Try doubles for Kwagga, Steenkamp

Kwagga Smith and Walt Steenkamp each crossed twice in Japan League One, among a host of South African try-scorers on duty for foreign clubs at the weekend.

Japan League One
Kwagga Smith scored a brace for his Shizuoka Blue Revs side in their 31-25 win over Tokyo Black Rams. Sanele Nohamba made his debut for Blue Revs off the bench.

Franco Mostert had an eventful outing for Honda Heat in their 39-31 defeat to Urayasu D-Rocks as he scored a try and was shown a red card late on. Mostert’s compatriots Matthys Basson and Janko Swanepoel were second-half replacements for Heat, while Lourens Erasmus and Shane Gates featured from the start for D-Rocks, with Gates scoring a try.

A full complement of six Saffas starred for Kubota Spears in their 41-24 win over Jesse Kriel’s Yokohama Canon Eagles. David Bulbring scored a try in a Man of the Match performance, while Rikus Pretorius and Merwe Olivier also crossed the whitewash for a Spears side that included Malcolm Marx, Ruan Botha and Tyler Paul.

Kurt-Lee Arendse scored once and Walt Steenkamp scored twice as he was awarded the Man of the Match for the Mitsubishi Dynaboars in their 31-22 away win at Toyota Verblitz. Khutha Mchunu was at tighthead prop for Dynaboars, with Adre Smith starting at lock for Verblitz.

Lood de Jager and Damian de Allende started for Saitama Wild Knights as they went down 42-31 to Toshiba Brave Lupus, while Cheslin Kolbe started on the left wing for Suntory Sungoliath in their 39-37 loss to Kobelco Kobe Steelers.

Top 14
Cobus Reinach scored a try for Montpellier but it wasn’t enough to prevent a 40-38 defeat at Pau. Jan Serfontein started for Montpellier.

Dillyn Leyds featured for La Rochelle in their 12-12 draw at home to Castres, while Arno Botha played No 8 for Lyon in a 36-21 win over Vannes.

Jeremy Ward and Joe Jonas both came off the bench for Stade Francais to contribute to a crucial 31-27 win over Bayonne and James Hall started at 9 for Perpignan in a heavy 41-19 defeat to Toulon at the Stade Mayol.

Rohan Janse van Rensburg opened the scoring for Bordeaux in their impressive 32-24 win over Toulouse.

URC
Dan Kasende’s brace for Ospreys helped secure a narrow 43-40 win over Connacht, while Johan Mulder and Tinus de Beer were part of the Cardiff side that enjoyed a narrow 20-17 win over the Lions on Friday night, and JP du Preez was also on the winning side as his Glasgow Warriors team beat Munster 28-25 at the death.

Benetton fullback Rhyno Smith got the better of fellow countryman Boan Venter in the Italians’ 21-18 win over Edinburgh in Treviso.

Bok giant RG Snyman endured heartbreak on his return to Loftus as his Leinster side went down to an injury-time penalty against the Bulls on Saturday night.

Marnus van der Merwe and Jarrod Taylor tasted defeat for the Scarlets as they submitted to the Stormers in a 29-17 defeat. 

Premiership
Centre Rob du Preez scored a try in Sale’s comfortable 39-15 win away at Newcastle on Friday night. Du Preez was joined in the Sale squad by his brother Jean-Luc, Ernst van Rhyn and Hyron Andrews. Philip van der Walt and Seb de Chaves ran out for Newcastle.

Handre Pollard kicked 13 points for Leicester Tigers in their impressive 33-0 win at champions Northampton Saints. Pollard was joined by Hanro Liebenberg in the starting lineup. Juarno Augustus and Burger Odendaal featured for Saints.

A trio of Harlequins Saffas in the form of Jordan Els, Irne Herbst and Tyrone Green enjoyed a 23-12 win over Ivan van Zyl’s Saracens.

Benhard Janse van Rensburg scored for Bristol Bears as they recorded a thumping 52-38 win over Exeter Chiefs in the late kick-off on Saturday.

Thomas du Toit continued his remarkable try-scoring run for Bath in their 42-26 win over Gloucester to keep his side at the top of the table. Other Saffas to feature for Bath were Francois van Wyk, Jaco Coetzee and Louis Schreuder, while Ruan Ackermann started for the Cherry and Whites.

Photo: Instagram /@KwaggaSmith