Division One

While they don’t do ‘hatred’ in Japanese sport, it’s safe to say that Tokyo Suntory Sungoliath and Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo have a decent rivalry going for the bragging rights in the western part of the Japanese capital.

The title might be the overall goal for the clubs each season but – if that cannot be attained – victory in the annual Fuchu derby (or derbies as the case maybe) is a pretty fair consolation.

Last term, the teams met three times, with Brave Lupus winning the lot enroute to their six national title since a nation- wide round robin league was instituted.

As a bonus, that’s one more than their neighbours have achieved.

This adds to background as the two prepare to go again in Saturday’s feature match in Japan Rugby League One.

Although Brave Lupus had to share the points with top-of-the-table Saitama Panasonic Wild Knights, there was plenty to like about last Sunday’s performance, which will give the defending champions confidence they are nearing their best as the season closes in on halfway.

Second place with just one loss indicates significant momentum but while Brave Lupus are eight points above Sungoliath on the ladder, Kosei Ono’s side arrives at Prince Chichibu Memorial Stadium unbeaten in their last five and having achieved it despite only having had ex-All Black skipper Sam Cane available for one match thus far.

The backrower returns for the derby, having not featured since the opening weekend, although it is a case of ‘one in, two out’ for Suntory with the New Zealander’s fellow internationals, Springbok winger Cheslin Kolbe and Wallaby backrower Sean McMahon, missing after having played in last week’s win at Kobe.

Todd Blackadder has been a game changer for Brave Lupus since his arrival from English club Bath in 2020, and the revolution the coach has led at the club has carried over to the balance of power in Fuchu, with Toshiba having won five of the eight derbies on his watch.

In Ono, he meets a rival who has likewise enjoyed success, although his record has been fashioned from presence on the playing roster, with Suntory winning three of the five derbies he played between 2012 and 2020.

Michael Leitch is the captain of Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo

Away from the derby, Kubota Spears Funabashi Tokyo-Bay stand poised to take advantage if Brave Lupus do slip up, when they host the inconsistent Kobelco Kobe Steelers, who’s top six ranking is being threatened after last weekend’s narrow defeat by Suntory.

The Spears’ impressive win over Yokohama Canon Eagles ended the latter’s four-game winning run, while also allowing Frans Ludeke’s side to rise above both them and Shizuoka Blue Revs on the point’s table.

Wallaby flyhalf Bernard Foley, who has missed the last two weeks, returns for the match at Edogawa Athletic Stadium, against an opponent the Spears have beaten in each of their last five meetings.

After being a victim of Suntory’s continuing rise, the BlueRevs came from behind to overhaul Ricoh Black Rams Tokyo, and they will be confident of repeating last year’s 24-8 win over the misfiring Toyota Verblitz as the teams head to Gifu.

Steve Hansen’s side, who have this week been joined at Aichi by ex-Wallaby skipper Michael Hooper, gave up too many points during Sunday’s mad-cap 44-40 loss to Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Sagamihara Dynaboars, and badly need a morale boost after dropping their last three.

Verblitz have won just once from their first seven outings.

At the same stage last term, they had won four times, yet still only managed a seventh placed finish, which would not be good enough for a playoff this season, even though the series has been expanded.

Toyota sit above only the bottom three, each of whom have a big weekend ahead.

Current occupants of the lowest positions on the ladder, Urayasu D-Rocks and the Black Rams clash in a contest which assumes greater importance given the loser could be cut further adrift of 10th position, which is the minimum requirement to avoid the post-season relegation series.

After their first win last weekend, D-Rocks look well placed to take advantage of any psychological scars the Black Rams may carry after five straight losses.

This is something that’s also relevant for Mie Honda Heat, whose loss to Urayasu was also their fifth in a row, as they entertain the underrated Dynaboars on Sunday.

That day’s second game sees the Eagles re-unite with the Wild Knights on neutral territory in Tokyo, which probably won’t help the anointed ‘home’s side’ as Yokohama tries again to break the tight grip the league-leaders have held on the relationship since 2013.

Canon beat Panasonic 23-18 that year, but the win has been followed by an inglorious and on-going run of 16 consecutive defeats, which includes semi-finals in each of the last two years.

Both sides enter the contest frustrated; the Eagles after letting handy lead slip against Kubota, while the Wild Knights will be annoyed that their dominance in possession and territory did not result in a win against Brave Lupus.

Last Sunday’s 28-28 draw was just the second occasion since League One began that the Wild Knights failed on the field to win a round robin match.

Divisions Two & Three

As the only sides to suit up in the section for the weekend, Toyota Industries Shuttles Aichi and Nippon Steel Kamaishi Seawaves have the chance to improve their standing at the top and bottom of the Division Two table respectively.

After swamping Shimizu Koto Blue Sharks, the Shuttles can take advantage of the Red Hurricanes’ absence on Saturday and go top with a win over their visitors.

Both the formbook and history suggest this is likely, as the Shuttles have won all four meetings since League One began.

For Kamaishi, the goal is to escape the division’s cellar, and there is at least one crumb of comfort as they hit the road, in that they often perform better away from home than they do in Iwate.

Of the eight wins the Iron Man of the North has achieved since the advent of League One, five have been won away from the Reconstruction Stadium.

Division Three leaders Mazda SkyActivs also won just eight games across the first three editions of the league, but they have added five more this season and will bid for a sixth in the season’s second Hiroshima derby.

The SkyActivs, who won two of the city’s three derbies last term, are already one-nil up in the series after cleaning out Chugoku Electric Power Red Regulions 61-26 on the opening day of the season.

Mazda SkyActivs Hiroshima is in the lead in DIVISION 3

At Tochigi, the widely travelled former (Wellington) Hurricanes and Western Force player Chase Tiatia will be looking to continue his excellent start to life in Japan, when he chases additions to his seven-try haul so far.

The only player to score in every match his team has played thus far across the entire league, Tiatia’s Sayama Secom Rugguts are chasing a double after beating Kurita Water Gush Akishima 24-15 in their maiden league appearance.

After a slow start, the Wycliff Palu-coached Water Gush have picked up two wins as they bid to again reach the Replacement Battle, in which they have featured for the last two years.

LeRIRO Fukuoka would just settle for a win, and the new boys will try again against fellow rookies, Yakult Levins Toda.

While LeRIRO are still to get off the mark, Toda’s momentum has stalled after opening with two wins, one of which was against Fukuoka, and they will see Sunday’s appointment as an opportunity to get their campaign moving again.