LIXIL CUP Final Preview
Japan Rugby Top League Wildcard Tournament
Today will see the below teams play in round two of the Japan Rugby Top League Wildcard Tournament that is in its sixth year in 2015 and it is designed to be a means of entry to the National Championship for sides that finish outside the top four on the final table in Japan Rugby Top League.
Round Two
NTT Docomo Red Hurricanes (B3) v NEC Green Rockets (B2)
Date: Saturday, 31 January 2015
Venue: Kintetsu Hanazono Rugby Ground, Osaka
Kick-off: 12:00
Suntory Sungoliath (A5) v Ricoh Black Rams (B1)
Date: Saturday, 31 January 2015
Venue: Kintetsu Hanazono Rugby Ground, Osaka
Kick-off: 14:05
LIXIL CUP Final Preview
Panasonic Wild Knights (Top League 2) v Yamaha Jubilo (Top League 4)
Date: Sunday, 01 February 2015
Venue: Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Ground, Tokyo
Kick-off: 14:00
Panasonic: 1- Keita Inagaki, 2- Shota Horie (c), 3- Naoki Kawamata, 4- Kotaro Yatabe, 5- Daniel Heenan, 6- Yu Young-Nam, 7- Tadasuke Nishihara, 8- Koliniasi Ryu Holani, 9- Fumiaki Tanaka, 10- Berrick Barnes, 11- Akihito Yamada, 12- Yasuki Hayashi, 13- Seiichi Shimomura, 14- Tomoki Kitagawa and 15- Yasutaka Sasakura. Reserves: 16- Tetsuya Shitara, 17- Jungo Kikawa, 18- Yuki Kawano, 19- George Whitelock, 20- Masaki Tani, 21- Keisuke Uchida, 22- JP Pietersen and 23- Tadahiro Miwa. Coach: Robbie Deans.
Yamaha: 1- Koki Yamamoto, 2- Takeshi Hino, 3- Yoshikazu Tamura, 4- Yuya Odo, 5- Duke Krishnan, 6- Mose Tuiali’i, 7- Yuhimaru Mimura (c), 8- Kyosuke Horie, 9- Yuki Yatomi, 10- Tatsuhiko Otao, 11- Shinji Nakazono, 12- Male Sau, 13- Masatoshi Miyazawa, 14- Chikara Ito and 15- Ayumu Goromaru. Reserves: 16- Keita Kato, 17- Naoya Kishi, 18- Ryo Yamamura, 19- Kohei Saita, 20- Kazuki Yamaji, 21- Yoshiyuki Koike, 22- Katsunori Imoto and 23- Siale Piutau. Coach: Katsuyuki Kiyomiya.
Recent Encounters
Yamaha 26 d Yamaha 18 (TL 2014-15, Stage 2)
Panasonic 14 d Yamaha 9 (TL 2014-15, Stage 1)
Panasonic 24 d Yamaha 20 (TL 2013-14, Stage 2)
Panasonic 13 drew Yamaha 13 (TL 2013-14, Stage 1)
Panasonic 56 d Yamaha 14 (National Championship round 1, 2013)
Panasonic 35 d Yamaha 18 (TL 2012-13)
Panasonic 25 d Yamaha 19 (TL 2011-12)
Sanyo 49 d Yamaha 10 (TL 2010-11)
Sanyo 42 d Yamaha 15 (TL 2009-10)
In the final of the Lixil Cup 2015, the play-off series for the 2014-15 Japan Rugby Top League season, second placed Panasonic Wild Knights play fourth placed Yamaha Jubilo at the Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Ground in Tokyo at 2 o’clock on Sunday, 1 February 2015.
In the semi-finals, Yamaha defeated Kobe Steel Kobelco Steelers 41-12 at Hanazono in Osaka on Saturday while Panasonic beat Toshiba Brave Lupus 50-15 at Chichibu on Sunday. For Yamaha, they will be playing in their first Top League final since the play-offs were introduced in the 2006-7 season, breaking the stranglehold that Panasonic (formerly Sanyo), Suntory and Toshiba had on all previous eight finals. On the other hand, Panasonic are playing in their seventh Top League final as the reigning champions.
Panasonic will start as favourites to take back-to-back titles, but expect Yamaha to be in the fight until the death. Panasonic won the Top League title last year to go with the crown they won in the 2010-11 season when they were still playing as Sanyo and as this is their seventh final in nine years, they have the experience to back their claim to favouritism. To add extra weight to that claim is the fact that Panasonic took the double last season when they beat Kobe in the National Championship final. Panasonic have also played in seven of the past nine National Championship finals, winning four of them. Yamaha are still looking for their first piece of major silverware and this will only go to confirm their underdog status.
