Division One

Fresh off their upset of Cinderella-side Shizuoka BlueRevs in last weekend’s Japan Rugby League One quarterfinals, Brodie Retallick’s Kobelco Kobe Steelers will go again when they take on the defending champions, Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo, in Saturday’s opening semi-final.

The All Black second rower, who has scored nine tries in his best season yet in Japan, led his side to the competition’s penultimate weekend following a clinical performance that overturned two regular-season defeats against the fourth- placed finishers by overpowering the BlueRevs 35-20.

Having made seven changes from the week before for the quarterfinal, Kobe came through the win unscathed, with coach Dave Rennie able to name an unchanged match day 23 for this week.

Even though the last four matches between Brave Lupus and the Steelers have produced a mountain of points, with the two sharing a whopping 324 at an average of 81 per game, the forward battle could prove decisive, given the accuracy of Kobe’s set-piece wore Shizuoka down in their victory.

The Kobelco Kobe Steelers, led by co-captain Brodie Retallick, will take on defending champion Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo

All Black backrower Shannon Frizell could find himself a marked man, with the competition’s leading try-scoring forward picking up two of his 10 during last month’s whopping 73-28 win at Kobe, after having scored four during last season’s 46-39 win on Christmas Eve.

That result was one of five wins Toshiba have achieved from the last six games between the two sides, with the other drawn 40-40, and they enter the playoffs coming off a run of 10 wins from their last 11 matches.

Rival coaches Todd Blackadder and Dave Rennie have been in this situation before, with the latter twice getting the better of the Brave Lupus coach in Super Rugby semi-finals, where the ex-Wallaby coaches’ (Waikato) Chiefs went on to win the title.

Blackadder has held the upper hand in Japan though, with the former Crusaders coach winning on three of the four occasions that the New Zealanders have opposed each other since Rennie’s arrival, with honours even in the fourth.

The former All Black captain ended a long wait for the maiden title of his professional coaching career last year, but the breakthrough had been coming, with Blackadder having done a super job rebuilding Brave Lupus, to the extent that he has achieved a 75 percent winning rate since taking over at Fuchu, including playoff entry in three of the four completed seasons he has been in charge.

The rivalry between Saitama Panasonic Wild Knights coach Robbie Deans and Kubota Spears Funabashi Tokyo-Bay boss Frans Ludeke goes back even further than that of their Brave Lupus and Steelers counterparts, with the pair first having met in the 2000s, when Deans led the Crusaders, while Ludeke was in charge at the Johannesburg-based Cats and then the Pretoria-located Bulls.

Their Super Rugby association was brief, with the Crusaders beating the Cats 43-15 in 2006, and the Bulls 54-19 two years later, but it has taken on a more substantive form since Ludeke arrived to take over at the Spears in 2016.

While Kubota’s historic title in the second edition of League One – completed by their 17-15 defeat of the Wild Knights in the final – gained Ludeke a long overdue on-field win over Deans (Kubota had won a Covid-related default in the 2021- 22 season), the South African had lost nine games against his New Zealand colleague prior to that success.

Having lost two of the three in the time since, the Spears enter their latest semi-final having won just once in 12 games against the Wild Knights under Ludeke’s charge, alongside 10 defeats and this month’s 29-29 draw.

Overall, the Spears have just one win to show from 18 attempts against the Wild Knights since a nationwide league began in 2003.

Ominously for Kubota, Deans has built up a phenomenal record in semi-finals since he began his professional coaching career in 1997, having won 16 of 19, before going on to win the title on 11 occasions.

The remarkable run includes wins over the Spears on the penultimate weekend of each of the final Top League and maiden League One seasons.

While the second-placed Panasonic had the weekend off to recharge after ending their regular season with a 60-17 flogging of Tokyo Suntory Sungoliath two weeks ago, Kubota were given a far sterner test by the same opponent in last Sunday's quarterfinal, with the game in the balance until the final whistle as they held out to win 20-15.

