Division One

A new leader and a tightening of the race to avoid the end of season (promotion/relegation) Replacement Battle highlighted the latest weekend in Japan Rugby League One, with Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo assuming control at the top of the Division One standings, while Urayasu D-Rocks closed to within eight points of safety.

The gaps in mid-table have also closed, with just five points separating sixth and ninth following the completion of the round.

Yesterday Brave Lupus became the first side to stay unbeaten after a hattrick of engagements with Saitama Panasonic Wild Knights for 12 years after emerging 42-31 victors in a shootout between the top two sides in Tokyo that probably wasn’t as close as the final scoreline indicated.

All Black backrower Shannon Frizell’s fourth try of the season off a slick inside ball from countryman Richie Mo’unga in the fourth minute set the tone for the afternoon, with the Wild Knights surprisingly error-prone in possession, while struggling to shut down the off-loading game of their opponents.

Another smart Mo’unga off-load set up the defending champions’ second try for hooker Mamoru Harada, as Brave Lupus asserted their dominance, finishing the opening period with four enroute to a 28-10 advantage.

The teams traded tries after the break with Harada claiming his second, but while Saitama finished strongly, scoring two of the afternoon’s final three tries, it came too late to avoid conceding their position at the top of the standings following the six-time national champions’ first back-to-back defeats since the 2018-19 campaign.

Toshiba Brave Lupus takes first place with a win over the Saitama Panasonic Wild Knights

Across town, Kubota Spears Funabashi Tokyo-Bay moved to within two points of the Wild Knights after fending off Yokohama Canon Eagles 41-24 to record their 22nd-straight win at their western Tokyo home base of Spears Edoriku field.

Following a tight first half, from which the home side came out with a 12-3 lead, the Spears put the game to bed with two tries within five minutes of the re-start; South African-raised centre Rikus Pretorius dotting down for Frans Ludeke’s men, after Wallaby Bernard Foley had opened the half’s scoring in the 43rd minute.

The double whammy pushed the Spears ahead 26-3; a margin the Eagles were always unlikely to run down against the best defence in the league.

Yokohama did get to within 10 points following two tries in six minutes by the ex-Jersey Reds fullback Brendan Owen, both orchestrated by veteran Brave Blossoms flyhalf Yu Tamura, but the Spears were never in any danger, securing a valuable try-scoring bonus point when the first season South African-born second rower Merwe Olivier crossed for the second try of his League One career shortly before fulltime.

Kubota’s third maximum-point haul of the campaign extended their lead over Shizuoka BlueRevs by one point after the fourth-placed side, who were led by two first half tries from Springbok backrower and man-of-the-match Kwagga Smith, held on to beat a game Ricoh Black Rams Tokyo, 31-25.

Bidding for three-wins-in-a-row, the visitors made a perfect start when Wallaby backrower Liam Gill opened the scoring with the first of his two tries, but the Shizuoka skipper’s double – he could have had a hattrick but was held up over the goal-line – supported by a try from fellow backrower Vueti Tupou, allowed the BlueRevs to draw clear 24-7 at halftime after having first use of a strong breeze.

Tabai Matson’s outfit are a resilient bunch, and showed it again, sneaking to within four before veteran hooker Takeshi Hino’s sixth try of the campaign gave Shizuoka the breathing space to get home.

Urayasu D-Rocks kept their hopes of avoiding the post-season relegation series alive after completing a double over Mie Honda Heat following a 39-31 victory at Suzuka Sports Garden.

Foreign internationals scored the first three tries of the game, with Los Pumas backrower Pablo Matera and Springbok second rower Franco Mostert replying to the opening score by Wallaby midfielder Samu Kerevi, and the margin on the scoreboard remained tight throughout.

Samu Kerevi of Urayasu D-Rocks contributed to the team's victory with an early try

After trailing by three points at halftime, two second half tries in either corner from Honda’s veteran Brave Blossoms fullback Lemeki Lomano Lava appeared to have given his side the edge but the game’s defining moment occurred nine minutes from time when Mostert was sent off for an illegal cleanout on compatriot Shane Gates.

The incident came during the movement that led up to Honda backrower Ryota Kobayashi crossing for a ‘try’ that could have pushed the home side outside of the range of a converted try.

Instead, the try was cancelled and – down a man, with nine minutes to play – Honda was unable to hold on.

Urayasu backrower Hendrick Tui scored his first try for his new club three minutes before fulltime to recapture the lead, before Kerevi’s midfield partner Soma Matsumoto scored his second try of the afternoon, and his third from just five appearances in the league, to ease D-Rocks clear.

Both teams would have been heartened when the news filtered through from Gifu that their relegation rivals, eleventh- placed Toyota Verblitz, had fallen to their ninth defeat of a rocky season after a 31-22 defeat by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Sagamihara Dynaboars.

The visitors stunned Verblitz when winger Kurt-lee Arendse touched down in the opening minute, running 50 metres to score after exposing a gap in Toyota’s midfield.

