Semi Finals/Replacement Battles - Second Leg
Kubota Spears centre Halatoa Vailea was the man-of-the-moment after two decisive interventions that helped his side to a breathless 26-24 win over Saitama Wild Knights today which secured for his side back-to-back appearances in the Japan Rugby League One final.
The Spears replacement, who joined the game in the 34th minute, made an impact almost instantly, blasting through a hole in the Wild Knights midfield defence that had been left after Brave Blossoms centre Dylan Riley had been yellow carded for a deliberate knock down.
Vailea’s try, four minutes before halftime, helped the Spears to a 10-7 lead after a first half high on intensity, but low on quality, with both sides riddled with errors and hamstrung by injuries on a 31-degree day in Tokyo.
Frans Ludeke’s side, who had beaten Saitama 28-24 in the corresponding game last term, were never headed in the second spell, despite a remarkable ending which saw the Wild Knights score two tries in the last three minutes to set up a grandstand finish for the 18,695-strong crowd.
The two-point margin owed much to Vailea who, as well as scoring the first of his side’s two tries, crucially charged down a conversion attempt by the Wild Knights substitute flyhalf Takaya Saito from in front of the posts, when a try by replacement winger Maurice Marks had threatened to bring Saitama back into the match.
The charge down left the Wild Knights eight behind, with the failed conversion ultimately splitting the two sides.
While the frantic finish meant the Wild Knights had outscored their opponents four-tries-to-two by fulltime, they were left to rue a high error count alongside ill-discipline in kickable positions on the field that saw each of flyhalf Bernard Foley and fullback Shaun Stevenson kick two penalty goals.
The win, which was the Spears’ third in a row against the Wild Knights in playoff matches, continued the trend of razor thin margins between the pair, being the fifth time in the last eight meetings that four points or less had separated the teams, with another match drawn.
Kubota, who were champions in the second edition of League One, will meet Kobelco Kobe Steelers in next week’s championship decider at Tokyo’s National Stadium after the latter set records galore yesterday, running rampant in the second half to crush Tokyo Sungoliath 69-23.
After their heroic comeback to beat BlackRams Tokyo in the quarterfinal, Sungoliath disintegrated after having made a promising start against the final’s series’ top seeds.
Cheslin Kolbe’s side led twice during the first half and Sungoliath had trailed by just a point in the 39th minute when All Black Ardie Savea crossed from near the goal-line to extend Kobe to a 24-16 halftime advantage.
Savea scored from close range and the Sungoliath goal-line defence being exposed became a repetitive theme when play resumed, with Kobe adding three tries to Savea’s during a 14-minute blitz either side of the break in which they scored 26-unanswered points to put the game to bed.
While 27 minutes remained after the former (Auckland) Blues second rower Gerard Cowley-tuioiti wrestled his way across for his side’s seventh try, it was only going to be a matter of how many Kobe would wind up with, and it turned out to be quite a few!
Savea claimed a second and would have had a third but for an unselfish pass to fellow backrower Solomone Funaki with time up on the clock and the goal-line open, which allowed the replacement forward to cap his and Kobe’s afternoon, with two tries in the final six minutes, and 11 tries for Kobe overall.
While not surpassing the 50-point margin Kobe put on Sungoliath in the final of their most recent title in the 2018-19 Top League, their 69 points was a high for both League One, but also for any playoffs game in Japanese nationwide competition since the advent of the Top League in 2003.
Sungoliath, who went out in the quarterfinals last term, still have the chance to finish the campaign on a high in what will be their South African star Kolbe’s final game for the club in the third and fourth placed playoff, while Kobe will attempt to take the final step in a journey under Rennie which began when he took over a side in rebuild mode following a ninth-placed finish in the league’s second edition.
Fifth a year later, and the third-place playoff winner last season over the Wild Knights, the incoming All Black coach is within touching distance of his first club title since the second of his Super Rugby victories with the (Waikato) Chiefs in 2013.
promotion/relegation series
In The Replacement Battle, it briefly appeared possible that Toyota Industries Shuttles Aichi might challenge their 22-point deficit from the first leg, when they sprang to an early 12-0 advantage over Mitsubishi Sagamihara Dynaboars, but order was soon restored, with the Division One side overwhelming their rivals in the final 10 minutes with three tries as they drew out to a 52-28 victory.
The win, which clinched an 88-42 win on aggregate over the two legs, featured 20 points from the Dynaboars’ 31-year-old centre Matt Vaega, taking the Kelston Boys’ High School (Auckland) old boy’s tally for the season to 106, which included 15 tries.
There was also a nice finishing touch when Vaega’s 78th minute try was converted by ex-All Black backrower Jackson Hemopo, in the final act of his seven years at the club.
Defeat denied the Division Two champions for the fourth year running, with their 46-point aggregate defeat following on from losses by margins of five, nine and 67 points across their previous three attempts in the promotion/relegation series.
Urayasu D-Rocks also comfortably saw off the relegation threat, sweeping challengers Shimizu Corporation Koto Blue Sharks aside 57-19, to complete a 60-point trouncing on aggregate across the two matches.
D-Rocks winger Kai Ishii scored a first half hattrick as the home side romped to a 40-12 halftime advantage, with Springbok backrower Jasper Wiese also on the scoreboard for the second week running.
While the scoring rate calmed down after the break, D-Rocks coasted home, with Ishii adding a fourth to his tally.
Although outclassed, the Blue Sharks could still reflect on a season of achievement, having come from nowhere to give themselves a shot at Division One, after narrowly avoiding demotion to Division Three last year.
The win allowed D-Rocks to end an up-and-down season on a positive note, being the side’s fourth victory on end; the run started by one of the upsets of the season against the Wild Knights.
After opening with three wins in their first four, Graham Rowntree’s men dropped 12 in a row, but the English coach will now get another crack at Division One next season.
Having missed out last year, back-to-back Division Three champions SkyActivs Hiroshima will play in Division Two next term after a thumping 40-13 win over Hino Red Dolphins.
Trailing by three points from the away leg, the SkyActivs opened the scoring after a nervous first 30 minutes, with Australian utility back Jacob Abel’s 32-minute try, but it was followed by a quick response from the Red Dolphins, who scored 13 points in the final seven minutes of the half to extend their lead in the tie to nine.
Two tries after halftime saw the SkyActivs edge ahead by three on aggregate, before the home side ensured they would swap divisions with their opponents after scoring three tries in the final 12 minutes.
Fittingly the last of these went to the former Ealing Trailfinder second-rower Andrew Davidson, with the big Scot scoring his 18th try of the season in the final minute to move one ahead of All Black Brodie Retallick as the leading try-scorer among the three divisions.
Davidson’s try equaled the record for the most across the league, tying the Division One mark set by Sungoliath winger Seiya Ozaki in the 2022-23 season.
SAYAMA SECOM RUGGUTs are also going up, hammering Nippon Steel Kamaishi Seawaves 30-6 to overturn a two-point deficit from the first leg, clinching a place in Division Two in just their second season in the league.
The Seawaves survived the Replacement Battle in each of the last three seasons, but their luck ran out today as the RUGGUTs took command in the first half, establishing a 20-3 lead, which the visitors never threatened.
