Division One

Two games into the new season, Tokyo Sungoliath had cause to be optimistic.

Two from two, with the promise of more, it was a drastically different picture to coach Kosei Ono’s first season in charge where it took five games for Sungoliath to achieve his maiden win.
After wins over BlackRams Tokyo and Toyota Verblitz, game three against Kubota Spears was a bigger test. Sungoliath failed regrettably.
Kubota’s 79-20 victory was Sungoliath’s biggest concession of points in the five seasons of League One, and their largest ever losing margin, eclipsing the 50-point defeat against Kobelco Kobe Steelers in the 2018-19 Top League season finale.
Eleven matches on, Sungoliath are within touching distance of the playoffs, needing a maximum of 10 further points (but likely less) to make sure of an invite to the end of season party.
But they arrive at Kumamoto having lost their last three. Kubota have troubles of their own.
While their invitation to the playoffs was mailed weeks ago, a damaging loss to Toyota Verblitz – their third of the season – dropped them from first to third on the standings, with work to do if they are to overtake one of Saitama Wild Knights or Kobe to achieve a top two finish, and an extended period of rest and rearmament after a bye on
the first weekend of the finals.

Fresh from their upset win over Kubota, Verblitz will attempt to repeat the ‘trick’ as they host second-placed Kobe, in a match that brings together the incoming All Black coach, Dave Rennie, against two of his predecessors,
Verblitz Director of Rugby Steve Hansen, along with his long-time assistant, Ian Foster.
The pair have masterminded a remarkable resurgence, with Toyota winning five of their last six to stride up the table, just one point from sixth-placed Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo.
Although Kobe were too good for Verblitz last time winning 49-29, with Ardie Savea scoring two tries against his former national team coaches, Rennie and his skipper Brodie Retallick will be on their guard.

This Toyota outfit is an entirely different beast from the one they mastered in December.

The only side ahead of Kobe on the standings, the Wild Knights, will also be in ‘approach with caution’ mode as they travel to Shizuoka, a venue and opponent that has been difficult for them to master.
Although Saitama has won on all but one of their four appearances at Ecopa Stadium since the advent of League One, last year’s 22-17 defeat at the ground was the culmination of a lead-up which had seen the Wild Knights
escape by one and two-point margins on two of their previous three visits.

The BlueRevs, who are also the only side to beat the Wild Knights away from home since the inauguration of League One, and one of only three sides who have beaten them twice in the competition’s five-year history, are clinging on to their finals’ hopes after coming back from the dead in their 45-41 defeat of Mitsubishi Sagamihara Dynaboars, having trailed 31-12 after half-an-hour.
Shizuoka’s resurrection was led by Springbok backrower Kwagga Smith, whose individual battle against the Wild Knights’ industrious fetcher Lachlan Boshier at the breakdown could go a long way towards determining the result, especially given both sides can field lethal international-loaded backlines.

While the BlueRevs’ hopes will take a major hit if they can’t upset the league leaders, Mie Honda Heat will further advance their cause if they can inflict back-to-back defeats on the BlackRams tomorrow night.
Led by a stirring performance by ex-Los Pumas skipper Pablo Matera, Honda did enough to tip up fourth-placed Sungoliath two weeks ago and will be confident of doing the same to their fifth-placed opponents, who narrowly won the first game between the sides in December 32-28.

TJ Perenara’s side will have spent the bye week in Setagaya licking their wounds after getting ‘licked’ 40-19 by Kobe in what was only their second defeat since early February.
While the BlackRams have enjoyed their best season in League One to date, with eight wins and 36 points, there is still work to do if they are to confirm their place in the playoffs, with 49 points the current ‘magic’ number to ensure participation.

Brave Lupus finally broke a seven-game losing stretch with a win against bottom-placed Urayasu D-Rocks before the bye, but their hold on the sixth and final qualifying position is a slender one point, making Saturday’s clash with the Dynaboars a must win.
While the 40-24 scoreline at Sapporo appears comfortable, it was slightly flattering on a tense afternoon where the league’s bottom-placed side were within two points of the defending champions with 14 minutes to play.
A flat second half saw the Dynaboars surrender a 19-point advantage against Shizuoka, but while going the distance on the scoreboard this time will be their main priority, so too will their discipline after conceding a costly second half yellow card to inside centre Charlie Lawrence, which saw the BlueRevs turn a 10-point deficit into a four-point advantage during his absence.
Yellow cards were a feature when Toshiba won the corresponding game 47-22 earlier in the season, with the teams sharing four between them (two each).
Former (Wellington) Hurricanes youngster TJ Clarke scored a hattrick for Brave Lupus on that occasion.

After a mixed season, Sagamihara needs a big finish to push themselves clear of the post-season Replacement Battle, sitting just three points above Yokohama Canon Eagles.
The 11th-placed Eagles have enjoyed a resurgence since the return from injury of Springbok Faf de Klerk, but
while the star scrumhalf couldn’t help Yokohama stem the Saitama onslaught last time, he promises to be a key figure as the two sides at the foot of the table meet.
Urayasu’s loss to Brave Lupus was their 10th in-a-row, with their strong start where they won three of their first four, seemingly a lifetime ago.
One of those wins was against Yokohama though, a point D-Rocks coach Graham Rowntree is sure to be reminding his team of, ahead of a game that looms as last chance saloon for Urayasu as far as avoiding the jeopardy of the promotion/relegation series goes.
A loss at Oita would leave D-Rocks at least seven points from safety, but most likely more, conceding a gap to 10th which would probably be insurmountable with three games of the regular season to play.

After a full round last weekend, there are no games in either Division Two or Division Three this weekend as the teams in the lower sections put their feet up for their final bye of the season.