Japan Rugby Top League 2017-2018: Round 8 Wrap-up

To kick off round eight, the only two remaining winless sides in Toyota Industries Shuttles and Coca-Cola Red Sparks met in the first game of a double header at the Shizuoka Stadium ECOPA in Fukuroi city, Shizuoka. Although this was expected to be a close game, the reality was nothing further from the truth. Toyota Industries let loose scoring six tries to one to overpower Coca-Cola completely on the scoreboard. The Red Sparks scored the first five pointer of the match when hooker Mitsumasa Harayama barged over in the ninth minute, but after that, it was all Toyota. South African playmaker Francois Brummer knocked over two penalties in the opening stanza while former Wallaby lock Peter Kimlin at No8 scored the only other try in the half as the Shuttles took a 13-7 lead in to the break. Former Japan front rowers Naoki Kawamata and Yusuke Nagae added further tries for the Shuttles midway through the latter half before three quick tries in the final ten minutes finished off the scoring. Wing Ben Saunders, Japan Sevens centre Katsuyuki Sakai and replacement hooker Shota Hirano were the other try scorers for the Shuttles.

In the second game at Shizuoka, Yamaha Jubilo beat NTT Communications Shining Arcs 36-10. NTT Communications had a positive start to the game with a penalty to five-eighth Jumpei Ogura and a converted try to centre Shane Gates opening up an early 10-0 lead. Over the remainder of the half, however, Yamaha responded in kind with converted tries to centre Viliami Tahitua and No8 Kyosuke Horie giving the Jubilo a 14-10 lead at halftime. A penalty try soon after the break stretched the margin to 21-10 before fullback Ayumu Goromaru slotted a penalty to push the difference out to 24-10 by the hour. Horie went in for his second try ten minutes later with the Goromaru conversion giving Yamaha a commanding 31-10 lead. Yamaha finally killed off the game as a contest when bench player Hiroaki Ishizuka crossed for the bonus point try near the end to wrap up the match 36-10. The win sees Yamaha stay in second place on the White Conference table while the Shing Arcs are starting to lose contact with the leader board in the Red Conference.

In the only other Saturday game in round eight, Kobe Steel Kobelco Steelers played Panasonic Wild Knights in Osaka in one of two big match-ups this weekend. In a game that failed to live up to expectations, Panasonic routed Kobe 56-7 in what turned out to be a very one-sided game. From the outset, Panasonic gradually exerted their dominance with a no-nonsense approach where they took the points on offer. Fullback Keisuke Moriya scored the first try for the Wild Knights in the third minute of play with Berrick Barnes adding the conversion and then a penalty. Left wing Kenki Fukuoka touched down for the second try midway through the half with Barnes adding the extras and two more penalties to see the Knights out to a 23-0 lead at the break. Panasonic continued to turn the screw after the intermission with centre Rikiya Matsuda crossing the Kobe whitewash early in the latter half, followed by lock Kotaro Yatabe in the fifty-fifth minute to push the score line out to 35-0. Over the final quarter, the ruthless Knights further drove in the sword with Takuya Yamasawa, on for Barnes, scoring, as did No8 Ben Gunter and right wing Akihito Yamada. The Steelers finally got on the board two minutes from time with a converted try to flyhalf Ryohei Yamanaka, but it was academic, as the powerful Panasonic side comfortably took the result seven tries to one.

On Sunday, Toshiba Brave Lupus and NTT Docomo Red Hurricanes travelled north to Iwaki city in Fukushima prefecture for their round eight clash. After a poor start to the season, Toshiba have recovered ground with a 32-18 win over Docomo to make it three wins in a row as they continue their climb up the Red Conference ladder. The Brave Lupus outscored their opponents five tries to two to put the icing on the win with the winning bonus point. Right wing Takehisa Usuzuki got the ball rolling with the first try as fullback Coenraad van Wyk added the conversion and two penalties to open up a 10-0 lead after the first quarter of play. Riaan Viljoen landed a penalty for Docomo to peg back three points but Toshiba captain Richard Kahui scored late in the half to give the Brave Lupus a 17-3 lead at the break. The Red Hurricanes had the better of the opening exchanges in the latter half with No8 Keisuke Shin touching down and Viljoen adding a second penalty to narrow the gap to 17-11. The two sides then exchanged tries but Toshiba pulled away over the final 10 minutes with further tries from bench players sealing the win.

