My time in Japan was amazing - Kurt-Lee Arendse

Former Mitsubishi Sagamihara Dynaboars star Kurt-Lee Arendse has hailed his League One experience and believes he’s a better player following his sabbatical in Japan.

The 29-year-old World Cup winner shone for Glenn Delaney’s Dynaboars, scoring seven tries in 12 appearances despite missing the closing rounds of the season due to a shoulder injury.

Former sevens star Arendse, who was one of 20 departures from the Kanagawa-based club in May, was deployed as a full-back for the majority of the season including against his Springboks teammate Cheslin Kolbe’s Suntory Sungoliath in March.  

Arendse v Kolbe in Japan. Picture courtesy of JRLO

“My time in Japan was amazing,” said Arendse while on media duty for South Africa in the build-up to their home game against Georgia in Mbombela on Saturday.

The Paarl, Western Cape native, who has scored 19 tries in 25 Test matches for his country, compared his Japan experience to his time in sevens which included playing at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.

“It felt like sevens rugby with all the running, and the nice part about the Boks is the way we play now involves a lot of running, so it is exciting,” said the lethal marksman who will see out the remaining year on his Vodacom Bulls contract next season.

The unfancied Dynaboars finished a respectable ninth and produced stirring upset wins over Kobe Steelers, Kolbe’s Suntory Sungoliath, Faf de Klerk and Jesse Kriel’s Yokohama Canon Eagles as well as Pieter-Steph du Toit's Toyota Verblitz both home and away.

“I think it helped me a lot to play in Japan, because the coaches there gave me a lot of freedom,” he old SA Rugby Mag on Wednesday.

“In most of the games, I played full-back and that’s something I really enjoyed.”

Arendse starts on the left wing against the bruising Eastern European nation with Hollywoodbets Sharks’ Edwill van der Merwe on the right flank and his club colleague Aphelele Fassi at full-back to complete the back three.  

The 2023 World Cup winner is enjoying the abundant competition for a starting berth as the Springboks conclude their home run-up to the Rugby Championship which starts in August.

 “It’s great to see the younger players come into the set-up and take their opportunities.”

Arendse added: “It’s always a pleasure representing your country, so the goal for us will be to ensure that we maintain our standards and try to deliver the best possible performance against a Georgian outfit that have everything to prove.”

League One is well represented in South Africa’s matchday squad with Toyota’s fit-again World Player of The Year du Toit, who got through 80 minutes on his return against Italy a week ago, and Saitama Wild Knights’ inside-centre Damian de Allende both starting.

Shizuoka Blue Revs captain Kwagga Smith and Yokohama’s de Klerk are among the replacements as tinkerman Rassie Erasmus once again shuffles his talent-rich squad.