Japan National Championship kicks off with wins for TL teams

TOKYO (Feb.16) – Kobe Kobelco Steelers were the day’s biggest winners as the Japan National Championship got underway Sunday with four first-round games in Tokyo and Osaka.

In the first game of the doubleheader at Hanazono Stadium, Kobe ran in 16 tries in a 100-0 defeat of Keio University. Yuta Imamura touched down three times and the second row pair of Shoji Ito and Andries Bekker grabbed a brace apiece, as the Steelers crossed six times in the first half and 10 in the second.

Kenji Shomen weighed in with a try and six conversions after taking over the kicking duties from Hideki Tanabe and Tsuyoshi Iguchi.

In the second game in Osaka, Cooper Vuna went one better than Imamura, scoring four tries in the space of 26 minutes either side of halftime as Toshiba Brave Lupus downed the University of Tsukuba 69-26.

Masato Toyoda added three tries for Toshiba, while Takuya Yamasawa bagged a try and three conversions for the students.

Things were slightly closer at the Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Ground, though the end result was the same as the Top League’s Yamaha Jubilo and Toyota Verblitz defeated the top two university sides.

Toyota beat five-time collegiate champions Teikyo University 38-18 with Taiyo Ando crossing twice and Takaya Monji grabbing four conversions from six attempts in difficult conditions.

Earlier, two early tries from Shota Tanaka helped Yamaha to a 36-16 victory over Waseda University.

Kobe will next play Yamaha, with the winner up against Japan Rugby Top League champion Panasonic Wild Knights in the semifinals.

Toyota, meanwhile, will play Toshiba with a final-four matchup against Suntory Sungoliath the reward for the winners.