Ricoh Hold On to Beat Canon in Thriller

TOKYO (Sept. 16) – Ricoh Black Rams won the office-equipment makers’ derby Friday night as they held on to beat Canon Eagles 25-20 at Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Ground.

The victory was Ricoh’s second in four games, while Canon have one win and three defeats.

With company pride at stake and in front of a good crowd of 8,234, the two sides produced a thrilling game that saw Canon keep the ball alive for four minutes after the regulation 80 minutes was up.

Camped just metres from the line, the Eagles produced a 15-man maul and countless drives at the line, only to be thwarted by a resolute Ricoh defensive effort.

“I was just praying on the sidelines that our defense would hold,” said Ricoh captain Takeshi Mabuchi.

Two penalties from Ryohei Mitomo had seen Canon take an early lead.

But Ricoh hit back with Yusuke Matsumoto crossing for the opening try of the game in the ninth minute.

Daniel Peters then added a penalty for the Black Rams before the Eagles regained the lead in the 38th minute when Toshiki Amano touched down following a sustained period of pressure.

Mitomo’s conversion made it 13-8 at the break and the Canon centre was on target shortly after the restart when he converted Naoto Shimada’s try.

It was Ricoh, however, who finished the stronger.

A second penalty from Peters was soon followed by a try from Daiki Yanagawa in the 57th minute.

Peters added the extras and then converted Shuhei Matsuhashi’s 74th-minute try to ensure Canon needed at least a try to pull level – a score they were unable to produce thanks to the Ricoh defense.