Japan Rugby Top League 2017-2018: Round 1 Wrap-Up

To kick off the 2017-18 Japan Rugby Top League season, Ricoh Black Rams defeated NTT Communications Shining Arcs 17-13 in the first game of a double header in an early evening game at the Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Ground in central Tokyo on Friday 18 August 2017. Playmaker Tamati Ellison led the way early on with three penalties helping the Black Rams to a handy 14-3 lead at halftime. The Shining Arcs fought back as the second half got underway with No8 Amanaki Mafi touching down and five-eighth Jumpei Ogura adding the conversion and a penalty to make it a one-point game. Ellison then added a further penalty and Ricoh held on for the win.

In the latter game at Chichibu, defending champions Suntory Sungoliath beat Canon Eagles 32-5. The Sungoliath hit the ground running in the new season outscoring the Eagles five tries to one. Right wing Takaaki Nakazuru dotted down twice while former Wallabies flanker George Smith also crossed the Canon whitewash for a five pointer. An early yellow card to lock Finau Tupa had the Eagles on the back foot from the outset and the Sungoliath took full advantage to edge out to a 19-0 lead at the break. Suntory kept the momentum going in the second half to guarantee full points from their opening match.

In a tight affair at the Toyota Stadium in Aichi prefecture, Yamaha Jubilo scrambled home 14-11 over home side Toyota Verblitz. Right wing Seiyu Kohara scored the only points in the first half with a late try to take Toyota to the break with a 5-0 lead. Yamaha opened the game up in the second half with wings Chikara Ito and Gerhard van den Heever crossing for tries and fullback Ayumu Goromaru added both conversions. The iconic Goromaru is back in Japan in Yamaha colours after stints with the Queensland Reds and Toulon following the 2015 Rugby World Cup. Lionel Cronje slotted two second half penalties for the Verblitz, but it was not enough to get Toyota across the line.

In the first game of another double header at the Yanmar Stadium in Osaka, Kobe Steel Kobelco Steelers were too strong for newly promoted NTT Docomo Red Hurricanes running out comfortable 39-16 winners. The New Zealand flavor in the Kobe side did the damage on the scoreboard with halfback Andy Ellis scoring a hat-trick of tries while fullback Codey Rei scored a try and kicked four conversions along with two penalties. At the other end of the pitch, fullback Shota Saiguchi scored all the points for the Red Hurricanes with a converted try and three penalties. The five-tries-to-one victory also ensured maximum points for the Steelers.

In the other game in Osaka, Kintetsu Liners snuck home 13-12 over Toyota Industries Shuttles. It took a drop goal at the death from veteran playmaker Yasumasa Shigemitsu to get the Liners over the line in what is a positive start to their season. Kintetsu led 10-0 at halftime on the back of a try to wing Keisuke Yatsugi and the conversion and a penalty to playmaker Daisuke Noguchi before the Shuttles staged their comeback in the second half. First five Sam Greene got the ball rolling with a try and a conversion before a try to Yuki Omichi inside the final ten minutes of play put the Toyota side into the lead for the first time in the match. The Industries looked set for the win before Shigemitsu snapped the drop goal that salvaged the game for Kintetsu.

On Saturday, in the first game of a double header at Chichibu, Toshiba Brave Lupus defeated NEC Green Rockets 20-0. It was all one-way traffic on the scoreboard with right wing Takehisa Usuzuki crossing for the only try of the opening half, while halfback Takahiro Ogawa landed the conversion and two penalties. The Brave lupus had a comfortable 13-0 lead at the interval before going on with it in the latter half. Things did not improve for the Green Rockets after the break either with centre Maritino Nemani and lock Taro Kenjo both receiving yellow cards early in the half. Toshiba took full advantage with a converted try to flanker Hiroshi Yamamoto wrapping up the result.

In the other game at Chichibu, Panasonic Wild Knights enjoyed a comfortable 45-21 win over Kubota Spears. The Wild Knights ran in six tries to three to make sure they left Tokyo with full points in the bag. The five pointers were shared around with Japan international wings Kenki Fukuoka and Akihito Yamada getting their names on the scoresheet. The Spears opened the scoring with an early converted try to lock Grant Hattingh and then held Panasonic to 14-all late in the half, but a try to former Japan No8 Koliniasi Ryu Holani took the teams to the break with the Knights 21-14 to the better. Kubota could not maintain the momentum in the second half as the classy Panasonic outfit upped their game to blow out the score to 45-14 at one point. The Spears added a late consolation try, but the honours well and truly belonged to Panasonic.

In the only Sunday game in the opening round, Munakata Sanix Blues beat Coca-Cola Red Sparks 38-22 in a Kyushu derby at the Level-5 Stadium in Fukuoka. In a relatively high scoring match, the Blues stamped their authority on proceedings early on with a brace of tries to hooker Yasunori Hoshimoto setting up a 15-0 lead inside the first quarter of play. Sanix got out to 23-8 by the break leaving the Red Sparks a lot to do in the latter half. Coca-Cola narrowed the gap to 23-15 at one stage in the half, but Sanix gradually pulled away on the scoreboard with late tries to Kohei Hamazato and Karne Hesketh closing out the game.