Division One

Kubota Spears Funabashi Tokyo-Bay and Saitama Panasonic Wild Knights will meet in the Japanese club playoffs for the fourth time in five seasons after the Spears pipped Tokyo Suntory Sungoliath 20-15 in a nervous second quarterfinal.

The Spears twice lost to the Wild Knights in semi-finals, in the final Top League and maiden Japan Rugby League One season, before edging Saitama on the most famous day in the northwestern Tokyo club’s history, when they won the league’s second final, 17-15.

Suntory will feel they blew their opportunity to reach the League One semi-finals for the fourth straight year, handicapping themselves today with a large error rate, alongside the concession of a 14-9 penalty count, which repeatedly released pressure they had been building.

Their mistakes included an obstruction from an attacking lineout in the first half which saw a try ruled out, while each of Kubota’s tries came off Suntory errors, the first a needless forward pass exiting their 22 meters, and the second after the concession of a penalty near the goal-line.

After trailing 3-0 at the break, Suntory took the lead when winger Cheslin Kolbe had too much gas for the cover defence as he chased down a well weighted 40-metre kick by veteran Brave Blossoms fullback Kotaro Matsushima.

The 31-year-old was unable to convert from a wide angle, which was the first of three costly misses by the Springbok, especially given Wallaby flyhalf Bernard Foley was on target with all three of his attempts for Kubota.

Having surrendered the lead from the re-start, when Kubota profited from the forward pass by working winger Koga Nezuka over off the resulting scrum, Suntory responded again almost instantly.

The game’s third try in eight minutes was scored by backrower Sam Cane, after the Spears were caught out from a quickly taken lineout near their goal-line, with the ex-All Black skipper found at the front to plant the ball down unopposed.

Suntory’s two-point lead lasted 10 minutes before South African-born second rower Ruan Botha plunged over for Kubota’s second try after man-of-the-match Malcolm Marx had been halted just short by desperate defence.

Kubota Spears Funabashi Tokyo Bay competed against Tokyo Suntory Sungoliath. Malcolm Marx was named Player of the Match

The conversion gave the Spears the five-point break they finished with, after the sides traded penalty goals to complete the scoring.

Yesterday saw Shizuoka BlueRevs’ finest journey yet in League One come to an end after Kobelco Kobe Steelers proved too clinical on a damp afternoon in Osaka, scoring four-tries-to-two in a convincing 35-20 victory.

Despite making seven changes to the side that lost to the BlueRevs last week, former Wallaby coach Dave Rennie’s ploy of resting some of his senior players came up trumps, with his side being led to victory by Bryn Gatland, who kicked 13 points as part of a masterful performance which allowed the Kansai-based side to cash in on the pressure they created.

The former (Waikato) Chiefs flyhalf worked a nice backline switch with fullback Seungsin Lee to allow the latter to score a crucial try just after halftime, before landing the killer blow with seven minutes remaining when he produced an accurate cross kick that found winger Inoke Burua a few metres out from the goal-line.

Confronted with the BlueRevs’ 74-kilogram Futo Yamaguchi, whom the kick had isolated as the last defender, Burua, who had a 26-kilogram weight advantage, simply ran over the top of the luckless Shizuoka fullback to extend Kobe’s advantage to nine points.

With the Shizuoka BlueRevs trailing by 4 points, Kobelco Kobe Steelers winger Inoke Burua caught a long kick pass from Bryn Gatland and drove into the try zone for a try in the 33rd minute of the second half

Gatland finished the Blue Revs off with two late penalty goals, lifting Kobe into the semi-finals for the first time since the club won League One’s forerunner, Top League, in 2018.

Defeat short of the penultimate weekend was a disappointing end for the BlueRevs, after their unlikely rise from eighth in each of the League’s previous three editions, to fourth, from a campaign which yielded 14 wins, including back-to-back triumphs against Brave Lupus, as well as a win over the Wild Knights.

They might have come up short but two of Shizuoka’s stars signed off with moments of class; first season winger Valynce Te Whare scoring the game’s first try – his eighth of the season – after bursting onto an inside pass from impressive BlueRevs inside centre Viliami Tahitua, who had forced his way beyond the frontline of Kobe’s defence.

Boom scrumhalf Shuntaro Kitamura also featured, running a supportive midfield line to dash clear for the 15th try of his incredible rookie season, having backed up a break by winger Malo Tuitama. It was the fifth match in a row in which the 23-year-old had scored.
Unfortunately for the BlueRevs, Te Whare’s work was rubbed out nine minutes later by his concession of a penalty try after the 24-year-old went high on Kobe winger Kazuma Ueda as he headed to the corner flag, with the contact also seeing the Shizuoka winger despatched to the sin bin.

Kobe scored their second try in the Shizuoka man’s absence, with second rower Waisake Raratubua forcing his way over from close to the goal-line, and while Kitamura’s try helped the BlueRevs close to 24-20 midway through the second half, the Steelers held their nerve, with Gatland’s experience guiding them into the last four.

Divisions Two & Three

As well as the Division One semi-finals, next weekend also sees the beginning of The Replacement Battles, with the Division Two sides at home against their Division One rivals in the first legs.

Division Two champions Toyota Industries Shuttles Aichi host Mie Honda Heat at Wave Stadium, while Urayasu D-Rocks are away to Hanazono Kintetsu Liners.

The promotion/relegation series between Divisions Two and Three also begins, with Replacement Battle regulars Nippon Steel Kamaishi Seawaves hosting Division Three champions Mazda SkyActivs Hiroshima at Iwate, while League One newcomers Sayama Secom Rugguts visit Shimizu Corporation Koto Blue Sharks in Tokyo.