Japan Rugby Top League 2017-2018: Round 3 Preview

In the only Friday game in round three, Toshiba Brave Lupus play Panasonic Wild Knights in an evening match at the Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Ground in Tokyo. Toshiba enjoyed a 20-0 win over NEC at this venue in the opening round, but then suffered a shock 25-14 loss to NTT Communications here last Friday. Consequently, the Brave Lupus face an early season litmus test to determine how their campaign for the rest of year may well pan out. Toshiba are coming off their worst ever season in Top League and the in-form Panasonic will be out remind the Brave Lupus of this and the fact they won 15-14 in their only encounter the previous season. The star-studded Wild Knights have hit the ground running with bonus-point wins over Kubota and Canon to get their crusade under way, and although Toshiba should present a stiffer challenge, the smart money will be on Panasonic for the win.

There are six games on Saturday and the action kicks off in the north of the country with NEC Green Rockets playing Toyota Industries Shuttles at the Tsukisamu Rugby Ground in Sapporo, Hokkaido. NEC had a 20-0 loss to Toshiba in the first round, but turned things around in a big way with an impressive 48-12 win over Coca-Cola in Kumagaya last Saturday. On the other hand, the Shuttles had a one-point loss to Kintetsu first up and then went down 38-10 to Yamaha in Nagoya last week. In the corresponding encounter last year, NEC won 23-7, but this time round both sides will be targeting this clash for a win. NEC flyer Teruya Goto helped himself to a hat-trick last week and given space, the Japan Sevens star will easily find his way to the try line in Sapporo. Meanwhile, Toyota will be looking to playmaker Sam Greene and try scorer from last week in centre Hitoshi Matsumoto to keep the scoreboard ticking over up north.

In the first game of a double header at the Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Ground in Tokyo on Saturday, defending champions Suntory Sungoliath play Yamaha Jubilo. In what is the biggest game of the season to date, two of the four unbeaten sides after two rounds go head to head. The Sungoliath and the Jubilo stood head and shoulders above the rest of the field last season with the 41-24 win for Suntory handing them the Top League title. Suntory went through the entire season without a loss last year and Yamaha will be itching to inflict a beating on their nemesis. Suntory easily accounted for Canon in their first game while a brace to inside centre Matt Giteau helped the Sungoliath to a 31-15 win over Ricoh here last Friday night. Yamaha have had wins over Toyota Verblitz and Toyota Industries with wings Chikara Ito and Gerhard van den Heever touching down in both games.

In the latter game at Chichibu, Canon Eagles play Toyota Verblitz. Canon started the new season with a loss to Suntory and then went down 43-8 to Panasonic in Kumagaya last round. After facing two of the hottest sides in the league in their first two games, things do not get much better for the Eagles as they take on a resurgent Toyota Verblitz. Canon are in a rebuilding phase this season with a new coaching regime in place and new recruits such as Sunwolves back-rower Ed Quirk and Japan international playmaker Yu Tamura looking to make the Eagles a force to be reckoned with. Toyota had a narrow one-point loss to Yamaha in their first game and then had a scrappy 22-9 win over Kintetsu in Osaka in round two. Former Springboks coach Jake White is still finding his way in Japanese rugby, but he has a lot of talent at his disposal to throw at Canon. Rookie back-rower and captain Kazuki Himeno scored two tries in a man-of-the-match performance for Toyota against Kintetsu while Lionel Cronje has been in good form with the boot.

At the Expo ’70 Commemorative Stadium in Osaka on Saturday, Kobe Steel Kobelco Steelers play Kubota Spears. Kobe got the ball rolling in their 2017-18 season with a convincing win over NTT Docomo and then beat Sanix 20-3 last week. In the meantime, Kubota made little headway against a dynamic Panasonic in their first game, going under 45-21 before beating NTT Docomo 45-24 in Nagoya in the second round. Halfback Andy Ellis and fullback Codey Rei have been the stand-out players for the Steelers in the opening rounds with the former nabbing a hat-trick of tries in the first game while the latter heads the point scorers’ table with 34 points from two games. For the Spears, fullback Kazuhiro Goya picked up a brace for his efforts last week and the Steelers will have to keep an eye out for his running game. Kubota will be better for the hit out against Docomo, but they will have to continue to improve if they are to be a real chance against the Kobe machine.

Elsewhere on Saturday, at the Yamaguchi Ishin Park Stadium in Yamaguchi city in the prefecture of the same name in western Honshu, Munakata Sanix Blues play Ricoh Black Rams. Ricoh beat NTT Communications in the first round before losing 31-15 to Suntory in Tokyo last Friday. Conversely, Sanix opened their account with a win over Kyushu rivals Coca-Cola before losing 20-3 to Kobe. Sanix and Ricoh are in the White Conference, both have 4 points from one win, and one loss and that should make for a competitive clash for the locals in Yamaguchi. Players to watch for Sanix include hooker Yasunori Hoshimoto who scored a brace of tries in the opening round while utility back Karne Hesketh is a devastating impact player. As for Ricoh, a lot of play is based around Tamati Ellison in the playmaking position, while in the forwards, Japan international flanker Shuhei Matsuhashi is a key man.

At the Kamoike Stadium in Kagoshima prefecture in the far south of Kyushu, NTT Docomo Red Hurricanes play Coca-Cola Red Sparks. Both Coca-Cola and newly promoted Docomo are winless after the opening two rounds of the season and a win here is vital, as victories will be hard to come by against the stronger teams in the league. Docomo lost to Kobe in Osaka in the first week and then last week lost 45-24 to Kubota, whereas the Red Sparks went down to Kyushu rivals Sanix in Fukuoka and then lost 48-12 to NEC in Saitama. Fullback Shota Saiguchi scored all the points for the Red Hurricanes in their first game and he will want to be on song again this week. Moreover, the NTT side have to tighten up their defence and play out the full 80 minutes as they actually led Kubota early in the latter half, before falling away. Defence is also a key issue for Coca-Cola as the Sparks hope playing in Kyushu will help get them across the line.

In the only Sunday game in round three, Kintetsu Liners play NTT Communications Shining Arcs in Kashihara Park Stadium in Nara prefecture. Kintetsu had a nail-biting one-point win over Toyota Industries in their first match of the season while last week, the Liners went down to Toyota Verblitz 22-9 in Osaka. On the contrary, NTT lost to Ricoh in the opening round, but came up with a morale-boosting 25-14 win over Toshiba in round two. Kintetsu and NTT Communications are in the Red Conference and with one win apiece coming into this encounter, both sides will be keen to get a leg up over the other. The Toyota defence stifled Kintetsu in attack last week and so the Liners will have to set the platform up front if the backs are to open up the game. NTT playmaker Jumpei Ogura was instrumental in the win over Toshiba and he was an obvious man of the match. He will again have to be the perfect linkman if the Shining Arcs are to come out of top in the ancient capital of Japan.