Japan Rugby Top League 2017-2018: Round 6 Preview

In the last Friday night games for the season, Ricoh Black Rams play NEC Green Rockets in the first game of a double header at the Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Ground in Tokyo. So far this season, Ricoh beat NTT Communications, lost to Suntory, beat Sanix, lost to Yamaha and then beat Coca-Cola 32-5 last round. Meanwhile, NEC lost to Toshiba, beat Coca-Cola and Toyota Industries, lost to Kobe before beating Sanix 29-17 in round five. Ricoh and NEC are both in the White Conference with three wins apiece and this promises to be a highly competitive clash. The big names in the Ricoh side stood out last week with Japan international wing Amanaki Lotoahea picking up a hat-trick of tries and the man-of-the-match award, while former Japan back-rower Michael Broadhurst also had a big game with a touch down for his troubles. This week, Robbie Robinson moves from fullback to first five with Tamati Ellison playing in the centres. Prop Sunao Takizawa led from the front in the win for the Green Rockets last Saturday in a man-of-the-match performance and he will again have to muster his troops against the Black Rams. Number 8 Adam Thomson has bolstered the NEC forward pack since joining the club and his impact will again be vital for the Rockets.

In the other game, Toshiba Brave Lupus play Toyota Industries Shuttles. Toshiba are in the very unfamiliar position of being in last place on the Red Conference table after five rounds and the five-times Top League champions will be out to turn things around against the winless Shuttles. Toshiba started the season well enough with a win over NEC, but then fell to consecutive losses to NTT Communications, Panasonic, Toyota and Kobe. The Shuttles have also had a disappointing start to the season with straight losses to Kintetsu, Yamaha, NEC, Kubota and NTT Communications. Hooker Hiroki Yuhara as team captain and the other Japan internationals in the Toshiba pack such as lock Naohiro Kotaki and number 8 Michael Leitch will have to stamp their authority on the match to get the Brave Lupus moving in the right direction. In the backs, Coenraad van Wyk moves from flyhalf to fullback this week with Shuhei Oshima the playmaker. The Toyota side will also be playing to win with former Japan internationals Naoki Kawamata and Yusuke Nagae in the front row and Sione Vatuvei at number 8 needing big games. The Shuttles also need five-eighth Sam Greene, wing Benjamin Saunders along with captain and fullback Manato Hasegawa to play well.

There are two games on Saturday in a double header at the Shizuoka Stadium ECOPA in Fukuroi city, Shizuoka. In the first game, Canon Eagles play Coca-Cola Red Sparks. Canon have had the worst possible start to the year with losses to Suntory, Panasonic, Toyota Verblitz, Kintetsu and Yamaha. Moreover, the Red Sparks are in the same situation with loses to Sanix, NEC, NTT Docomo, Panasonic and Ricoh. The Eagles and the Red Sparks are in the basement of the White Conference with the only consolation being that one of these two sides will produce their first win of the season this weekend. Ryohei Mitomo captains the Eagles from the centres and he will want his experienced players up front such as former Japan back-rower Takashi Kikutani and Sunwolves No8 Ed Quirk to lay the platform. Juan-Claude Roos has the vital play-making role. The experienced players in the Coca-Cola pack such as captain Kota Yamashita and Masakazu Toyota also need to step up if the likes of Japan international centres Tim Lafaele and William Tupou are to have an impact.

In the other game at Shizuoka, Yamaha Jubilo play Kobe Steel Kobelco Steelers. This is a top-billing match as Jubilo with one loss to their name take on the undefeated Steelers. Yamaha had an agonising loss to Suntory in round three, but otherwise, the Jubilo have readily accounted for Toyota Verblitz, Toyota Industries, Ricoh and Canon. On the other hand, Kobe have had comfortable wins over NTT Docomo, Sanix, Kubota, NEC and Toshiba, but this is their strongest challenge of the season to date. This match will test the mettle of Yamaha and Kobe with both sides well in contention for the Top League title. The real strength for Yamaha lies in their forwards in a pack that contains many current Japan internationals such as hooker Takeshi Hino, lock Uwe Helu and back-rower and captain Kyosuke Horie. Players to watch in the backs include centre Viliami Tahitua who scored two tries and was man of the match in the demolition of Canon last round, while, fullback Ayumu Goromaru has one of the best kicking games in the league. Kobe also have a formidable set of forwards well led by flanker Shohei Maekawa, while Andy Ellis at halfback and fullback Adam Ashely-Cooper are key players in the backs.

