Division One

Time is running out for Urayasu D-Rocks.

There will still be 20 points to ‘play’ for after this weekend, but with Greig Laidlaw’s side needing to makeup a 10-point gap on the championship ladder – and Kobelco Kobe Steelers, Toshiba Brave Lupus and Shizuoka BlueRevs still to come – failure to beat Yokohama Canon Eagles on Saturday would almost certainly condemn last year’s Division Two champions to the lottery of the post-season Replacement Battle.

Nevertheless, it is not all doom and gloom yet, for the division’s bottom-placed side.

The return of ‘star’ man Israel Folau for the first time since early January has the potential to change the narrative, with the once-serial try-scorer – who scored 10 for the club in his first season but has been blighted by injury since – adding to D-Rocks’ strike-power, while also lifting those around him.

The return of Israel Folau is a beacon of hope for Urayasu D-Rocks

Wallaby midfielder Samu Kerevi, who was rested from last weekend’s defeat against Saitama Panasonic Wild Knights, is in fine form, almost carrying the team on his broad shoulders at times.

Underrated ex-Maori All Black flyhalf Otere Black has also had his moments, showing New Zealand Rugby that Richie Mo’unga is perhaps not the only number 10 they should be keeping an eye on.

Despite a dreadful record that shows 11 defeats from 13 matches, and 522 points conceded at an average of 40.1 per game, Urayasu have shown at times that they can play, last week holding Saitama to 28-26 at halftime, after having earlier led Kubota Spears Funabashi Tokyo-Bay 22-0.

Their second half collapses on both occasions, though, reeked of a side relegation-series bound.

While such a noose doesn’t hang around the sixth-placed Eagles’ necks, losses in the last four – Canon’s worst losing run since the 2014-15 season – has short-circuited their title bid, casting doubt on their ability to make the playoffs for a third consecutive season.

Last weekend’s defeat by Toyota Verblitz; themselves fighting relegation, was ominous, especially with Shizuoka, Kobe and Brave Lupus still to come.

Yokohama won three of their final five matches in each of the last two seasons when they reached the semi-finals. Three from five this time may not be enough.
Lose to the team ranked 12th in the section and not only will they most likely have slipped out of the playoff positions by the end of the weekend, but it would also seem highly unlikely that they would return.

Another side whose season has stalled; Mie Honda Heat, are also running out of time to steer away from trouble.

Their heavy loss to Toshiba, combined with Toyota’s win over Canon, dropped them into the relegation zone for the first time.

Boss Kieran Crowley will be happy to see the back of March, in which Honda lost four in a row, conceding 189 points.

The return of Springbok second-rower Franco Mostert, who missed last weekend due to suspension, and ex-Saracens back Manu Vunipola, who hasn’t featured since round five, will help.

Even so, the Honda troops are going to have to raise their performance levels significantly if they are to challenge a Tokyo Suntory Sungoliath outfit who re-started their bid for the playoffs during the excellent win over the BlueRevs and have won their last nine matches against Heat.

Both BlueRevs and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Sagamihara Dynaboars find themselves coming off defeats as they do battle at Yamaha Stadium, with the Dynaboars boosted by the return of fullback Kurt-Lee Arendse, after the tricky South African sat out Saturday’s heavy loss at Kubota.

A try-scorer when the Dynaboars lost narrowly to Shizuoka in January, the 28-year-old will undoubtedly be a target for the home side, who are well led by his countryman, Springbok backrower Kwagga Smith.

Twice the Player’s player of the season, the 31-year-old is the competition’s turnover ‘king’ this season, with 17.

Former Rugby World Cup-winning All Black coach Steve Hansen would have been a relieved man after Verblitz beat Yokohama; a result which lifted his charges out of the relegation zone for the first time in five weeks.

The feelgood factor may have returned, but the Wild Knights are arguably the worst opponent Toyota could have next.

Such has been Panasonic’s dominance of Toyota since the game restarted in Japan after Covid, the visitors have lost all eight matches they have played, with the Wild Knights hitting 40 points or more in five of those games, and 38 when the teams met in January.

Injuries have dictated that both sides will run inexperienced flyhalves, with the 24-year-old Takaya Saito in just his third game for the Wild Knights, while 22-year-old Shinya Komura will play for the fifth time for Toyota

Last season’s visit to Kumagaya was a miserable experience for Verblitz as they collapsed to lose 43-27 after having led 27-8 at halftime.

Kobe also endured frustration during their most recent clash with Sunday’s opponents Brave Lupus, having had 22-year- old prop Kauvaka Kaivelata sent off after an hour of January’s 32-26 defeat.

With the two sides ranking first (Brave Lupus) and third (Kobe) for the number of tries scored, another high scoring encounter appears likely, as this season’s earlier clash maintained the high scoring trend from last term, when Toshiba won 46-39 on Christmas Eve, before the return fixture resulted in a 40-40 draw.

All Black backrower Shannon Frizell was Toshiba’s star man last weekend with a 10-minute hattrick but it was not his first in League One: he scored one against Kobe during last year’s win.

The day’s second game sees the Black Rams host the third-placed Spears, against whom they suffered an eight-point defeat in January, after having led 15-11 at halftime.

This continued a history of tight contests between the pair, which has seen the Black Rams lose the last seven games, but all by single digit margins.

Ninth-placed Ricoh remain in touch with the playoff positions and have already pushed each of the current top four hard in matches, but they will again find Kubota a tough nut to crack, with the consistent Spears having lost just twice, and both by narrow margins, against the Wild Knights (two points) and Brave Lupus (four) respectively.

Divisions Two & Three

Division Two features just one match with Toyota Industries Shuttles Aichi looking to extend their lead at the top of the standings as they host a Kyushu Electric Power Kyuden Voltex side they overpowered 26-10 in January.

Sayama Secom Rugguts can close the gap on section leaders Mazda SkyActivs Hiroshima, after the Division Three leaders lost last weekend at Akishima.

A bonus point win against winless Le RIRO Fukuoka would move the Rugguts to within four points of the SkyActivs with four matches remaining.

Chugoku Electric Power Red Regulions are all but out of the race for the top two positions and a shot at promotion, but they will be looking to finish strongly, starting with Saturday’s engagement against Yakult Levins Toda.

The match is the first of three the Red Regulions will play leading into the final day of the regular season, when they will face the SkyActivs in the year’s third and deciding clash of the Hiroshima derby.

The spoils from the first two cross-city contests were shared.