Japan Rugby Top League 2016-2017 Season: Round 5 Wrap-Up

Round Five Wrap-up

In the only Friday evening game in round five, Panasonic Wild Knights beat NTT Communications Shining Arcs 42-14 at the Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Ground in Tokyo. The star-studded Panasonic side suffered losses to Yamaha and Suntory over the opening four rounds of the season, but easily dispatched NTT in the nation’s capital. Australian five-eighth Berrick Barnes got the ball rolling with two early penalties before rookie hooker Atsushi Sakate crossed for the first five pointer of the match in the twentieth minute. Following that, lock Daniel Heenan dotted down for a further try to take the Knights to the break with a handsome 23-0 lead. Soon after the commencement of the second half, fullback Yasutaka Sasakura and centre, Richard Buckman touched down to blow out the lead to 35-0. The Shining Arcs ran in two tries over the final quarter, but veteran wing Tomoki Kitagawa scored a late try to ensure Panasonic left with maximum points.

In the first game of a double header at the Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Ground in Tokyo on Saturday afternoon, Kubota Spears went down to Kintetsu Liners 29-20. Kubota were in good form coming into this match, but at the end of the day, Kintetsu proved they were hungrier for the win. The Liners put in a polished first half performance with wings Kentaro Inami and Shuji Yoshikawa crossing for tries to give the away side a handy 15-3 lead at the break. Kubota then went on to win the second half 17-14, and actually led 20-15 at the hour mark, but the Liners responded with tries to hooker Atsushi Kashimoto and playmaker Yasumasa Shigemitsu to take the game.

In the latter game at Chichibu, Yamaha Jubilo beat Ricoh Black Rams 47-14 to keep their unbeaten start to the season intact. Jubilo completely dominated all facets of play in the first half, rattling up 33 unanswered points to all but have the game won by the break. Things were even over the second half, but Yamaha took full points with this seven-tries-to-two win to stay on top of the table for another week. The five pointers were shared around for the victors with halfback Yuki Yatomi and No8 Kyosuke Horie two of the seven different try scorers. South African-born fullback Gerhard van den Heever also contributed on the scoreboard with a try and six conversions.

At the Expo ’70 Commemorative Stadium in Osaka on Saturday, Kobe Steel Kobelco Steelers defeated Toyota Industries Shuttles 41-5. The Steelers racked up their fourth win of the season with this seven-tries-to-one victory over Toyota Industries to stay near the top of the leader board. On the other hand, though, Toyota Industries slumped to their fifth loss from five starts to languish near the bottom of the table. The Shuttles had no answers, particularly in defence, as the free-running Steelers ran in four tries to lead 24-0 at halftime. The trend continued in the latter stanza with the score ballooning out to 34-0 midway through the half. The Toyota side finally got on the board when flanker and team captain Yuga Takada touched down inside the final ten minutes of play. However, Kobe were well-deserved winners, with fullback Cody Rei and wing Rakuhei Yamashita both scoring doubles.

In another double header on Saturday, Honda Heat lost 42-12 to Coca-Cola Red Sparks in the early game at the Nishikyogoku Athletic Stadium in Kyoto. Coming into round five, Honda and Coca-Cola were two of three teams yet to register a win this season, but the Red Sparks chalked up their inaugural win in style on Saturday afternoon. Coca-Cola outscored Honda by six tries to two with four of the five pointers coming in the first half. The chief destroyers were in the backs, with all but one of the tries scored by the speedsters. Left wing Naoki Sarugaku crossed for two tries while right wing Kohei Ishigaki and fullback Hisatoshi Yamada also got their names on the score sheet.

In the latter game in Kyoto, NEC Green Rockets beat Toyota Verblitz 22-17. The Green Rockets made it back-to-back wins as they came home over the top of the Verblitz who fell to their second loss of the season. NEC led 12-7 at halftime, but Toyota bounced back to grab a 17-12 lead heading into the final five minutes of play. The Verblitz looked good for the win, but the Rockets rallied with replacement prop Mao Enoki barging through for the decisive try in the thirty-fourth minute to lock up the scores at 17-all. Japan international five-eighth Yu Tamura landed the conversion to push NEC in front 19-17 and then closed out the game with a penalty at the death. This was a game Toyota were expected to win, but NEC showed their mettle to fight back and register a gritty win.

On Sunday, Suntory Sungoliath beat Canon Eagles 37-22 at the Yamanashi Chuo Bank Stadium in Kofu city in Yamanashi prefecture. Suntory made it five wins from five starts against the Eagles to be second on the points table behind Yamaha. The Eagles had the better of the first half, opening up a 17-13 lead at halftime, but the Sungoliath found another gear in the second half to run away with the result. Goal-kicking five-eighth Kosei Ono helped to keep the scoreboard ticking over, converting all four Suntory tries while also potting three penalties for a flawless day from the kicking tee. Fullback Kotaro Matsushima was the man of the match, however, for his efforts around the field that also saw him score a try.

At the Global Arena Stadium in Fukuoka on Sunday, Munakata Sanix Blues beat Toshiba Brave Lupus 31-21. Newly promoted Sanix have been the surprise package of the opening rounds with this one of their best Top League wins ever. On paper at least, Sanix should not have presented too many problems for Toshiba, but the Blues have their tails up and on home turf made the Brave Lupus suffer. Conventional wisdom would have predicted that Sanix would struggle for wins this year, but they have won four of their first five matches to sit in fourth place on the table. Toshiba led 21-12 at halftime and seemed to be cruising to the win, but the Blues posted 19 unanswered points in the second half to shock their more fancied rivals.