Four Boks crack nod in Japan League One's Best 15

Four Springboks have been named in the Best Fifteen of Japan's League One.

The Japanese season concluded over the weekend as Frans Ludeke's Kubota Spears upset the Wild Knights 17-15 in the final to claim their maiden title.

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Following their title win, the Spears contributed four players to the Best Fifteen of the 2022/23 season, including Springbok hooker Malcolm Marx and Wallabies flyhalf Bernard Foley.

The other Springboks included in the Best Fifteen are loose forwards Kwagga Smith (Shizuoka Blue Revs) and Pieter-Steph du Toit (Toyota Verblitz), and scrumhalf Faf de Klerk (Canon Eagles).

Japan League One Best 15:

15 Ryuji Noguchi, 14 Seiya Ozaki, 13 Tomoki Osada, 12 Dylan Riley, 11 Haruto Kida, 10 Bernard Foley, 9 Faf de Klerk, 8 Kwagga Smith, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Kazuki Himeno, 5 Harry Hockings, 4 Warner Dearns, 3 Opeti Helu, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Keita Inagaki

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Smith also scooped the Player of the Season accolade after captaining the Blue Revs out of a relegation battle.

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Ludeke, a former Bulls and Lions mentor, was named Coach of the Season.

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