14 - 28

40 - 34

40 - 27

17 - 13

19 - 22

12 - 22

12 - 7

33 - 50

35 - 19

51 - 28

43 - 19

WOMENS

38 - 26

41 - 26

35 - 32

40 - 43

38 - 13

55 - 25

48 - 0

26 - 20

33 - 33

19 - 24

26 - 22

7 - 8

68 - 26

38 - 21

17 - 21

28 - 0

Thursday

12:00

Thursday

23:10

Friday

10:00

Friday

10:30

Friday

10:30

Friday

10:30

Friday

10:30

Friday

11:45

Friday

11:45

Friday

11:45

Friday

12:00

Friday

12:00

Friday

18:35

Friday

20:05

Friday

23:10

Japan Rugby League One

The domestic league supplying 13 of Rugby's Greatest Rivalry Test players

Ian Cameron

Published: 21 August 2026 02:16 PDT

PRETORIA, SOUTH AFRICA - JULY 11: Cheslin Kolbe of South Africa during the 2026 Nations Championship match between South Africa and Scotland at Loftus Versfeld Stadium on July 11, 2026 in Pretoria, South Africa. (Photo by Steve Haag - Nations Championship/ Getty Images)

Japan Rugby League One’s influence on the international game will be in plain sight when Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry gets underway at Ellis Park on Saturday.

When Springbok and Toyota Verblitz back-rower Pieter-Steph du Toit and Kobelco Kobe Steelers No.8 Ardie Savea lead their sides out in Johannesburg, they will be among 13 players with League One links selected across the two matchday squads.

The figure certainly speaks to how far the competition has come since its launch five years ago. A quarter of the players involved in the opening Test come from Japan’s domestic league, with another three members of the coaching teams also bringing League One connections.

VIDEO

South Africa account for 10 of the 13 players.

League One’s leading points scorer Cheslin Kolbe starts for the Springboks and is likely to be one of the most closely watched players on the field. The Tokyo Sungoliath wing is joined in the backline by Yokohama Canon Eagles centre Jesse Kriel, Mitsubishi Sagamihara Dynaboars speedster Kurt-Lee Arendse, Saitama Wild Knights midfielder Damian de Allende and Hanazono Kintetsu Liners fly-half Manie Libbok.

Up front, Urayasu D-Rocks No.8 Jasper Wiese and Verblitz flank Du Toit continue the League One representation, while Kubota Spears pair Malcolm Marx and Ruan Nortje are also included.

It will be a landmark occasion for De Allende, who wins his 100th cap for South Africa alongside long-time midfield partner Kriel.

For current World Rugby Player of the Year Marx, the series offers a chance to return to centre stage after a bicep injury ruled him out of Kubota’s League One final in June.

Two members of the Springboks squad are yet to play in Japan but will do so later this year. Scrum-half Grant Williams has signed for Kobe, while lock Nortje is heading to Kubota.

The All Blacks contingent is smaller but contains some of the biggest names in the game.

Savea starts after helping guide Kobe to the League One title, with team-mate Anton Lienert-Brown also selected. Damian McKenzie, another standout performer in Japan with Tokyo Sungoliath, completes the League One representation in the New Zealand side.

The All Blacks are coached by Kobe title-winning boss Dave Rennie, with Steelers assistant Mike Blair also part of the New Zealand coaching group. Former Brave Blossoms assistant Tony Brown fills a similar role with South Africa.

Several other League One stars are on tour but miss out on selection for the opening Test. Toyota Verblitz lock Patrick Tuipulotu, Sungoliath and Verblitz playmaker Beauden Barrett and Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo fly-half Richie Mo’unga are all part of the All Blacks squad.

The League One presence in Johannesburg continues a trend seen at the 2023 Rugby World Cup, where 25 players who later featured in the 2023-24 Japanese club season appeared on the global stage.

