Japan Rugby Top League 2017-2018: Round 11 Wrap-up

In the first game of a double header at the Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Ground in Tokyo on Saturday afternoon, NEC Green Rockets went down 28-13 to Suntory Sungoliath. Tries proved hard to come by for both sides with Suntory managing to run in two tries to one in their win to go with a penalty try. The penalty try gave the Sungoliath an early lead before flyhalf Yosuke Morita potted a penalty to put the Green Rockets on the scoreboard. Matt Giteau responded with two penalties to stretch the Suntory lead to 13-3 by the half hour. Wing Yasunori Nagatomo crossed the NEC whitewash late in the half with the successful conversion from Giteau taking the sides to the break with the Sungoliath leading 20-3. The Green Rockets fought back in the second half with a converted try to centre Maritino Nemani and a further penalty from Morita closing the gap to 20-13. However, Suntory closed out the game with a third penalty from Giteau and a try to replacement back Daishi Murata.

In the second game at Chichibu, NTT Communications Shining Arcs scrambled home 8-3 over a resilient Canon Eagles. In the lowest scoring game of the season, NTT replacement back Shane Gates scored the only try of the match in the twenty-seventh minute of the second half to break the deadlock and finally edge the Shining Arcs across the finish line with their noses in front. South African-born playmaker Juan-Claude Roos scored the only points in the opening half with a penalty to give the Eagles a slender 3-0 lead at halftime. However, Jumpei Ogura cancelled out the difference with a three pointer for the Shining Arcs early in the second half. With the scores tied up, the try from Gates proved to be the turning point in the tussle and this was enough to secure the win for NTT. The Eagles went home with a losing bonus point, but that was far less than they needed. On the other hand, NTT Communications now have 29 points from six wins, a draw and four losses.

Elsewhere on Saturday, Yamaha Jubilo hosted Coca-Cola Red Sparks at their Yamaha Stadium in Iwata city in Shizuoka where they ran away with the result 54-7. After unexpectedly losing to Toshiba last round, the Jubilo made amends with an overwhelming eight tries to one rout of the winless Coca-Cola. Jubilo scored most of their tries through their forwards with flanker Yuya Odo grabbing a brace while No8 Kyosuke Horie and Yuhimaru Mimura on the other side of the scrum also got their names on the scoresheet. The bulk of the damage was done in the opening half with Yamaha tallying up five tries, all converted by Ayumu Goromaru. The Jubilo built on their 35-0 halftime lead as the score ballooned out to 49-0 by the hour. Coca-Cola wing Kohei Ishigaki picked up a consolation try for the Red Sparks over the final quarter of play, but Rocky Havili completed the scoring with a late try for Yamaha.

In the first game of a double header at the Toyota Stadium in Aichi on Saturday afternoon, Toyota Industries Shuttles lost 35-20 to Ricoh Black Rams. The final score line does not tell the full picture as the Black Rams had to work hard for their win. The Shuttles led 17-15 early in the second half before Ricoh managed to get in front 23-20 by the hour. Tries to replacement lock Lotoahea Pohiva and left wing Takuya Takahira over the course of the final quarter eventually secured the Black Rams a comfortable win on the scoreboard and the winning bonus point to put the icing on the cake. Flyhalf Robbie Robinson was the stand out player for Ricoh as he went on to collect the man-of-the-match award for his efforts. Ricoh are having their best-ever season in Top League as they now have eight wins for three losses to sit in third place on the White Conference table with 39 points.

In the second game at Aichi, Toyota Verblitz beat NTT Docomo Red Hurricanes 46-18. Toyota notched up their eighth win of the season in this impressive six-tries-to-two win that also saw them collect the winning bonus point. As a result, the Verblitz maintain second place on the Red Conference table with only two rounds left to play. Docomo posted first points in the match with a converted try to playmaker Mifiposeti Paea, but the lead did not last long. A converted try to lock Jason Jenkins evened things up before Toyota flyhalf Lionel Cronje and NTT fullback Riaan Viljoen traded penalties to again tie up the scores at 10-all. Tries to Toyota centre Yuta Haruyama and Viljoen saw the sides to the break with Toyota holding the lead 17-15. Viljoen kicked a penalty early in the second half to put the Red Hurricanes back in front, but after that, the Verblitz took control of the match. Toyota pied on four unanswered tries through No8 Taufa Olive, hooker Yoshikatsu Hikosaka, fullback Gio Aplon and replacement back Taiki Masuda to blow out the final score line.

In the final Saturday game, Kobe Steel Kobelco Steelers beat Kintetsu Liners 39-22 at the Kobe Universiade Memorial Stadium in Kobe city. Kobe chalked up a much-needed win against Kintetsu with the bonus point from scoring six tries to three only adding to the confidence at the Steelers. Early tries to five-eighth Nicholas Ealey and wing Shintaro Hayashi helped the Steelers out to a 17-0 lead to put the Liners on the back foot. Fullback Semisi Masirewa crossed for a try later in the half with the successful conversion reducing the margin to 17-7 at the break. However, left wing Yoshikazu Ohashi touched down soon after the resumption of play and this was followed by a further five pointer to inside centre Ryohei Yamanaka to stretch the lead to 27-10. Over the final quarter, both sides scored two tries apiece to see Kobe through to a comfortable win. Veteran lock Luke Thompson and Kenji Shomen for Kintetsu and Kobe respectively were among the try scorers.

On Sunday, Panasonic Wild Knights beat Munakata Sanix Blues 42-7 at the Kumagaya Sports Ground in Saitama prefecture. Panasonic maintained their unbeaten record this season and now have 54 points from a maximum 55 after eleven rounds. The young guns in the backline did most of the damage for the Wild Knights with flyhalf Takuya Yamasawa scoring a try and converting all six tries while inside centre Rikiya Matsuda scored a brace and was the man of the match. Other try scorers for Panasonic included outside centre Digby Ioane and the ever-improving fullback Keisuke Moriya. The Wild Knights led 21-0 at halftime and then 35-0 by the hour before Sanix scored their first points. Lock Toshihiro Nishi scored the only try for the Blues with fullback Andre Esterhuizen on hand to add the conversion. Yamasawa closed out the game with a try and his sixth conversion to walk away from the match with 17 points to his name.

In the final match of round 11, Kubota Spears played Toshiba Brave Lupus at the Kincho Stadium in Osaka. Toshiba racked up their sixth win in a row as they put Kubota to the sword 38-22. The Brave Lupus outscored the Spears six tries to three to guarantee they also left Osaka with the bonus point. The scorekeeper was kept busy with tries scored at regular intervals keeping the scoreboard ticking over. The Spears held an 8-5 lead midway through the opening half, but tries to centre Richard Kahui and first five Stephen Donald put Toshiba in front 19-8 at the break. As the second half got underway, centre Sione Teaupa crossed the Toshiba whitewash to narrow the gap for Kubota, but replacement hooker Futoshi Mori touched down soon after to restore the difference. Kubota again struck back though wing Ryoma Shirai to make it 24-22 with less than five minutes to play. A brace from left wing Takehisa Usuzuki over the final few minutes showed the resolve in this Toshiba side as they secured the win and the bonus point.