South Africans in Japan: Ludeke, Kwagga & Kurt-Lee steal the headlines

03/23/2025 01:23 PM

ROUND 12 WRAP: South Africans stole the headlines in Japan at the weekend, as there is a new leader and a tightening of the race to avoid the end of the season (promotion/relegation) in League One.

The names of Spears coach Frans Ludeke, as well as World Cup-winning Springboks Kwagga Smith, Kurt-lee Arendse and Franco Mostert were the most noteworthy.

However, there were several other South Africans featuring prominently at the weekend.

As well as being the 28-year-old Arendse's seventh of a hugely successful loan spell from the Pretoria-based Bulls, Arendse's try was the fifth that was shared between four Springboks, amongst the eight current South African Test stars who competed in the league at the weekend.

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Ludeke's Spears moved to within two points of the Wild second-placed Knights and three points of table-topping Brave Lupus.

The Spears fended off the Eagles 41-24 to record their 22nd-straight win at their western Tokyo home base.

Following a tight first half, from which the home side came out with a 12-3 lead, the Spears put the game to bed with two tries within five minutes of the re-start - South African centre Rikus Pretorius dotting down for Frans Ludeke's men after Wallaby Bernard Foley had opened the half's scoring in the 43rd minute.

The double whammy pushed the Spears ahead 26-3; a margin the Eagles were always unlikely to run down against the best defence in the league.

Yokohama did get to within 10 points following two tries in six minutes by the ex-Jersey Reds fullback Brendan Owen, both orchestrated by veteran Brave Blossoms flyhalf Yu Tamura, but the Spears were never in any danger, securing a valuable try-scoring bonus point when the first season South African second row forward Merwe Olivier crossed for the second try of his League One career shortly before full-time.

Spears' third maximum-point haul of the campaign extended their lead over the Blue Revs by one point, after the fourth-placed side, who were led by two first-half tries from Springbok back row forward and man-of-the-match Kwagga Smith, held on to beat a game Black Rams 31-25.

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Verblitz fell to their ninth defeat of a rocky season after a 22-31 loss to the Dynaboars.

The visitors stunned Verblitz when wing Kurt-lee Arendse touched down in the opening minute, running 50 metres to score after exposing a gap in Verblitz's midfield.

It was a double blow as South African second row forward Adre Smith was yellow carded in the same play for an attempted professional foul at the breakdown in the lead-up.

D-Rocks kept their hopes of avoiding the post-season relegation series alive after completing a double over the Heat, following a 39-31 victory at the weekend.

Foreign internationals scored the first three tries of the game, with Los Pumas back row forward Pablo Matera and Springbok second row forward Franco Mostert replying to the opening score by Wallaby midfielder Samu Kerevi, and the margin on the scoreboard remained tight throughout.

After trailing by three points at half-time, two second-half tries in either corner from Heat's veteran Brave Blossoms fullback Lemeki Lomano Lava appeared to have given his side the edge but the game's defining moment occurred nine minutes from time when Mostert was sent off for an illegal cleanout on compatriot Shane Gates.

The incident came during the movement that led up to Heat back row forward Ryota Kobayashi crossing for a 'try' that could have pushed the home side outside of the range of a converted try.

Instead, the try was cancelled and – down a man, with nine minutes to play – Heat was unable to hold on.

Urayasu back row forward Hendrick Tui scored his first try for his new club three minutes before full-time to recapture the lead, before Kerevi's midfield partner Soma Matsumoto scored his second try and his third from just five appearances in the league, to ease D-Rocks clear.

Both teams would have been heartened when the news filtered through from Gifu that their relegation rivals, 11th-placed Verblitz, had fallen to their ninth defeat of a rocky season.

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