Japan Rugby League One players selected for the first Test

South Africa

Tokyo Sungoliath: Cheslin Kolbe
Yokohama Canon Eagles: Jesse Kriel
Mitsubishi Sagamihara Dynaboars: Kurt-Lee Arendse
Saitama Wild Knights: Damian de Allende
Hanazono Kintetsu Liners: Manie Libbok
Kobelco Kobe Steelers: Grant Williams
Urayasu D-Rocks: Jasper Wiese
Toyota Verblitz: Pieter-Steph du Toit
Kubota Spears: Malcolm Marx, Ruan Nortje

Assistant coach: Tony Brown (former Brave Blossoms assistant)

New Zealand

Tokyo Sungoliath: Damian McKenzie
Kobelco Kobe Steelers: Ardie Savea, Anton Lienert-Brown

Coaches: Dave Rennie, Mike Blair (Kobelco Kobe Steelers)

LIVE

Comments

20 Comments

Hellhound 44 days ago

What I would love to see is a mixed Boks and AB's touring team to the NH, to take on their 6N teams and the Lions. The best of the SH vs the best of the NH. The Boks and AB's are practically family in a rugby sense. They will top rugby ranks 95% of the time. Take the best players after this tour of both teams and make a SH team. That would be a team of pure terror.

JW 44 days ago

This is a misleading article. South African numbers are much the same going back to this same clash years ago, and the All Blacks numbers are more just a sabbactical anomoly, timing bettwen WC and Lions tour cycles.

If this tour had of been known in advance you can bet your bottom dollar Ardie and co would not have been allowed sabbaticals this year. They would have been last year etc.

Over the sideline 44 days ago

Well 23 of the All Blacks in the test squad came thru the NZ NPC and id gurss most Bokke came thru the Currie cup.

Make of that whatever you want.

Mzilikazi 44 days ago

“id gurss most Bokke came thru the Currie cup.” I would think not any longer, OtS. They would have in the past for sure, when the Currie Cup was the premier competition in SA. Still is domestically, but I would think most of the top players coming out of the schools would now go straight into the academies of the URC ECPR sides, and prior to that the Super rugby sides.

Our SA contributors here willl enlighten us, and I would be interested to learn how many, if any, current Bok squad members for the game today would ever have played Currie Cup.

JW 44 days ago

Would have, theyve made CC a stand alone comp now sadly. Provinces, excluding their pro sides (which prev disbanded back in to provinces).

TheNotoriousFig 44 days ago

Looking at the age profile of the South Africa squad, it is an easy assumption that playing in Japan can extend careers.

B 45 days ago

Ardie Savea was accused of being the reason for Scott Robertsons sacking, then ended up playing JRLOne for Kobelco Steelers…

Dave Rennie gets appointed AB’s Head Coach and Ardie is the All Black Captain…

Go the AB’s...Sorted and sourced from AB’s JRLOne and SRPacific form…Bring it…

JW 44 days ago

Thought you were getting into conspiracy theories for a second B

Lofty 45 days ago

This article reads like, without Japan League One those guys would not be the World class players they are, rather than they were already so good that Japan, like England, chuck loads of money at World class players to come to their clubs

fl 45 days ago

slightly odd analogy. England develop players as well.

tf 45 days ago

But in England it goes

‘chuck loads of money at World class players to come to their clubs, then go bust!’

Hammer Head 45 days ago

This doesn’t get talked about enough

Load More Comments

Join free and tell us what you really think!

Latest Long Reads

LONG READ

‘Australia are hitting a sweet spot of Test experience; it’s exciting to think where they could get to over the next 12 months’

With RWC 2027 just under a year away, Australia fans are daring to dream about what sort of shape their team might be in by then.

LONG READ

Injured stars hope for Christmas miracles as URC rivals smell Irish blood in the water

With two key Ireland players on the sidelines and all four provinces losing their opening URC games, the league's most dominant country is on the back foot.

LONG READ

Dave Rennie is getting the band back together - but will the All Blacks veterans strike the right notes?

Questions have been asked of South Africa's old guard, but the All Blacks may not have developed as much Test-ready talent as desired this World Cup cycle.