In the first half of the season, Panasonic topped the Pool A table on 29 points from six wins and the one loss to Toshiba in the opening round. Along the way, the Knights ground out a 14-9 win over Jubilo at the Yamaha Stadium in early September to extend their winning streak over their rivals. In the group stages, Panasonic again lost to Toshiba and then suffered a surprise 26-18 loss to Yamaha in the final round.
Panasonic will rely on the experience in their side in an unchanged starting line-up that includes club captain Shota Horie at hooker with Keita Inagaki and Naoki Kawamata his props. The solid pack also includes locks Kotaro Yatabe and Daniel Heenan, flankers Yu Young Nam and Tadasuke Nishihara and No8 Ryu Koliniasi Holani. Overall, the Knights may well hold the edge in the backs with Fumiaki Tanaka at halfback, goal kicker Berrick Barnes running the show from five-eighth, Yasuki Hayashi and Seiichi Shimomura in the centres while wings Akihito Yamada and Tomoki Kitagawa will capitalise on any Yamaha mistake. Yasutaka Sasakura at fullback completes the starting XV for the Knights. Head coach Robbie Deans also has a healthy bench to call on with Tetsuya Shitara, Jungo Kikawa and Yuki Kawano the spare front row. Former Crusaders flanker George Whitelock is on the bench as an impact player along with back rower Masaki Tani and Keisuke Uchida is the back-up halfback. In the only change to the XXIII that faced Toshiba in the semi-final, Springbok JP Pietersen replaces Yuga Hyakutake while Tadahiro Miwa retains his place in the reserves.
Yamaha are another team that has been slowly building over the past few seasons, indicated by the fact that they have played their way through to their first final. The Jubilo were Top League runners-up to Toshiba way back in the 2004-5 season and ten years on, this might just be their year to claim their first major title. Maverick coach Katsuyuki Kiyomiya has a knack for getting the best out of his charges and the 2014-15 season has been particularly impressive so far.
In the first half of the season, Yamaha finished third on the Pool A table behind Panasonic and Toshiba on 25 points from four wins, a draw and two losses with one of those wins including Toshiba in the final round. In the group stages, Yamaha lost to Suntory and Kobe, but beat Toshiba and Panasonic over the final two rounds to earn their place in the semi-finals.
Yamaha are also a well-balanced team with goal-kicking fullback Ayumu Goromaru the ultimate match winner. However, Jubilo are anything but a one-man side with Koki Yamamoto and Yoshikazu Tamura the starting props with hooker Takeshi Hino who is having an outstanding season. Yuya Odo and Malaysian Duke Krishnan are the locks with former All Black Mose Tuiali’i, Captain Yuhimaru Mimura and Kyosuke Horie forming the back row. Yuki Yatomi is halfback while veteran Tatsuhiko Otao will run the show from No.10. Male Sau and Masatoshi Miyazawa are the centres with Shinji Nakazono and Chikara Ito on the wings and Goromaru at the back. On the bench, Keita Kato, Naoya Kishi and Ryo Yamamura are the spare front row with Kohei Saita and Kazuki Yamaji covering for the other positions in the forwards. Yoshiyuki Koike is the second halfback with Katsunori Imoto and Tongan international centre Siale Piutau covering the rest of the backline. The XXIII is unchanged from last week and coach Kiyomiya has placed great faith in this squad to face Panasonic in the decider.
Top League Champions
2014-15: Panasonic Wild Knights or Yamaha Jubilo
2013-14: Panasonic Wild Knights
2012-13: Suntory Sungoliath
2011-12: Suntory Sungoliath
2010-11: Sanyo Wild Knights
2009-10: Toshiba Brave Lupus
2008-9: Toshiba Brave Lupus
2007-8: Suntory Sungoliath
2006-7: Toshiba Brave Lupus
2005-6: Toshiba Brave Lupus
2004-5: Toshiba Brave Lupus
2003-4: Kobe Steel Kobelco Steelers
Top League Play-off Finals (since the 2006-7 season)
2014-15: Panasonic Wild Knights v Yamaha Jubilo
2013-14: Panasonic Wild Knights 45 d Suntory Sungoliath 22
2012-13: Suntory Sungoliath 19 d Toshiba Brave Lupus 3
2011-12: Suntory Sungoliath 47 d Panasonic Wild Knights 28
2010-11: Sanyo Wild Knights 28 d Suntory Sungoliath 23
2009-10: Toshiba Brave Lupus 6 d Sanyo Wild Knights 0
2008-9: Toshiba Brave Lupus 17 d Sanyo Wild Knights 6
2007-8: Suntory Sungoliath 14 d Sanyo Wild Knights 10
2006-7: Toshiba Brave Lupus 14 d Suntory Sungoliath 13