That experience should stand them in good stead for their assignment against an opponent they will feel they should have already beaten twice this season, after missing late goal attempts in each of December’s two-point loss, as well as this month’s draw.

Replacement Battles

After significant off-season recruitment to prolong their stay in Division One, Mie Honda Heat and Urayasu D-Rocks now find themselves where they didn’t want to be, heading to lower division opponents looking for strong first leg performances to lessen their relegation jeopardy before the return home legs against Hanazono Kintetsu Liners and Toyota Industries Shuttles Aichi respectively.

Honda, who narrowly fended off NEC Green Rockets Tokatsu in the corresponding series last year, face a Kintetsu side inspired by Wallaby veterans Quade Cooper and Will Genia, who are each moving on from the club after the season ends.

The visitors have been buoyed by the recent return of Los Pumas hardman Pablo Matera, with their Argentine skipper having returned during the final round of the regular season, after having missed the previous four matches.

Indefatigable second rower Franco Mostert also starts; the ever-present Springbok having missed just two games in the campaign.

Kintetsu tip-toed their way into promotion/relegation series, hammering the division champion Shuttles on the final weekend, to complete a run of 10 wins from their last 11 matches, which will give the Osaka-based outfit plenty of confidence ahead of the defining 160 minutes of their season.

Flyhalf Cooper and scrumhalf Genia will start, in the penultimate afternoon of their Kintetsu careers.

While the Shuttles enter the series as section champions, there may be a few nerves at Aichi, not just because of the disappointing regular season finish against Hanazono, but also due to their terrible first leg record in The Replacement Battles.

In each of the last two seasons, the Shuttles were blown away in the first leg by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Sagamihara Dynaboars and Honda respectively, conceding advantages of 38 and 18 points respectively, which were never realistically going to be overhauled.

If they find themselves in a position where they can’t win on the day, staying in the ‘fight’ will be the priority for the home side, who are also farewelling a long-time stalwart, with Freddie Burns announcing his departure at season’s end.

The 35-year-old may still be on the ‘shopping’ lists of clubs closer to home if his performance in the current campaign is anything to go by, with the well-travelled five-cap England flyhalf – who helped the Shuttles to promotion from Division Two before returning after time with the (Otago) Highlanders in Super Rugby – topping each of the division’s points and try-scoring standings for the regular season.

Don't miss the Promotion/Relegation series starting this weekend. Look for Freddie Burns' performance for the Toyota Industries Corporation Shuttles Aichi in Division 2, who will challenge the URAYASU D-Rocks in Division 1

After a difficult initiation in Division One, where they picked up only three wins, D-Rocks will be looking to Wallaby midfielder Samu Kerevi to continue his superb form and have star man Israel Folau available for just the eighth time after another injury plagued season.

Nippon Steel Kamaishi Seawaves have featured in each of the last two Replacement Battles, twice fending off Kurita Water Gush Akishima, but Division Three found a new champion this season, and Mazda SkyActivs Hiroshima will make the 758- mile trek north to Iwate full of hope after amassing 12 wins in their title-winning campaign.

While the Seawaves have won only two matches in the division and enter the series having lost seven-in-a-row, they comfortably survived last term despite winning just once, after seeing off their Division Three challenger the year before, when they won only two regular season games in that campaign.

The SkyActivs, who won seven of their last nine, contested the Replacement Battle in the maiden season of League One where, as a Division Two representative, they were displaced by Shimizu Corporation Koto Blue Sharks.

The Blue Sharks find themselves back in this arena too, after falling into the relegation zone on the final weekend, but they are stepping into uncharted territory against a Sayama Secom Rugguts outfit that has made a notable entry into League One by reaching the promotion stage in their first season.

Although their greater experience, including All Black flyhalf Lima Sopoaga, will have the Division Two side hopeful of shutting down the tie in its’ first round, the Rugguts have overachieved already, which makes them an unpredictable quality, likely to play with no fear, given they have nothing to lose.

This is a dangerous mix for a Blue Sharks outfit who may be down on confidence after losing five of their last six home games.