Official Review - Japan Rugby League One

A new leader and a tightening of the race to avoid the end of season (promotion/relegation) Replacement Battle
highlighted the latest weekend in Japan Rugby League One, with Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo assuming control at the top
of the Division One standings, while Urayasu D-Rocks closed to within eight points of safety.
The gaps in mid-table have also closed, with just five points separating sixth and ninth following the completion of the
round.

Yesterday Brave Lupus became the first side to stay unbeaten after a hattrick of engagements with Saitama Panasonic
Wild Knights for 12 years after emerging 42-31 victors in a shootout between the top two sides in Tokyo that probably
wasn’t as close as the final scoreline indicated.

All Black backrower Shannon Frizell’s fourth try of the season off a slick inside ball from countryman Richie Mo’unga in
the fourth minute set the tone for the afternoon, with the Wild Knights surprisingly error-prone in possession, while
struggling to shut down the off-loading game of their opponents.
Another smart Mo’unga off-load set up the defending champions’ second try for hooker Mamoru Harada, as Brave Lupus
asserted their dominance, finishing the opening period with four enroute to a 28-10 advantage.
The teams traded tries after the break with Harada claiming his second, but while Saitama finished strongly, scoring two
of the afternoon’s final three tries, it came too late to avoid conceding their position at the top of the standings following
the six-time national champions’ first back-to-back defeats since the 2018-19 campaign.
Across town, Kubota Spears Funabashi Tokyo-Bay moved to within two points of the Wild Knights after fending off
Yokohama Canon Eagles 41-24 to record their 22nd-straight win at their western Tokyo home base of Spears Edoriku field.

Following a tight first half, from which the home side came out with a 12-3 lead, the Spears put the game to bed with two
tries within five minutes of the re-start; South African-raised centre Rikus Pretorius dotting down for Frans Ludeke’s men,
after Wallaby Bernard Foley had opened the half’s scoring in the 43rd minute.
The double whammy pushed the Spears ahead 26-3; a margin the Eagles were always unlikely to run down against the
best defence in the league.
Yokohama did get to within 10 points following two tries in six minutes by the ex-Jersey Reds fullback Brendan Owen,
both orchestrated by veteran Brave Blossoms flyhalf Yu Tamura, but the Spears were never in any danger, securing a
valuable try-scoring bonus point when the first season South African-born second rower Merwe Olivier crossed for the
second try of his League One career shortly before fulltime.
Kubota’s third maximum-point haul of the campaign extended their lead over Shizuoka Blue Revs by one point after the
fourth-placed side, who were led by two first half tries from Springbok backrower and man-of-the-match Kwagga Smith,
held on to beat a game Ricoh Black Rams Tokyo, 31-25.
Bidding for three-wins-in-a-row, the visitors made a perfect start when Wallaby backrower Liam Gill opened the scoring
with the first of his two tries, but the Shizuoka skipper’s double – he could have had a hattrick but was held up over the
goal-line – supported by a try from fellow backrower Vueti Tupou, allowed the Blue Revs to draw clear 24-7 at halftime
after having first use of a strong breeze.
Tabai Matson’s outfit are a resilient bunch, and showed it again, sneaking to within four before veteran hooker Takeshi
Hino’s sixth try of the campaign gave Shizuoka the breathing space to get home.
Urayasu D-Rocks kept their hopes of avoiding the post-season relegation series alive after completing a double over Mie
Honda Heat following a 39-31 victory at Suzuka Sports Garden.
Foreign internationals scored the first three tries of the game, with Los Pumas backrower Pablo Matera and Springbok
second rower Franco Mostert replying to the opening score by Wallaby midfielder Samu Kerevi, and the margin on the
scoreboard remained tight throughout.
After trailing by three points at halftime, two second half tries in either corner from Honda’s veteran Brave Blossoms
fullback Lemeki Lomano Lava appeared to have given his side the edge but the game’s defining moment occurred nine
minutes from time when Mostert was sent off for an illegal cleanout on compatriot Shane Gates.

The incident came during the movement that led up to Honda backrower Ryota Kobayashi crossing for a ‘try’ that could
have pushed the home side outside of the range of a converted try.
Instead, the try was cancelled and – down a man, with nine minutes to play – Honda was unable to hold on.
Urayasu backrower Hendrick Tui scored his first try for his new club three minutes before fulltime to recapture the lead,
before Kerevi’s midfield partner Soma Matsumoto scored his second try of the afternoon, and his third from just five
appearances in the league, to ease D-Rocks clear.

Both teams would have been heartened when the news filtered through from Gifu that their relegation rivals, eleventh-
placed Toyota Verblitz, had fallen to their ninth defeat of a rocky season after a 31-22 defeat by Mitsubishi Heavy

Industries Sagamihara Dynaboars.
The visitors stunned Verblitz when winger Kurt-lee Arendse touched down in the opening minute, running 50 metres to
score after exposing a gap in Toyota’s midfield.
It was a double blow as South African second rower Arde Smith was yellow carded in the same play for an attempted
professional foul at the breakdown in the lead up.
As well as being the 28-year-old’s seventh of a hugely successful loan spell from the Pretoria-based Bulls, Arendse’s try
was the fifth that were shared between four Springboks, amongst the eight current South African test stars who competed
in the league over the weekend.
Having trailed 41-7 after a nightmare opening half on the previous occasion that the two teams met, Verblitz somehow
contrived to do it again, with the Arendse try the first of four times that Sagamihara penetrated the home side’s defence.
Two of the tries were scored by the man-of-the-match, South African-born second rower Walt Steenkamp, with the
second pushing Mitsubishi clear by 19 points at halftime.
It proved too big of a gap for Steve Hansen’s men to make up, despite two tries in three minutes from the side’s rugby
league recruit Joseph Manu, which drew Verblitz to within two points with 24 minutes remaining.

The 28-year-old’s heroics, the second of which required an acrobatic leap over opposite number Honeti Taumohaapai,
took his tally of tries in his rugby union debut to eight.

It also brought Toyota’s hopes of a win to life, but their comeback was thwarted when the well-travelled former New
Zealand national provincial championship player Jack Stratton scored off quickly recycled ball from an attacking ruck eight
minutes later.

As well as sealing the victory, the former Toshiba utility back’s try denied the home side a crucial bonus point.
While Verblitz remain just four points from safety, time is running out to clear the bottom two, with the Wild Knights and
Spears are among their final six appointments of the regular season.
After spending time under relegation threat themselves, the Dynaboars’ fifth win of the season – equal with the Eagles –
has brought Glen Delaney’s team into playoffs’ contention, four points below sixth place.
Today saw Kobelco Kobe Steelers reverse last month’s two-point loss to Tokyo Suntory Sungoliath in a dramatic finish,
with winger Kanta Matsunaga scoring in the final minute of regulation time to secure a 39-37 victory.
The win, which featured two tries from Kobe’s All Black second rower Brodie Retallick as well as one from Scottish hooker
George Turner, has the 2018 champions oncourse for a return to the playoffs, 11 points clear of seventh position.
While still in the hunt for a fourth straight appearance in the League One playoffs, Kosei Ono’s men have lost three in a
row, and face a difficult finish with each of Shizuoka, Kubota and Panasonic still to play before the regular season ends.