The wing said Japan pushed the Springboks harder than the scoreline suggested.
Kurt-Lee Arendse called the Springboks’ 61-7 win over Japan at Wembley Stadium on Saturday night “a good start” to their end-of-year tour.
The match in London was the first of five back-to-back Saturday Tests in Europe. The next is against France in Paris, with Italy, Ireland and Wales to follow.
Ireland and France are ranked third and fourth in the world, respectively. So the one-sided Japan win will give the Springboks much confidence before these matches.
Arendse earned man of the match for his performance, slipping tackles and making great runs for the full 80 minutes.
The Springbok wing scored two tries on the night, the first coming when he pounced on a kick that a Japanese player failed to catch.
The second came when Cheslin Kolbe – normally Arendse’s wing partner but playing fullback on the night – made a great run but had to kick the ball over a defender to continue attacking. Arendse again gathered before his opponents, sliding with the ball over the try line.
‘A collective effort’
It was the Springboks’ third consecutive victory against Japan. The South Africans scored nine tries on the night – Siya Kolisi, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (2), Wilco Louw, André Esterhuizen and Jesse Kriel also scoring, along with a penalty try.
“It was a collective effort. I’m just happy with a win,” Arendse said. “Thanks to Japan for not making it easy for us. I know the scoreboard shows something else, but I’m just happy.”
The wing added he didn’t know how many more tries he would score for the Springboks, having been in the Boks’ top ten try scorers since last year.
“As long as I can contribute towards the t,eam I will be happy,” he said.
“You must adapt in conditions like this. It’s a good start for us for the Autumn Series and we can build on this. We won’t be happy with some stuff but we’ll take it.”
Kolisi: Springboks had to work hard for Japan win
Springbok captain Siya Kolisi likewise felt the match was perhaps closer than the scoreline suggested.
“We had to work for everything we had today,” the flanker said. He refrained from saying France would be a step up, though they are ranked fourth in the world and Japan are 13th.
“All the international games are a step up, you can’t say it’s a step up from Japan. They are a great team. You saw in their last game against Australia how close it was, and we also lost against Australia. But it will be a different game next week.”
