Boks in Japan spotlight

Yesterday at 01:36 PM

ROUND TWO PREVIEW: Japan's League One will once again cast its spotlight on some of South Africa's World Cup-winning Springboks.

It took just 80 minutes to show the influence Springbok Kurt-Lee Arendse is going to have with the Dynaboars.

He capped a classy debut with the try which gave his side a second half lead that they would not surrender against Urayasu D-Rocks.

Having beaten last year's champions of Division Two, the Dynaboars now face the champions of Division One on Sunday in a game that promises to be a good early test of their top six credentials.

While Brave Lupus overcame a half-time deficit themselves during Sunday's 28-21 win over last term's semifinalists, Eagles coach Todd Blackadder won't need to go back far to provide evidence to his players that their next opponents should not be underrated.

Brave Lupus dropped one of its two matches against the Dynaboars two seasons ago, and the defeat proved costly as they ended up finishing one place outside of the semi-finals.

Saturday's action kicks off with first round losers, Black Rams Tokyo and Sungoliath, squaring off.

Both coaches, Tabai Matson (Black Rams) and Kosei Ono (Sungoliath) will have found some positives out of the first weekend even though their team's performance ended in defeat.

Sungoliath were a lot better value than their 21-point loss, with the concession of two yellow cards just one of the things Ono will have been working on with his players this week.

Closing out from a winning position may have been one of the points of discussion at Aichi this week as the Verblitz brains trust reviewed Sunday's dramatic three-point loss to the Spears.

While he still has a lot to learn, Rugby League convert Joseph Manu shaped promisingly on his union debut, while Brave Blossoms flyhalf Rikiya Matsuda's tactical nous, not to mention his excellent goal-kicking, are going to be major assets.

Heat coach Kieran Crowley looks like he is onto a good one too in Manu Vunipola, with the former Sarries flyhalf giving an accomplished performance on Saturday against the Black Rams which included kicking the winning goal.

The full-time celebrations that met the final whistle at Suzuka showed what a big moment that success was for a team that had only won once prior to The Replacement Battle last season.

With old heads Pablo Matera and Franco Mostert involved, Crowley is unlikely to have too many problems getting his troops focused on Saturday's trip to Gifu.

The final whistle at Yamaha Stadium on Saturday also provided a big moment for the Blue Revs – an outfit who won just six times last year – as they reversed a 19-63 humbling from the previous meeting by stealing victory from Kobelco Kobe Steelers with the last play of the game.

The confidence gained from that performance should stand the Blue Revs in good stead for their first ever game against D-Rocks, since the new entity was created three seasons ago.

Last year's Division Two champions were served notice of the step up they face, as the Dynaboars ran away with the game in the second half after a positive opening period had given Urayasu a two-point lead.

Having star men Israel Folau and Samu Kerevi in tandem for a rare occasion due to Folau's injury troubles was one plus for Greig Laidlaw.

The Urayasu coach now just needs to find a way to keep them on the field consistently and get them more involved working off each other, where their impact could be devastating.

Kobe was left frustrated by their loss at Shizuoka, which was largely self-inflicted after they ended the afternoon with 13 men.

While former Wallaby coach Dave Rennie is a calm customer, a firm word behind closed doors is likely to have been had and it will need to have been before the Steelers host the side who denied them a semi-final spot last term, Eagles, in the final game of the round.

Although reined in by Brave Lupus in the end, there was plenty of merit in the Eagles' spirited performance.

With Springbok scrumhalf Faf de Klerk back in full flow after injury, Yokohama is undoubtedly a semifinal contender again.

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