Anderson Grabs Hat-trick of Tries for Kobe

TOKYO (Oct. 16) – Kobe Kobelco Steelers and Panasonic Wild Knights ensured they remained in third and fourth spot, respectively, in the Japan Rugby Top League following big wins Sunday.

Kobe picked up their sixth win of the season by beating Canon Eagles 44-25 in front of 10,514 – the third biggest crowd of the season – at Oita Bank Dome.

Fraser Anderson grabbed a hat-trick of tries for the Steelers, who were well served by their foreign-born players.

Andy Ellis and Jaque Fourie both touched down as did Hokkaido-born Nicholas Ealey, while Cody Rei kicked four conversions and two penalty goals.

Hirotoki Onozawa was among the try scorers for Canon, the veteran wing touching down for the 109th time in regular season games.

Onozawa has 10 more than the second man on the top try scorers list after Tomoki Kitagawa scored the first of Panasonic’s seven tries in their 45-12 win over Coca-Cola Red Sparks.

Daniel Heenan, Ryu Koliniasi Holani, Masaki Tani, Atsushi Sakate, Naoki Kawamata and Richard Buckman also crossed the chalk for the three-time defending champions with Takuya Yamasawa kicking five conversions.

In the day’s other game, NTT Communications Shining Arc picked up their fifth win of the season with a 19-13 victory over Toyota Verblitz, Jumpei Ogura contributing nine points via a try and two conversions.

NTT’s other tries came from Hiraku Tomoigawa and Tasuku Koizumi.

After seven rounds, Yamaha Jubilo top the standings with 34 points. Suntory Sungoliath are second with 32, Kobe third on 28, Panasonic fourth on 24, NTT Comms fifth on 21 with Verblitz a further point behind in sixth spot.