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Round 13 of the Japan Rugby League One in Division 1 was highlighted by the fact that defending champions Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo have secured their place in the JRLO playoffs following a 59-21 demolition of Mie Honda Heat at Hokkaido.
Round 13 of the Japan Rugby League One in Division 1 was highlighted by the fact that defending champions Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo have secured their place in the JRLO playoffs following a 59-21 demolition of Mie Honda Heat at Hokkaido.
The final ten minutes of the match on Sunday saw five tries scored - with All Black Shannon Frizell grabbing a hattrick (in the 71st, 76th and 80th minutes to make it seven tries this season) and second rower Jacob Pierce scored a brace of tries to secure a nine-try bonus point victory.
Earlier in the game, which had been tight content until Brave Lupus ran away with a dominant win, the competition’s leading try-scorer, Brave Lupus winger Jone Naikabula, secured a 13th try of this season.
Tokyo Suntory Sungoliath ended a 3-match losing streak to beat Shizuoka Blue Revs 22-17 which allowed them to move up the log and extend their record over Kwagga Smith’s side to 17 long years (across 16 matches). Springbok winger Cheslin Kolbe scored a fourth try of the season after intercepting and running in from 60 metres out of the Blue Revs try line. The Sungoliath side are now seventh on the table (tied on points with the Eagles) but have a tough run of games coming up which include fixtures against the Wild Knights and Kubota Spears Funabashi Tokyo-Bay.
Speaking of, the Kubota Spears Funabashi Tokyo-Bay defeated Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Sagamihara Dynaboars 33-5 which was their 23rd successive win at their fortress - Spears Erodiku Field. The win was made comfortable by a powerful forward’s display - with the pack scoring four tries and one of them was by rampaging Springbok hooker Malcolm Marx to make it four tries in his past five JRLO games (and 30 in 40 appearances).
In Saturday’s final match, Saitama Panasonic Wild Knights avoided an unlikely third consecutive defeat in the JLRO by beating the struggling Urayasu D-Rocks 54-26 at Miyagi. There were a pair of tries for each of Shota Fukui and winger Koki Takeyama with the latter’s try-tally for the season sitting at 12.
Toyota Verblitz managed a rare win in a season where they have really struggled and beat Yokohama Canon Eagles 29-17. The third win of the campaign saw them escape the relegation series places for the first time in five weeks, while the Eagles are now on a four-game losing streak in Division 1. Former league star Joseph Manu scored his ninth try for Toyota Verblitz in a remarkable debut season in rugby union to help Steve Hansen’s side ease some relegation fears.
The final game on Sunday saw Kobelco Kobe Steelers edge closer to also heading into the playoffs after Dave Rennie’s fifth-placed side beat Ricoh Black Rams Tokyo 27-24 and opened a gap of 11 points on the log on the 6th-placed Yokohama Canon Eagles who lost earlier in the day. Kobe had two yellow cards in the first half but still managed to overcome a 14-0 deficit to beat TJ Perenara’s team - they had also won the fixture earlier in the season.
RESULTS
Division One (Japan times shown)
Division One Saturday March 29
Tokyo Suntory Sungoliath 22-17 Shizuoka Blue Revs; at Tokyo
Kubota Spears Funabashi Tokyo-Bay 33-5 Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Sagamihara Dynaboars; at Tokyo
Urayasu D-Rocks 26-54 Saitama Panasonic Wild Knights; at Miyagi
Sunday March 30
Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo 59-21 Mie Honda Heat; at Hokkaido
Yokohama Canon Eagles 17-29 Toyota Verblitz; at Oita
Ricoh Black Rams Tokyo 24-27 Kobelco Kobe Steelers; at Tokyo