Springboks stars Kurt-Lee Arendse and Kwagga Smith collided in round three of the Japan Rugby League One season on Saturday.
Arendse joined the Japanese club Mitsubishi Sagamihara Dynaboars ahead of the new season but will return to the Bulls following the conclusion of the competition and before the end of the current United Rugby Championship season.
The Springboks try-scoring machine enjoyed a fast start to life in Japan fittingly scoring his first five-pointer in the 31-19 victory over the Urayasu D-Rocks, but failed to back that up as his side were hammered 61-8 by defending champions Toshiba Brave Lupus in round two.
Kurt-Lee Arendse stars in Japan
However, in round three, Arendse was back on the scoresheet, dotting down in the Dynaboars’ 40-34 defeat to the Shizuoka Blue Revs who are captained by fellow Bok teammate Smith.
Ex-All Blacks star Aaron Smith leaves Cheslin Kolbe in his wake in epic Japanese stalemate
The Blue Revs were first on the board as Smith put in a tricky kick into the Dynaboars’ 22 with Arendse reading the play and getting back to cover and while he managed to get the ball away to his full-back, the number 15 was charged down by Blue Revs winger Malo Tuitama who quickly dived on the ball to score.
The Dynaboars’ response did not take long with Tonisio Vaihu dotting down soon after and the back-and-forth continued with Takeshi Hino getting one back for the visitors.
With the Dynaboars trialling 12-7, Arendse found a reply as a botched lineout move saw the ball fall perfectly into his arms at the back of the set-piece and he had an easy run in for the try, escaping the clutches of Smith.
Just before the break, James Grayson threw a wonderful skip pass out to Satoshi Koizumi who gave the hosts a 19-12 half-time lead.
Smith played his part in the opening try of the second-half as he provided an assist to inside centre Villiami Tahitu’a with a sharp offload a few metres away from the try-line.
The Dynaboars’ reply came through their driving maul before ex-All Blacks star Charles Piutau sent Tuitama sprinting down the touchline for his second five-pointer. The winger would complete his hat-trick after the hour mark while Arendse would assist a late try to keep his team in the running for a late comeback but the Blue Revs held out for the victory.
The Dynaboars will face Kobe Kobelco Steelers in the next round of action while Smith’s Blue Revs tackle Faf de Klerk and Jesse Kriel’s Canon Eagles as they look to extend their unbeaten start to the new season.
Src: Planetrugby.com - https://www.planetrugby.com/news/springboks-try-machine-kurt-lee-arendse-scores-in-defeat-to-kwagga-smiths-blue-revs