At the Kashiwanoha Sports Ground in Chiba prefecture, NEC Green Rockets were in home territory to play Chiba rivals Kubota Spears. NEC ultimately used the home ground advantage to tip them over the line 28-27 in a nail biter. There was little to separate the two sides for most of the match, but when Kubota took a 27-21 lead in to the final quarter, the momentum seemed to be going their way. NEC flanker Tatsuru Owada crossed for his second try of the afternoon in the twenty-second minute to help reverse the trend with playmaker Yosuke Morita adding the conversion to nudge the Green Rockets in front and from there they held on for the win. Centre Maritino Nemani and Owada scored the tries for NEC in the first half as they led 14-10 at the break while replacement wing Shindo Kamaike and then Owada added the five pointers in the second period. For Kubota, halfback Daisuke Inoue and centres Sione Teaupa and Matt Saunders were the try scorers with Kazuhiro Goya adding three conversions and a penalty with Hideyuki Moriwaki adding a further penalty.

In a double header at the Nishikyogoku Stadium in Kyoto, Kintetsu Liners lost to Ricoh Black Rams 37-10 in the early game. Ricoh scored four tries to one to pick up the bonus point in what was their fifth win of the season. The big names in the Ricoh team stood up to be counted with former All Black centre Tamati Ellison and Japan internationals Shuhei Matsuhashi and Amanaki Lotoahea significant contributors on the scoreboard for the Black Rams. Centre Daisuke Hamano and back-rower Matsuhashi scored first half tries for Ricoh with Ellison adding both conversions and two penalties to push the men in black out to a handy 20-3 lead at halftime. The lead lengthened out to 30-3 by the hour with flanker Daisuke Musha dotting down and Ellison knocking over another penalty as flyhalf Robbie Robinson added the conversion. The result was all but done and dusted at that point, but Kintetsu wing and captain Naoki Morita and then Lotoahea scored tries in the final quarter to close out the game.

In the second game at Kyoto, Suntory Sungoliath edged out Toyota Verblitz 32-31 in the other big match this weekend. In a gripping encounter, a resurgent Toyota had the undefeated defending Champions on the ropes at the hour with a commanding 31-13 lead, but the Sungoliath rallied with three tries to steal the game by a solitary point. Toyota flyhalf Lionel Cronje had one last opportunity at the death to pinch back the win, but his shot at penalty failed to raise the flags leaving Suntory with the winning points. This tough match was the acid test on how far the Verblitz have improved under Jake White this season and the answer is quite substantially. The only blemish on the Toyota performance is that they let a good lead slip as they failed to close out the game. Cronje and Suntory inside centre Ryoto Nakamura traded early penalties before Toyota right wing Seiyu Kohara and then Suntory flanker Hendrik Tui crossed for tries to see the sides go to the break with the Sungoliath leading 13-10. An early spurt from the Verblitz after halftime produced tries to Cronje, centre Steven Yates and half Koki Hirano that established the commanding lead, but the Sungoliath came back with a vengeance. Centre Daishi Murata and then half Yutaka Nagare crossed the Toyota whitewash to narrow the gap. However, it was the converted try from Koji Iino in the thirty-fourth minute that pushed Suntory back in to the lead and ultimately on to the win.

In the final Sunday game, Canon Eagles beat Munakata Sanix Blues 24-22 in Hiroshima. Canon halfback Toshiki Amano started the scoring with a try in the second minute with inside centre Ryohei Mitomo adding the extras for a 7-0 lead. The Blues dominated the action on the scoreboard for the remainder of the half with tries to wing Karne Hesketh and flanker Yusuke Hamazato along with a conversion and a penalty from flyhalf Hiroshi Tashiro giving Sanix a 15-7 lead at the turnaround. A converted try to right wing Kenyu Fujimoto soon after the resumption of play kept the Eagles in contention, but a try to prop Hencus van Wyk stretched the Sanix lead to 22-14. The turning point in the match came in the fifteenth minute when left wing Hosea Saumaki went in for the third Canon try with the successful conversion from Mitomo making it a one-point game. Mitomo then landed the match-winning penalty a few minutes from time to secure the Eagles their third win in as many weeks.