Big in Japan | Round two Preview

The meeting of the sides who contested the 2022-23 final, and the next big challenge for the improving Mitsubishi Heavy
Industries Sagamihara Dynaboars headline the second round of Japan Rugby League One, which kicks off in Tokyo on
Saturday.
Kubota Spears Funabashi Tokyo Bay had been dominated by Saitama Panasonic Wild Knights throughout the Top League
era and the opening seasons of league one – which included in two semi-finals – before they beat their tormentors by
two points in the championship game of the league’s second edition.
While the Wild Knights exacted an emphatic revenge last season, putting 55 points on the defending champions in
downtown Tokyo, that defeat came as the Spears’ campaign unravelled on the back of a crippling injury run.
They travel to Kumagaya in much better shape, and buoyed by the come-from-behind win over Toyota on Sunday, where
they didn’t panic after falling behind, working through it to find a way to win, which is the hallmark of top teams.
Although they made relatively short work of Tokyo Suntory Sungoliath on the opening weekend, this time it is the Wild
Knights’ depth that is being tested on the back of injuries to their foreign capped internationals Lood de Jager (shoulder)
and Marika Koroibete (arm).
While flyhalf Rikiya Matsuda’s accomplished all-round performance for Verblitz against the Spears showed what the Wild
Knights had lost after his off-season transfer, coach Robbie Deans looks like he has found a solution after combining the
brothers Takuya (fullback) and Kyohei (flyhalf) Yamasawa against Sungoliath.
Nominally a flyhalf, Takuya has long been considered one of the league’s best players, but his ability to interchange with
his younger brother last weekend, and a shared skill set which saw both set up tries off long passes after spying space on
the edge, suggests Saitama has lost nothing, and may even have gained, in attacking threat.

It took just 80 minutes to show the influence Springbok Kurt-Lee Arendse is going to have with the Dynaboars, capping a
classy debut with the try which gave his side a second half lead that they would not surrender against Urayasu D-Rocks.
Having beaten last year’s champions of Division Two, the Dynaboars now face the champions of Division One on Sunday
in a game that promises to be a good early test of their top six credentials.

While Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo overcame a halftime deficit themselves during Sunday’s 28-21 win over last term’s semi-
finalists, Yokohama Canon Eagles, coach Todd Blackadder won’t need to go back far to provide evidence to his players

that their next opponents should not be underrated.
Brave Lupus dropped one of its two matches against the Dynaboars two seasons ago, and the defeat proved costly as
they ended up finishing one place outside of the semi-finals.
Saturday’s action kicks off with first round losers, Black Rams Tokyo and Tokyo Suntory Sungoliath, squaring off.
Both coaches, Tabai Matson (Black Rams) and Kosei Ono (Sungoliath) will have found some positives out of the first
weekend even though their team’s performance ended in defeat.
Sungoliath were a lot better value than their 21-point loss, with the concession of two yellow cards just one of the things
Ono will have been working on with his players this week.
Closing out from a winning position may have been one of the points of discussion at Aichi this week as the Toyota Verblitz
brains trust reviewed Sunday’s dramatic three-point loss to the Spears.
While he still has a lot to learn, rugby league convert Joseph Manu shaped promisingly on his union debut, while ex-Brave
Blossoms flyhalf Rikiya Matsuda’s tactical nous, not to mention his excellent goal-kicking, are going to be major assets.
Mie Heat coach Kieran Crowley looks like he is onto a good one too in Manu Vunipola, with the ex-Sarries flyhalf giving
an accomplished performance on Saturday against the Black Rams which included kicking the winning goal.
The fulltime celebrations that met the final whistle at Suzuka showed what a big moment that success was for a team
that had only won once prior to The Replacement Battle last season.
With old heads Pablo Matera and Franco Mostert involved, Crowley is unlikely to have too many problems getting his
troops focused on Saturday’s trip to Gifu.

The final whistle at Yamaha Stadium on Saturday also provided a big moment for Shizuoka Blue Revs – an outfit who won
just six times last year – as they reversed a 63-19 humbling from the previous meeting by stealing victory from Kobelco
Kobe Steelers with the last play of the game.
The confidence gained from that performance should stand the Blue Revs in good stead for their first ever game against
Urayasu D-Rocks, since the new entity was created three seasons ago.
Last year’s Division Two champions were served notice of the step up they face, as the Dynaboars ran away with the game
in the second half after a positive opening period had given Urayasu a two-point lead.
Having star men Israel Folau and Samu Kerevi in tandem for a rare occasion due to Folau’s injury troubles was one plus
for Greig Laidlaw.
The Urayasu coach now just needs to find a way to keep them on the field consistently and get them more involved
working off each other, where their impact could be devastating.
Kobe were left frustrated by their loss at Shizuoka, which was largely self-inflicted after they ended the afternoon with
13 men.

While former Wallaby coach Dave Rennie is a calm customer, a firm word behind closed doors is likely to have been had
and it will need to have been before the Steelers host the side who denied them a semi-final spot last term, Yokohama
Canon Eagles, in the final game of the round.
Although reined in by Brave Lupus in the end, there was plenty of merit in the Eagles’ spirited performance.
With Springbok scrumhalf Faf de Klerk back in full flow after injury, Yokohama are undoubtedly semi-final contenders
again.