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WATCH: Cheslin Kolbe not at wing but debut in Japan goes as expected
By Grant Constable
Cheslin Kolbe made his full Japan League One debut for Suntory Sungoliath on Sunday, contributing to a 52-26 away win over Bernard Foley's Kubota Spears.
Having already had a run out in a pre-season game, Kolbe looked at home amongst his teammates, that include All Blacks captain Sam Cane and South African born Japan star, Kotaro Matsushima.
Suntory came out firing, dominating the first half to take a 35-7 into the halftime break.
Playing at fullback against the reigning champion Kubota Spears, he kicked well out of hand, was solid under the high ball, stood up defensively and looked dangerous throughout with a number of trademark sniping breaks.
He also nearly picked up another charge down, this time from a Foley kick at posts.
His overall performance lead to him picking up the man of the match award.
Elsewhere, it was much closer between Toyota Verblitz and Black Rams on Saturday.
The fixture produced just three tries, and only three points in the second half, as All Black recruits Beauden Barrett and Aaron Smith tasted victory on debut for Verblitz, who prevailed 15-8.
World Cup winner Kwagga Smith’s try was not enough as Blue Revs went down 30-43 to Brave Lupus.
Just like Smith, six weeks ago Faf de Klerk and Jesse Kriel were celebrating being crowned as world champions for a second time.
However, the Springbok pair were left licking their wounds on Sunday, after South African teammate Damien de Allende’s Wild Knights brought them, and their Eagles colleagues, back to earth with a thud after a 53-12 trampling.
The season may be just a weekend old, but it’s only taken 80 minutes to underline to last season’s semifinalists just how tough it will be to reach the playoffs again.
- additional reporting by Rugby365
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Latest Comments
Ireland have every right to back themselves for a win. But the key variable has little to do with recent record etc.
The reality is that Ireland are a settled team with tons of continuity, an established style, and a good depth chart, whereas NZ are fundamentally rebuilding. The questions are all about what Razor is doing and how far along he is in that program.
NZ are very close to really clicking. Against England all of the chatter is about how England could have closed out a win, but failed to do so. This has obscured the observation that NZ were by far the more creative and effective in attack, beyond the 3-1 try differential and disallowed tries. They gave away a lot of unnecessary penalties, and made many simple errors (including knock-ons and loose kicks). Those things are very fixable, and when they do so we are once again going to be staring at a formidable NZ team.
Last week we heard the England fans talking confidently about their chances against NZ, but England did not end up looking like the better team on the field or the scoreboard. The England defense was impressive enough, but still could not stop the tries.
Ireland certainly has a better chance, of course, but NZ is improving fast, and I would not be surprised at a convincing All Black win this week. It may turn on whether NZ can cut out the simple mistakes.
Go to commentsFair to say that NZ have come to respect Ireland, as have all teams. But it's a bit click-baitey to say that the game is the premier show-down for NZ.
SA has beaten NZ four times in a row, including in the RWC final.
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