Nicholas reaches milestone as Suntory win league opener
TOKYO (Aug. 30) Ryan Nicholas became the first player to score 1,000 points in the Japan Rugby Top League as he helped Suntory Sungoliath open the 2013-14 season with a 32-6 victory over NTT Communications Shining Arcs on Friday night.
The 34-year-old reached his landmark with a try in the 19th minute and went on to add two conversions and a penalty as the two-time defending champions made it 24 straight wins in the league and All-Japan Championship.
“I am really jealous of him,” joked Suntory captain Shinya Makabe. “In my position of lock we don’t get that many chances to score tries or do any of the kicking. He is a really professional player and I hope he goes on to score 1,500 or even 2,000 points.”
Nicholas was joined on the scoresheet by Hirotoki Onozawa (who grabbed a brace of first-half tries), George Smith and Yusuke Aoki.
However, Onozawa’s day was cut short when he injured his shoulder scoring his second try just before the break. That was one of a number of injuries Suntory picked up during the game and it left them fielding a odd looking backline for much of the second half.
Japan scrumhalf Atsishi Hiwasa lined up for much of the half in the centers with his international halfback partner Kosei Ono out on the wing.
“It was an accident,” Suntory coach Naoya Okubo said of the changes. “NTT were very physical at the contact area. It certainly wasn’t planned.”
Yuki Kawamoto knocked over two penalties for the Shining Arcs but Masato Hayashi’s team were undone by the 36 tackles they missed.
“Suntory are a very attacking team and when you miss so many first-time tackles it makes life very difficult,” Hayashi said. “But at least we kept the champion team to just one try in the second half, which was pretty good.”
The new format of the league sees the 16 teams split into two groups of eight for the first half of the season, with the top four teams from each group going on to decide the league champion.
League action continues Saturday with five games across the country and a further two on Sunday.