Yamaha Down Kobe Steel

TOKYO (Dec. 18) – Yamaha Jubilo finished Round 12 of the Japan Rugby Top League in top spot Sunday thanks to a 33-15 win over Kobe Kobelco Steelers.

The victory sees Jubilo, who failed to pick up a bonus point for just the third time this season, on 57 points, one more than Suntory Sungoliath. The two sides meet next week on Christmas Eve at Yamaha Stadium.

Chikara Ito, Takeshi Hino and Male Sau all touched down for Yamaha, with Gerhard van den Heever kicking three conversions and four penalty goals.

Kobe’s points came via a try from Shintaro Hayashi, a penalty try and a conversion and penalty from Ryohei Yamanaka.

The Steelers are fourth in the rankings with 42 points, five behind Panasonic Wild Knights who beat Ricoh Black Rams 45-17 on the back of a hat-trick of tries from Akihito Yamada.

Berrick Barnes weighed in with four penalties and three conversions for the Wild Knights, for whom David Pocock played the full 80 minutes.

The biggest winners of the day were Toshiba Brave Lupus who beat Kintetsu Liners 59-12 for just their second victory in their last nine games. The Brave Lupus ran in eight tries with Kai Ishii, Coenraad van Wyk and Takuma Asahara all touching down twice.

In the day’s other games, NTT Communications Shining Arcs downed Munakata Sanix Blues 33-7 with Takuya Ishibashi, Hiroyuki Mezaki, Daiki Numajiri, Ryo Tsuruda and Amanaki Lelei Mafi all crossing the chalk and Elton Jantjies adding four conversions, while Canon Eagles scored six tries in their 45-21 victory over NEC Green Rockets with Willie Le Roux grabbing a first-half brace.