It was a double blow as South African second rower Arde Smith was yellow carded in the same play for an attempted professional foul at the breakdown in the lead up.

As well as being the 28-year-old’s seventh of a hugely successful loan spell from the Pretoria-based Bulls, Arendse’s try was the fifth that were shared between four Springboks, amongst the eight current South African test stars who competed in the league over the weekend.

Having trailed 41-7 after a nightmare opening half on the previous occasion that the two teams met, Verblitz somehow contrived to do it again, with the Arendse try the first of four times that Sagamihara penetrated the home side’s defence.

Two of the tries were scored by the man-of-the-match, South African-born second rower Walt Steenkamp, with the second pushing Mitsubishi clear by 19 points at halftime.

It proved too big of a gap for Steve Hansen’s men to make up, despite two tries in three minutes from the side’s rugby league recruit Joseph Manu, which drew Verblitz to within two points with 24 minutes remaining.

The 28-year-old’s heroics, the second of which required an acrobatic leap over opposite number Honeti Taumohaapai, took his tally of tries in his rugby union debut to eight.

It also brought Toyota’s hopes of a win to life, but their comeback was thwarted when the well-travelled former New Zealand national provincial championship player Jack Stratton scored off quickly recycled ball from an attacking ruck eight minutes later.

As well as sealing the victory, the former Toshiba utility back’s try denied the home side a crucial bonus point.

While Verblitz remains just four points from safety, time is running out to clear the bottom two, with the Wild Knights and Spears are among their final six appointments of the regular season.

After spending time under relegation threat themselves, the Dynaboars’ fifth win of the season – equal with the Eagles – has brought Glenn Delaney’s team into playoffs’ contention, four points below sixth place.

Today saw Kobelco Kobe Steelers reverse last month’s two-point loss to Tokyo Suntory Sungoliath in a dramatic finish, with winger Kanta Matsunaga scoring in the final minute of regulation time to secure a 39-37 victory.

The win, which featured two tries from Kobe’s All Black second rower Brodie Retallick as well as one from Scottish hooker George Turner, has the 2018 champions oncourse for a return to the playoffs, 11 points clear of seventh position.

While still in the hunt for a fourth straight appearance in the League One playoffs, Kosei Ono’s men have lost three in a row, and face a difficult finish with each of Shizuoka, Kubota and Panasonic still to play before the regular season ends.

Divisions Two & Three

There are still five rounds left in the regular season of Division Two but if anyone is going to catch the section leaders, the window is fast closing after Toyota Industries Shuttles Aichi routed Shimizu Corporation Koto Blue Sharks 75-28 yesterday, to tighten their grip on top spot.

With English flyhalf Freddie Burns, New Zealand winger Chance Peni and Japanese scrumhalf Atsushi Yumoto each scoring twice, the Shuttles ran in 11 tries against the hapless Blue Sharks, which took their tally from 160 minutes play against Shimizu to 18 after scoring seven in a 47-15 victory when the two sides met last month.

While the section title appears the Shuttles’ to lose, leading by seven points, NEC Green Rockets Tokatsu are not conceding just yet, with former Wales flyhalf Rhys Patchell to the fore as they dismissed Hino Red Dolphins 45-21 today.

The 31-year-old, who played his last test two years ago, scored 20 points, which included two tries, on easily his most productive afternoon since arriving in League One.

Red Hurricanes Osaka’s slide continues, with the former section leaders dropping their third game in a row after being edged out 16-14 by a gallant Kyushu Electric Power Kyuden Voltex at Fukuoka.

Scoring two tries to one, Voltex secured their fourth win after hooker Kyungmun Wang’s try, nine minutes from fulltime.

Hanazono Kintetsu Liners are making a serious play for promotion via The Replacement Battle after outclassing Nippon Steel Kamaishi Seawaves 50-8 to rise to within four points of second.

After a competitive first half, which finished with just four points separating the teams, Kintetsu ran away with it after the break, with veteran Wallaby scrumhalf Will Genia scoring twice, while try-hungry second rower Patrick Tafa completed a hattrick, having scored both of his side’s first half tries.

Veteran scrumhalf Will Genia and other players helped the Hanazono Kintetsu Liners to a comfortable win over the Nippon Steel Kamaishi Seawaves

The top three are getting away in Division Three, with a gap of seven points between third and fourth on the standings following Kurita Water Gush Akishima’s 38-28 win over Chugoku Electric Power Red Regulions at Tokyo’s AGF Field.

Former Wallaby backrower Wycliff Palu’s side have won three on the bounce, and they came from behind this time after the Red Regulions took a 28-21 lead into the final quarter of the game.

A try by English international flyhalf Piers Francis brought Akishima back on level terms before the Red Regulions wilted, conceding two tries in the final eight minutes to miss out on what would have been a bonus point.

The Mazda SkyActivs Hiroshima onslaught shows no sign of stopping after the section leaders hammered winless Le RIRO Fukuoka 40-3 while Sayama Secom Rugguts held off a strong second half rally from Yakult Levins Toda to earn a 38-17 win in yesterday’s third match.