Wrap: The Fifty-fourth Japan Rugby Championship 2017
In 2017, the Fifty-fourth Japan Rugby Championship pitted the top three finishing Top League sides and the university champion against each other. Suntory Sungoliath, Yamaha Jubilo and Panasonic Wild Knights finished first, second and third respectively while Teikyo University were the university champions. The condensed Top League season, along with the presence of the Japan Sunwolves in Super Rugby contributed to the abbreviation of the Japan Rugby Championship.
In the semi-finals, second-placed Top League side Yamaha Jubilo lost 36-24 to Panasonic Wild Knights who finished third, while Suntory Sungoliath as the Top League champions beat university champions Teikyo University 54-29.
In the final, Suntory Sungoliath defeated Panasonic Wild Knights 15-10 to take the double for the season in winning both the Top League and the Japan Rugby Championship titles.
Recent Japan Rugby Championship Finals
2017 (54th): Suntory 15 d Panasonic 10
2016 (53rd): Panasonic 49 d Teikyo University 15
2015 (52nd): Yamaha 15 d Suntory 3
2014 (51st): Panasonic 30 d Toshiba 21
2013 (50th): Suntory 36 d Kobe 29
2012 (49th): Suntory 21 d Panasonic 9
2011 (48th): Suntory 37 d Sanyo 20
2010 (47th): Sanyo 22 d Toyota 17
2009 (46th): Sanyo 24 d Suntory 16
2008 (45th): Sanyo 40 d Suntory 18
2007 (44th): Toshiba 19 d Toyota 10
2006 (43rd): Toshiba 6 drew with NEC 6 (Joint champions)
2005 (42nd): NEC 17 d Toyota 13
2004 (41st): Toshiba 22 d Kobe 10
Final
Suntory Sungoliath (Top League Champion) 15 d Panasonic Wild Knights (Top League 3) 10
Suntory 15 – Penalties: Kosei Ono 5 d
Panasonic 10 – Try: Daniel Heenan; Conversion: Takuya Yamasawa; Penalty: Takuya Yamasawa.
Date: Sunday, 29 January 2017
Venue: Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Ground, Tokyo
Kick-off: 14:00
Referee: Taku Otsuki
Halftime: Suntory 3 – Panasonic 3
Attendance: 20,196
Conditions: Sunny partly cloudy, Surface good
Suntory: 1- Shintaro Ishihara, 2- Yusuke Aoki, 3- Genki Sudo, 4- Joe Wheeler, 5- Shinya Makabe, 6- Hendrik Tui, 7- George Smith, 8- Naoki Ozawa, 9- Yutaka Nagare (c), 10- Kosei Ono, 11- Shota Emi, 12- Derek Carpenter, 13- Daishi Murata, 14- Takaaki Nakazuru and 15- Kotaro Matsushima. Reserves: 16- Shunta Nakamura, 17- Yukio Morikawa, 18- Kensuke Hatakeyama, 19- Koji Shinozuka, 20- Masakatsu Nishikawa, 21- Atsushi Hiwasa, 22- Ryoto Nakamura and 23- Kenta Tsukamoto. Coach: Keisuke Sawaki.
Panasonic: 1- Keita Inagaki, 2- Shota Horie, 3- Shohei Hirano, 4- Kotaro Yatabe, 5- Daniel Heenan, 6- Shunsuke Nunomaki (c), 7- Tadasuke Nishihara, 8- David Pocock, 9- Fumiaki Tanaka, 10- Takuya Yamasawa, 11- Kenki Fukuoka, 12- Yasuki Hayashi, 13- Richard Buckman, 14- Akihito Yamada and 15- Yasutaka Sasakura. Reserves: 16- Atsushi Sakate, 17- Naoki Kawamata, 18- Asaeli Ai Valu, 19- Yoichi Iijima, 20- Ryu Koliniasi Holani, 21- Keisuke Uchida, 22- Keisuke Moriya and 23- Taqele Naiyaravoro. Coach: Robbie Deans.
In the final of the Fifty-fourth Japan Rugby Championship, Suntory Sungoliath defeated Panasonic Wild Knights 15-10 on Sunday, 29 January 2017 at the Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Ground in Tokyo.
Suntory took the double for the season in winning both the Top League and the Japan Rugby Championship titles and this was their sixth national crown.
In a low-scoring final, Suntory five eighth Kosei Ono scored all his team’s points with five penalties, while for Panasonic, veteran lock Daniel Heenan scored the only try in the match with five-eighth Takuya Yamasawa adding a conversion and a penalty.
The scores were tied at 3-all at halftime, but Ono pushed Suntory ahead 9-3 with penalties in the ninth and fifteenth minutes of the second half. Heenan scored his try in the sixteenth minute and the Yamasawa conversion edged Panasonic in front 10-9. However, Ono landed further penalties in the twentieth and twenty-fifth minutes to secure the win for Suntory.