Japan Rugby Top League 2016-2017 Season: Round 6 Wrap-Up

Round Six Wrap-up

In the first game of a double header at the Kumagaya Rugby Ground in Kumagaya city in Saitama prefecture on Saturday afternoon, Canon Eagles beat Toyota Industries Shuttles 31-14. Coming into round six, the Eagles were third from the bottom of the table on six points and another loss would have compounded their worrying start to the season. However, Canon turned the pressure into a positive with an aggressive first half opening up a 26-0 lead at halftime that then became 31-0 at the hour mark. The Shuttles scored two converted tries over the final quarter, but there was no way back other than denying Canon a bonus point. Fullback Michael Bond and No8 Adam Thomson were among the try scorers for Canon while five-eighth Jean Claude Roos kicked two conversions and four penalties. Toyota Industries have now slumped to six losses from six starts this season.

In the latter game at Kumagaya, Panasonic Wild Knights overwhelmed NEC Green Rockets 51-26. In a high scoring match, Panasonic outscored their opponents six tries to four, but after all that, still failed to pick up a much-needed bonus point. Rookie playmaker Takuya Yamasawa not only scored a try, but also converted all six Panasonic tries while adding three penalties for a personal haul of 26 points on the day. Not surprisingly, he was the man of the match in this impressive Knights win. The Green Rockets managed to put four tries on the Wild Knights, including a double to No8 Scott Higginbotham, but that was not enough to stop the free-running Panasonic side.

In another double header on Saturday, Kintetsu Liners played Toyota Verblitz in the early game at the Hanazono Rugby Ground in Osaka, with Toyota winning 25-19. This was an important game for both sides, but at the end of the day, Toyota made the most of their opportunities to edge out to a 25-9 lead late in the game. The Verblitz took the foot off the accelerator over the closing stages of the match, however, allowing the Liners to run in two late tries to take the gloss off the victory. The Kintetsu spurt at the end denied Toyota a bonus point while alternatively giving the home side a losing bonus point. Five-eighth Ryota Kabashima kept the scoreboard ticking over for Toyota with two conversions and two penalties, while replacement prop Atsushi Tanabe and wing Naoyoshi Shima scored the late tries for Kintetsu.

In the latter game in Osaka, in a seesawing affair Kobe Steel Kobelco Steelers came from behind at the death to beat Ricoh Black Rams 45-39. At various points in the match, Kobe led 26-7 and 38-25, but Ricoh kept coming back to grab a one-point lead heading into the final ten minutes of play. New Zealand-born playmaker Codey Rei saved the day for the Steelers with a try two minutes from time and then converted his own try to close out the result. On any given day, the Black Rams would have been victors with 5 tries and 39 points, but on this particular occasion, they fell just short of their goal. In a highly entertaining game that produced 12 tries, the result could have gone either way, but unfortunately, there had to be a winner and a loser.

At the Kakidomari Athletic Stadium in Nagasaki on Saturday, Munakata Sanix Blues went down to Suntory Sungoliath 41-8. Suntory showed their class against a resurgent Sanix side running in six tries to one to make it six wins from six starts and stay at the top of the table. Right wing Takaaki Nakazuru bagged three tries in the emphatic win that also saw him named the man of the match. Japan internationals in flanker Hendrik Tui and fullback Kotaro Matsushima also touched down for five pointers that guaranteed the Sungoliath left the island of Kyushu with maximum points in the kit bag. Suntory led 19-3 at the break then kept the foot on the accelerator in the latter half as they continued to accumulate points on the scoreboard.

At the Iwaki Greenfield Stadium in Iwaki city, Fukushima prefecture on Sunday, Toshiba Brave Lupus defeated Honda Heat 31-12. Toshiba were untroubled in the first half scoring at regular intervals with tries to halfback Takahiro Ogawa and wing Cory Jane along with a penalty try giving the Brave Lupus a 19-0 advantage at the completion of the first half. The honours were shared with two tries apiece in the latter half with left wing Shuhei Oshima and another penalty try contributing for Toshiba while centre Malietoa Hingano and replacement Nobutaka Ubukata touched down for Honda. This was the fourth win of the year for Toshiba, but Honda are yet to register a win so far this season.

Elsewhere on Sunday, NTT Communications Shining Arcs beat Coca-Cola Red Sparks 17-14 at the Coca-Cola West Sports Park in Tottori city in the prefecture of the same name. The NTT side did it the hard way with five-eighth Jumpei Ogura kicking a late penalty to break a 14-all deadlock. Neither side could bother the scorekeeper in the first half, and with the scores locked up with minutes remaining on the clock; a draw seemed the most reasonable outcome. However, Ogura had the final say in what was a gripping match with the Shining Arcs sneaking home with the points by the skin of their teeth. Ogura also scored one of the two NTT tries and added both conversions before landing his dramatic penalty.

In the final game of round six, Kubota Spears fell to Yamaha Jubilo 53-0 in Tenri city in Nara prefecture. Yamaha ran roughshod over a hapless Kubota with eight unanswered tries telling the story. As a result, Yamaha sit on top of the table after six rounds with 29 from a possible 30 points after six straight wins. There is still a long road ahead in the season yet, but the Jubilo are making hay while the sun shines and throwing down the gauntlet to all contenders. Second half replacements Male Sau and Sho Kiyohara touched down for doubles with the rest of the tries shared around as Yamaha left the Spears in their wake.