Toshiba beat NTT Comms for 2nd win of new season

TOKYO (Aug. 29) Toshiba Brave Lupus made it two wins from as many games in the fledgling 2014-15 Japan Rugby Top League season as they held on to beat NTT Communications Shining Arcs 23-16 on Friday evening.

On a cool, windy evening at Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Ground, Toshiba’s victory came via a first-half penalty try and a five-pointer from Toshiaki Hirose with Takahiro Ogawa adding three penalties and two conversions from as many attempts.

Elton Jantjies kicked two penalties for the Shining Arcs before tries in the 66th and 76th minutes from Hayato Nishibashi and Brackin Karauria-Henry closed the gap to seven, allowing NTT to record a bonus point.

Toshiba coach Teppei Tomioka praised the effort of his forwards saying they once again laid the foundations for the win. However, he did admit last week’s win over defending champions Panasonic Wild Knights had perhaps meant his players had turned up expecting to win easily against a side that has never finished higher than ninth in the league.

NTT coach Rob Penney, for his part, said he could not fault the effort of his players. The ex-Munster coach admitted his team had been beaten in the set piece but said “it could easily have been a win.”

“We weren’t able to fully expose (the limitations in Toshiba’s defence) because we weren’t able to get the quality of set piece ball we needed,” Penney said. “But I couldn’t be prouder of the guys and the effort they showed.”

Round 2 of the new season continues Saturday with six games with a further game played on Sunday.