Boks in Japan: Faf bests Smith again

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Faf de Klerk went head-to-head with Aaron Smith, while Damian de Allende showed off his kicking boots in the second round of Japan’s League One.

– Defending champions Kubota Spears, coached by Frans Ludeke, kickstarted their season in style with a 75-0 thrashing of Honda Heat. Locks JD Schickerling and Ruan Botha, wing Gerhard van den Heever, hooker Schalk Erasmus and flank Pieter Labuschagne all got on the scoresheet with tries for the Spears. Springbok lock Franco Mostert started for Honda Heat, who are bottom of the table after another heavy defeat.

– Faf de Klerk resumed his rivalry with former All Black Aaron Smith as Canon Eagles claimed a 24-22 win against Toyota Verblitz. De Klerk was joined in the Eagles’ lineup by fellow Springbok Jesse Kriel and flank Kobus van Dyk.

– Damian de Allende tried his boot at goalkicking as league-leaders Wild Knights eased to a 49-0 victory over Kintetsu Liners. With the result all but settled, De Allende stepped up to nail a late conversion in the final 10 minutes.

– Kwagga Smith led Blue Revs from the front with another try-scoring captain’s performance in a 26-30 loss to Kobe Steel, who had All Blacks Brodie Retallick and Ardie Savea in their starting lineup.

– Cheslin Kolbe‘s Suntory Sungoliath suffered their first loss of the season in a 19-26 defeat to Toshiba Brave Lupus. Kolbe started at fullback for the Sam Cane-captained Sungoliath, but it was Richie Mo’unga’s Brave Lupus who came out on top, with the All Blacks flyhalf slotting three conversions.

Photo: Koki Nagahama/Getty Images

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