playing in Japan, winger Kurt-Lee Arendse scored twice to lead Dynaboars to an upset 34-26 win over the Steelers.
The 28-year-old opened the scoring at Gion Stadium with the game’s first two tries, joining fellow Springboks Jesse Kriel (two), Kwagga Smith (one), Cheslin Kolbe (one) and Damien de Allende (one) who each crossed the goal-line over the weekend.
Faf de Klerk and Kriel starred as the Eagles beat the Blue Revs in a high-scoring shootout by 53-35.
Eagles center Kriel, who had been instrumental in winger Masayosh Takezawa’s first try, scooped up a Ryu Tamura kick on the bounce after the defense failed to catch it and scored in the seventh minute for the first of his two tries to give Yokohama a 12-0 lead.
Takezawa scored three tries for the Eagles on Saturday.
The Blue Revs got first-half tries from Smith and Malo Tuitama, who finished with two but went into the break trailing 14-34 thanks to Takezawa’s second try and Eagles No. 8 Sione Halasili twice bulling his way over.
The second half saw both teams play entertaining unstructured rugby while failing to defend as well as attack. After the final hooter, which Tamura converted to finish with 13 points, Kriel iced the victory with a try.
Elsewhere, the undefeated Brave Lupus Tokyo beat Urayasu D-Rocks 22-14, while Verblitz overcame a 10-0 first-half deficit to beat Black Rams Tokyo 32-18.
Arendse, who has now scored four tries in as many appearances in Japan, helped the Dynaboars to a commanding 24-7 halftime advantage, which they extended to 34-7 before Kobe skipper Brodie Retallick began the Steelers’ late rally which fell just short of a bonus point.
The Wild Knights moved two points clear at the top of the table, and to within one of becoming the first to record 50 regular season wins in Japan Rugby League One, following a dramatic 48-24 win over Mie Honda Heat.
By finishing with seven tries, Saitama picked up a third try-scoring bonus for the season.
While Japan’s six-time champions head the standings, the club that has won five titles is in the unfamiliar position of being second from bottom. Tokyo Suntory Sungoliath was held to its second draw in as many weeks – and third from the last nine games – by Spears.
