Springboks lock celebrates return with a try while All Blacks fly-half scores again

Lawrence Nolan
Lood de Jager in action for Saitama Wild Knights.

Lood de Jager in action for Saitama Wild Knights.

Springboks lock Lood de Jager marked his return to competitive rugby from a heart condition with a try, as Saitama Wild Knights annihilated Mitsubishi Sagamihara Dynaboars 81-21 to stay top of Japan Rugby League One at the weekend.

De Jager, who missed the Rugby World Cup and has not played for six months after being diagnosed with Pericarditis, a swelling of the tissues around the heart, was on the scoresheet after half an hour of the match, by which point his side was already 43-0 to the good in a desperately one-sided encounter.

The Wild Knights were on the scoreboard after two minutes with a try from Asaeli’i Valu, and were unrelenting. Damian de Allende, Takuya Yamasawa, Jack Cornelsen, Shota Fukui, Ryuji Noguchi and De Jager all dotted down, with Rikiya Matsuda converting five and adding a penalty for a 48-0 half-time scoreline.

Easy for Robbie Deans’ side

Director of rugby Robbie Deans made four half-time changes with the game already done, but they barely changed the momentum as Liam Mitchell brought up the 50 within five minutes of the restart.

Deans emptied the bench after 52 minutes which did disrupt the flow a little and Matt Vaega scored the Dynaboars’ first points. Mitchell and Lachlan Boshier crossed for further Wild Knights tries before Jackson Hemopo pulled one back for the hosts. Tomoki Osada and Mark Abbott continued to stretch the visitors’ lead though, before the Dynaboars had the final say through a try from Ryuta Nakamori.

Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo remain on the Wild Knights’ heels after they maintained a 100 per cent record with a comfortable 40-12 win over Japan‘s bottom club Mie Honda Heat. The Brave Lupus ran in six tries, including another for All Blacks fly-half Richie Mo’unga, to keep the Heat rooted to the bottom and still without even a bonus point.

Tokyo Sungoliath are in third after a narrow and exciting 29-25 win over Shizuoka BlueRevs. Sam Cane opened the scoring on his birthday for Sungoliath after five minutes but the BlueRevs were dominant in the first half, which also saw Springboks flanker Kwagga Smith yellow-carded for the BlueRevs and Cane following him shortly after. Tries from Kakeru Okumura and Kodai Okazaki, along with a conversion and penalty from Kenta Iaumra, had the BlueRevs up 15-5 at the break.

But momentum gradually shifted in the second half and Sungoliath had the lead by the hour after tries from Kosuke Horikoshi and Taiga Ozaki. The BlueRevs worked their bench well however, and retook the lead with tries from Sam Greene and Futo Yamaguchi. Iemura, who had a rough day from the tee, could not convert either, leaving the score 25-17 with 15 minutes to go.

Stunner from Cheslin Kolbe

Cheslin Kolbe turned the game once again with a trademark stepping finish to make it 25-22 and Ryuga Hashimoto delivered the coup de grace with two remaining.

Yokohama Canon Eagles are fourth, after enjoying a comfortable but unspectacular 24-8 win over BlackRams Tokyo. Down 8-7 at half-time, the Eagles rallied after the break and saw out the win with tries from Inoke Burua and Ryo Tabata, both converted by Yu Tamura.

Toyota Verblitz are fifth after a comfortable 48-14 win over the winless Hanazono Kintetsu Liners, while the mid-table clash between the Kobelco Kobe Steelers and Kubota Spears brought a thrilling 34-38 win for the Spears, sealed with a late try from centre Rikus Pretorius. Dane Coles also touched down twice for the Spears, while Ardie Savea crossed the whitewash for the Steelers. The main difference between the teams was the kicking of Spears full-back Gerhard van den Heever, who landed four penalties and three conversions.

READ MORE: Springboks star Cheslin Kolbe scores a 2019-esque stunner in a come-from-behind victory

Australia Lood de Jager Richie Mo'unga

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