Teikyo University top NEC

TOKYO (Feb. 8) – Teikyo University beat NEC Green Rockets 31-25 on Sunday to become just the second collegiate side to beat a Top League side in the All-Japan Championship.

Masayuki Iwade’s side, who have won the last six university titles, advanced to a second-round game with Toshiba Brave Lupus on the back of tries by Shun Kawaguchi, Seiya Ozaki and Rikiya Matsuda, who also kicked two conversions and four penalty goals.

The victory was the first by a student team over a Top League team since 2006 when Waseda University beat Toyota Verblitz 28-24.

“When we made our first tackle and went into our first contact, I knew we could win,” said Teikyo captain Yutaka Nagare.

NEC opened the scoring through a Nili Latu try, converted by Yu Tamura, before Matsuda touched down and added the extras to bring the teams level.

Yuki Miyamae restored NEC’s lead in the 13th minute only for Kawaguchi to bring the sides level again, before Matsuda and Tamura traded penalties either side of the break to make it 20-20 with 63 minutes on the clock.

Matsuda added a third penalty in the 67th minute before Ozaki crossed in the 75th minute to put eight points between the teams.

Hiromasa Yoshihiro’s try in the 79th minute gave the Green Rockets a glimmer of hope, but time ran out and Matsuda sealed a famous win with his fourth penalty in stoppage time.

Toshiba set up their second-round clash with the university champions thanks to a 59-12 win over Tokai University.

In the other second-round game, Suntory Sungoliath will play Kobe Kobelco Steelers, after Suntory beat University of Tsukuba 62-7 and Kobe topped Keio University 76-7.

The winners of the Teikyo Toshiba game will play Yamaha Jubilo in the semifinals while Top League champions Panasonic Wild Knights will play the winners of the Suntory Kobe game.