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It's a result that maybe neither team wanted on Saturday at Tokyo’s Prince Chichibu Stadium in but the 29-20 draw, which was the first ever tie between the two sides, allowed defending champions Toshiba Brave Lupus to reclaim the top spot in the Division following their win over Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Sagamihara Dynaboars with just one game left.
It's a result that maybe neither team wanted on Saturday at Tokyo’s Prince Chichibu Stadium in but the 29-20 draw, which was the first ever tie between the two sides, allowed defending champions Toshiba Brave Lupus to reclaim the top spot in the Division following their win over Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Sagamihara Dynaboars with just one game left.
The Wild Knights are joint top on the Division 1 log with 66 points but have an inferior points difference, and Kubota Spears Funabashi Tokyo-Bay fall to 3rd on 64 points.
The game itself was frantic and punctuated by some excellent tries and massive hits in front of a large crowd. The scoring was opened by Wild Knights Liam Mitchell before Kubota’s Tyler Paul scored against the run of play in the 15th minute to tie it up in his 50th match.
The opening quarter stats suggested it was in Robbie Deans ' side's favour as they had made more ground and far fewer tackles, but the ascendancy wasn't showing on the scoreboard until fullback Takuya Yamasawa scored on his return with a great try after a fluid attack and good hands, his namesake fly half slotted the conversion.
The opening half was highlighting some of the stars and their trademark attributes; the returning Dylan Riley (who had a very rocky opening quarter of an hour) putting in a massive hits on defence in a fierce and physical midfield battle, while for the men in Orange, Malcolm Marx has his trademark steals and was placing his broad shoulders into willing attackers leading to the commentary team saying ‘it was not the first soul the Springbok Marx had taken out there.”
Just after the half-hour mark, Frans Ludeke’s Spears tied it up again as Koga Nezuka scored his 5th in 7 matches since he returned from injury. But after a period of attack and just before the halftime break, the Wild Knights retook the lead thanks to left wing Tomoki Osada, who finally broke the orange defensive wall for a 19-14 lead.
The second half was scrappy and error-strewn, and substitutions were made to reinject some of the tempo and dominance. But the game continued to be fractured and both sides swapped points when available, and both flyhalves Yamasawa and Foley scored penalties.
Finally a solid lineout and maul led to several attacking phases and Kubota replacement hooker Hayate Era scored his third try of the season and Foley put them in front for first time in 57th minute, 24-22 as they chased only second win in 19 years over the Saitama Panasonic Wild Knights.
The final quarter stats indicated the change in momentum as by now the Wild Knights had made 20 per cent more tackles, and the Kubota side had made 416 vs 302 metres and 6 versus 2 clean breaks.
But the multiple champions showed their class and redeemed the lead through South African Ockie Barnard in the 75th minute to edge ahead 29-24, and it looked likely to have won the game. There was a late missed drop goal from the side to try and put a defeat out of reach.
The Spears would not give up and after phase after phase in their own half, the ball moved to the wing as Hibiki Yamada scored in the left-hand corner, beating several defenders along the way in an outstanding solo effort.
In a deja vu moment, as Bernard Foley had the opportunity in the same fixture earlier this season to win the game at the end through a penalty but missed, he had the chance to convert the try after the hooter from out wide but missed, for the game to conclude 29-all.
Kubota Spears Funabashi Tokyo Bay Head Coach Frans Ludeke said after the game, “It was a very intense battle where either team could have won. Both teams showed what they had built up for today's match, and it was a good battle. I don't think either team is disappointed. As for how we finished the game, I feel we showed our team strength by not giving up until the very end. We had some good elements that can add spice to the game going forward. I think we showed we had a chance to win.”
Saitama Panasonic Wild Knights Robbie Deans added, "It was perfect weather for rugby today, and we had a good match. We weren't satisfied with the result, but considering that we could have lost in the final moments, I feel happy about that. It was good preparation for what we'll do going forward. Also, it was a positive thing for us that players like Dylan Riley, Lachlan Bocher and Takuya Yamazawa were able to return and play for the full 80 minutes."
