Yamaha, Suntory both win to stay in hunt for top-4 spot

TOKYO (Jan. 3) – Yamaha Jubilo and Suntory Sungoliath both came away from Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Ground with one-point wins Saturday to keep alive their hopes of a top-four finish in the second stage of the Japan Rugby Top League.

Three tries by No.8 Kyosuke Horie helped Yamaha beat Toshiba Brave Lupus 29-28 in the opening game of the doubleheader, as Yamaha held on to withhold a late Toshiba onslaught.

Horie’s three tries together with one by Male Sa’u had seen Jubilo lead 29-7 with 65 minutes on the clock. But Toshiba, whose first-half try came from Michael Leitch, hit back with Shohei Toyoshima touching down twice and Taiki Matsunobu also crossing the whitewash.

The Brave Lupus had a chance to clinch the game at the death when they were awarded a penalty three minutes after the final hooter, but Francois Steyn’s kick didn’t quite have the accuracy of his three earlier conversions.

Suntory also had to come from behind in their 18-17 win over NTT Communications Shining Arcs.

NTT led 17-13 midway through the second half on the back of tries by Hikaru Tomigawa and Daisuke Kurihara and two conversions and a penalty from Elton Jantjies.

But Suntory, for whom Kosei Ono and Tusi Pisi touched down in the first half, hit back with a pushover try by Juntaro Takemoto in the 66th minute to seal the win.

The results mean that six sides – Panasonic Wild Knights, Toshiba, Yamaha, Suntory, Kobe Kobelco Steelers and Toyota Verblitz – still have a chance of making the playoffs ahead of Sunday’s two Group A games and the final round of action on Jan. 11.

Panasonic can book their place in the top four if they beat Canon Eagles tomorrow, while Verblitz will be eliminated if they fail to pick up a bonus-point win against the Steelers in the day’s other game.