Japan Rugby Top League 2017-2018: Round 2 Wrap-up

In the first game of a double header at the Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Ground in Tokyo on Friday evening, NTT Communications Shining Arcs shocked Toshiba Brave Lupus coming away 25-14 winners. Toshiba got the start they were after with goal-kicking halfback Takahiro Ogawa scoring an early converted try to set up a 7-0 lead. The Brave Lupus then held the lead until the closing stages of the first half when NTT five-eighth Jumpei Ogura knocked over a penalty. Rahboni Warren-Vosayaco closed out the half with a late try which Ogura converted to give the Shining Arcs a slender 10-7 lead at the interval. After the resumption of play, lock Keisuke Matsuda touched down to put Toshiba back in front 14-10 after Ogawa added the extras. After that, however, the Shining Arcs dominated with tries to Kin Shokei and Shane Gates securing the win.

In the latter game at Chichibu, Ricoh Black Rams played defending champions Suntory Sungoliath with the Sungoliath running out 31-15 winners. Three converted tries in the first half, including a brace to inside centre Matt Giteau pushed Suntory out to a 21-3 lead at halftime and from there they were never threatened. Japan international fullback Kotaro Matsushima touched down for two second half tries ensuring the bonus point for Suntory in the five-tries-to-two win. Flanker Shuhei Matsuhashi and replacement prop Alex Woonton scored the tries for Ricoh in the second stanza, but the Suntory firepower proved to be too formidable for the Black Rams.

There were six games on Saturday starting with a double header at the Kumagaya Rugby Ground in Kumagaya city, Saitama prefecture. In the early game, NEC Green Rockets outplayed Coca-Cola Red Sparks to the tune of 48-12. Both these teams were coming off first round losses with NEC unable to score a point against Toshiba, but they made up for it in a big way. The Green Rockets heaped seven tries on the Red Sparks for two in response in what was a one-sided battle from the outset. Number 8 George Risale got the first two tries before flyer Teruya Goto helped himself to a hat-trick amongst the numerous other scorers. NEC led 24-7 at the turnaround and kept the foot on the accelerator to score just as many points in the second half. Coca-Cola will have to now go back to Kyushu and work on their defence after giving up 86 points in their first two games of the season.

In the other game in Kumagaya, Panasonic Wild Knights overwhelmed Canon Eagles 43-8 scoring six tries to one in the process. Panasonic had a big win over Kubota to open the season and picked up the full points for the second week in a row against the Eagles. Like last week, Japan international wings Kenki Fukuoka and Akihito Yamada got their names on the scoresheet for Panasonic with the latter dotting down twice. Not to be outdone, former Wallabies back Digby Ioane bagged a brace for his new club from the centres after moving across from Honda in the off-season. Tetsu Uehara scored the only try for Canon while Ryohei Mitomo added a penalty.

In another double header at the Paloma Mizuho Rugby Ground in Nagoya, newly promoted NTT Docomo Red Hurricanes went down 45-24 to Kubota Spears in the early game. Docomo stayed with the Spears up to halftime going into the break at 17-all, but found the going tough in the second half. A try to lock Yoichiro Tsuchiya actually pushed the Red Hurricanes ahead 24-17 early in the latter half, but after that, it was all Kubota on the scoreboard. The Spears piled on four converted tries to ultimately outscore their opposition six tries to three to pick up the bonus point. Fullback Kazuhiro Goya picked up a brace for his efforts, while centre Sione Teaupa and wing Matt Saunders were also among the try scorers for the Spears. Kubota struggled with the class and pace of the Panasonic game last week, but found their rhythm and control this week, especially over the final quarter of play.

In the second game in Nagoya, Toyota Industries Shuttles could not match it with Yamaha Jubilo, going down 38-10. Yamaha posted six tries to one, including a penalty try, to guarantee their first winning bonus point of the season. The five pointers were shared around with wings Chikara Ito and Gerhard van den Heever again crossing the chalk while former All Black back-rower Mose Tuiali’i also got his name on the scoreboard. The Shuttles scored first through a converted try to centre Hitoshi Matsumoto, but after the initial onslaught, the Jubilo gained the ascendency and ran away with the game.

Elsewhere on Saturday, Toyota Verblitz beat Kintetsu Liners 22-9 at the Kincho Stadium in Osaka. Big things are expected of Toyota this year under new head coach Jake White who guided South Africa to World Cup victory in 2007. Although White still has a lot of fine-tuning to do, the Verblitz did enough in Osaka to come up with a vital bonus-point win, despite the low score. Rookie back-rower Kazuki Himeno, who has also been entrusted with the captaincy in his first year of senior rugby led from the front with two early tries. Lionel Cronje converted both tries to help Toyota out to a 14-6 lead by halftime. Fullback Gio Aplon was shown yellow early in the second half allowing the Liners to get back to 14-9, but a Lionel Cronje penalty and try to wing Jamie Henry got the job done in the end for Toyota.

Also on Saturday, Kobe Steel Kobelco Steelers played and beat Munakata Sanix Blues 20-3 at the Kobe Universiade Memorial Stadium in Kobe city. In a tight match, the Blues kept the Steelers honest, as they had to work hard for their win. The first half all but went scoreless except for a penalty from South African Andre Esterhuizen at the death that gave Sanix a narrow 3-0 lead at the end of the half. Fullback Codey Rei slotted two penalties soon after the second half got underway to push Kobe into the lead for the first time and from that point on, the home side was never headed. Rei added a try to his tally around the hour and veteran back-rower Itaru Taniguchi added a second try near the close of play.