Japan Rugby Top League 2016-2017: Round 6 Preview

Round Six Preview

In the first game of a double header at the Kumagaya Rugby Ground in Kumagaya city in Saitama prefecture on Saturday afternoon, Canon Eagles and Toyota Industries Shuttles go head to head. Canon beat Coca-Cola in their opening game, and then lost to Yamaha, Toshiba, Ricoh and Suntory over the following rounds. The Eagles sit third from the bottom of the table on six points and another loss will compound their worrying start to the season. On the other hand, Toyota Industries have slumped to five losses from five starts going down to Toyota Verblitz, Sanix, Kubota, NEC and Kobe. The Shuttles and Honda are the only two sides in the league without a win after five rounds, but if the Toyota side fronts up, the Eagles are there for the beating.

In the latter game at Kumagaya, Panasonic Wild Knights play NEC Green Rockets. The top-shelf Panasonic side are not up to their very high standards early in the season after losing to Yamaha and Suntory, while also chalking up good wins over Kobe, Kintetsu and NTT Communications. Meanwhile, NEC started their season with losses to Ricoh, Toshiba and NTT Communications before claiming wins over Toyota Industries and Toyota Verblitz. The Green Rockets made it back-to-back wins when they came home over the top of the Verblitz 22-17 in Kyoto last Saturday and that will give them confidence taking on Panasonic. The battle of the goal-kicking playmakers in Berrick Barnes for the Knights and Yu Tamura for the Rockets should sway the game one way or the other.

In another double header on Saturday, Kintetsu Liners play Toyota Verblitz in the early game at the Hanazono Rugby Ground in Osaka. Kintetsu went down to Suntory in round one, but backed up to beat Coca-Cola the following round. The Liners then lost to Panasonic and NTT before beating Kubota 29-20 at Chichibu last week. In contrast, Toyota got out of the blocks with wins over Toyota Industries, Kubota and Honda, but then fell to Kobe and NEC over subsequent rounds. After two loses on the trot, Toyota have dropped down the table to sixth place and they cannot afford another lose at this stage of the season. Kintetsu are also in a precarious position with two wins and three loses from their first five games. However, hooker and team captain Atsushi Kashimoto led from the front in the win over Kubota last round and playmaker Yasumasa Shigemitsu kicked the points, so they will again have to stand up at home against Toyota.

In the latter game in Osaka, Kobe Steel Kobelco Steelers play Ricoh Black Rams. Despite a bad loss to Panasonic, Kobe have beaten NTT Communications, Coca-Cola, Toyota and Toyota Industries to sit nicely in third place on the table behind Yamaha and Suntory. Moreover, Ricoh are struggling to put good performances together with wins over NEC and Canon while losing to NTT Communications, Suntory and Yamaha. The Steelers under head coach Jim McKay have strength and depth across the board with the likes of utility back Codey Rei leading the charge in his first year with the club. Meanwhile, the Black Rams have a lot of work to do to create a winning culture in the club this season.

At the Kakidomari Athletic Stadium in Nagasaki on Saturday, Munakata Sanix Blues play Suntory Sungoliath. Newly promoted Sanix have been the surprise package of the opening rounds with wins over Honda and Toyota Industries, Coca-Cola and Toshiba for just the one loss to the classy Yamaha outfit in round three. The Blues played out of their skins at their home ground, the Global Arena, last Sunday to beat Toshiba 31-21 in what would rank as their best-ever win in Top League. However, things will be different against the unbeaten Suntory this round. Suntory have started the season with straight wins over Kintetsu, Honda, Ricoh, Panasonic and Canon and now they will try to make it six wins from six starts against the Blues.

At the Iwaki Greenfield Stadium in Iwaki city, Fukushima prefecture on Sunday, Toshiba Brave Lupus play Honda Heat. Toshiba had a good start to the season with wins over Kubota, NEC and Canon, before losing to Yamaha followed by the shock 31-21 loss Sanix last round. On the other hand, Honda are one of two teams yet to register a win this season, after disappointing loses to Sanix, Suntory, Toyota, Kubota and Coca-Cola. The Heat have the worst defensive record in the league, conceding an average of 35 points per match over the opening five rounds of the season and so it is critical they improve markedly in this area against Toshiba. Honda should not present too many problems for Toshiba, but that was also the prediction last week against Sanix and so the Brave Lupus had better beware.

Elsewhere on Sunday, NTT Communications Shining Arcs play Coca-Cola Red Sparks at the Coca-Cola West Sports Park in Tottori city in the prefecture of the same name. The NTT side went down to Kobe in the opening round, but then came up with wins over Ricoh, NEC and Kintetsu. However, Panasonic put the Arcs to the sword 42-12 in Tokyo last round. Coca-Cola started the 2016-17 season with consecutive losses to Canon, Kintetsu, Kobe and Sanix, but turned that around with a resounding 42-12 win over Honda in Kyoto last Saturday. It remains to be seen if the Red Sparks can make it back-to-back wins against NTT, but they are bound to come out fighting. Five-eighth Tetsuya Fukuda was the man of the match against Honda, and he will have to control the game well against NTT in Tottori.

In the final game of round six, Kubota Spears play Yamaha Jubilo in Tenri city in Nara prefecture. Kubota lost to Toshiba and Toyota over the opening two rounds, but after that posted wins over Toyota Industries and Honda. Last round, Kubota let a good lead in the second half slip against Kintetsu eventually going down 29-20 and so the Spears will have to be careful to play out the full eighty minutes against Yamaha. Even that may not be enough though, as Yamaha sit on top of the table after five rounds with 24 points from straight wins over Panasonic, Canon, Sanix, Toshiba and Ricoh and the Spears will have their work cut out matching it with Jubilo. South African-born fullback Gerhard van den Heever is proving to be more than a capable replacement for Ayumu Goromaru with his goal kicking contributing to the Yamaha wins so far this season.