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Second-placed Saitama Panasonic Wild Knights face a playoff entrant in Tokyo Suntory Sungoliath on Saturday at Kumagaya Rugby Stadium, and home team coach Robbie Deans will want to see a more ruthless performance from his side to give them a chance of topping the table by the end of this final round of regular season fixtures in Division 1.
Second-placed Saitama Panasonic Wild Knights face a playoff entrant in Tokyo Suntory Sungoliath on Saturday at Kumagaya Rugby Stadium, and home team coach Robbie Deans will want to see a more ruthless performance from his side to give them a chance of topping the table by the end of this final round of regular season fixtures in Division 1.
The Wild Knights know a win will secure them a top-two finish in the league, and that means a bye in the opening round of playoffs and a home semifinal. For Tokyo Suntory Sungoliath, following their strong win last week thanks to a Man of the Match performance from Springbok Cheslin Kolbe (7 tries this campaign), they secured the 6th and final playoff spot, and they head into the clash fielding a strong side.
Kolbe is on the left wing, Same Cane starts at flank, Kotaro Mastushima at fullback, while the Japanese flyhalf Keisuke Moriya has become one of the team leaders since locking down the 10 jersey and has been praised for his game management. He said, “I want to be able to control where and when I play Suntory's attacking rugby. I'm not a super strong carrier or the fastest runner, but I have a lot of good players around me, so I just think about where to put them in space.
Saitama Panasonic Wild Knights draw last weekend with Kubota Spears Funabashi Tokyo-Bay was not ideal, but it's the manner in which the side conceded points in the last quarter that the management team will want to address, as they have been out-scored in the final 20 minutes on six occasions.
The tied game also allowed defending champions Toshiba Brave Lupus to reclaim the top spot in the Division following their win over Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Sagamihara Dynaboars. 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 are just behind them in 3rd on 64 points.
Last weekend, for the Wild Knights, they saw the return of Dylan Riley, Lachlan Bocher, and Takuya Yamazawa for the full game, which Robbie Deans commented on afterwards, saying it was a positive and the match was good preparation for the matches that remain. He has selected all three in the starting lineup again.
Flyhalf Kyohei Yamasawa continues to lead the division points-scoring ladder and right wing Koki Takeyama is one of the top try scorers with 14 in 15 appearances.
The Sungoliath side has had an up-and-down season and is looking to win three in a row for just the second time this season on Saturday, but the head-to-head matchups against the Wild Knights do not make for good reading.
They are yet to beat them in five attempts in the JRLO, which includes a loss in the inaugural competition final, which the Wild Knights won 18-12. Ironically, if the Suntory team were to win this weekend, it's likely they could face the same opposition in the playoffs on Sunday, May 18, 2025.