On Sunday, there are four games across Japan, starting with Kubota Spears playing Toyota Verblitz at the Shibata City Ijimi Sports Park in Niigata prefecture. Kubota are having a see-saw season with an opening-round loss to Panasonic followed by a win over NTT Docomo, a loss to Kobe, a win over Toyota Industries and then a loss to Suntory last round. On the other hand, Toyota had a narrow one-point loss to Yamaha in their first game, but followed that up with wins over Kintetsu, Canon and Toshiba before losing 43-16 to Panasonic in Saitama last Saturday. The Spears and the Verblitz are both finding the going tough against the stronger sides in the league, but are picking up good wins over teams in the bottom half of each conference. Flanker Grant Hattingh and centre Matt Saunders touched down for Kubota in a side well beaten by Suntory last round and the Spears will be up against it again this week against Toyota. These two teams have South African coaches at the helm with Frans Ludeke at Kubota trying to outdo Jake White at Toyota. Rookie flanker and captain Kazuki Himeno and flyhalf Lionel Cronje were the stand out players on a losing side for the Verblitz last week and White will need them to inspire his side to a full 80-minute performance this round.

Elsewhere on Sunday, at the Yamanashi Chuo Bank Stadium in Kofu city, Yamanashi, Suntory Sungoliath make their annual pilgrimage to the prefecture to play NTT Docomo Red Hurricanes. Suntory as the defending Top League champions are leading the title race in the new season with straight wins over Canon, Ricoh, Yamaha, NTT Communications and Kubota and they look set to add Docomo to the list. Nonetheless, although newly promoted Docomo lost to Kobe and Kubota to open their new season back in Top League, they then chalked up victories over Coca-Cola, Sanix and Kintetsu. In reality, the fairy-tale run of wins for the Red Hurricanes should end against the power and pedigree of Suntory, but they will not go down without a fight. Suntory have the luxury of tremendous depth in their squad with former Japan halfback Atsushi Hiwasa enjoying a rare run-on start with a hat-trick of tries and man-of-the-match award against Kubota last week, while flyhalf Matt Giteau kept the scoreboard ticking over with points from the tee. Sunwolves fullback and game-captain Riaan Viljoen secured Docomo their third win in a row last week with a solid kicking performance while centre Mifiposeti Paea and lock Joe Iongi scored the tries.

At the Hitomebore Stadium in Miyagi prefecture on Sunday, NTT Communications Shining Arcs play Panasonic Wild Knights. NTT Communications are three and two with wins over Toshiba, Kintetsu and Toyota Industries for losses to Ricoh and Suntory. In the meantime, Panasonic have had impressive bonus-point wins over Kubota, Canon, Toshiba, Coca-Cola and Toyota to sit on top of the White Conference table with maximum points. Kin Shokei who captains the Shining Arcs from the side of the scrum will have to inspire his troops to reach great heights if they are to inflict the first loss of the season on Panasonic, but anything is possible. Sunwolves lock Willie Britz and Japan No8 Amanaki Mafi will add strength up front for NTT while five-eighth Jumpei Ogura and centre Takuya Ishibashi have been in good form so far this season. Panasonic have all bases covered as flanker and captain Shunsuke Nunomaki looks to keep the momentum going. Japan international Akihito Yamada scored a hat-trick of tries last week to push to the head of the leading try scorers list for the season and he again lines up on the right wing for Panasonic. Fullback Keisuke Moriya is the only uncapped player in the Panasonic backline, but he is holding his own after picking up the man-of-the-match honours last round.

In the remaining game on Sunday, Munakata Sanix Blues host Kintetsu Liners at their Global Arena Stadium in Munakata city on the island of Kyushu. Sanix had a first-up win over Coca-Cola before a run of outs to Kobe, Ricoh, NTT Docomo and NEC over subsequent rounds, so the Blues will be desperate for a win in what is the first of only two games at the Global Arena this season. Meanwhile, Kintetsu had a one-point win over Toyota Industries, lost to Toyota Verblitz and NTT Communications; beat Canon before losing 31-21 to Docomo in the Osaka derby last week. Sanix beat Kintetsu in the corresponding game last year and the Blues will fancy their chances again this year. Sanix held their own in the first half against NEC last week, but when back-rower Satoshi Tsuruoka was red carded for a dangerous tackle early in the second half, the game slipped from their grasp. Sanix will look to former England lock Geoff Parling and captain Nobuyoshi Arai at No8 for inspiration in the forwards while centres Bryce Robins and Siliva Ahio are players to watch in the backs. Key personnel for Kintetsu include Atsushi Kashimoto who captains the side from the middle of the front row; lock Luke Thompson and right wing Ruan Combrinck.