A dramatic opening weekend of Japan Rugby League One saw three of the six matches in Division One decided in injury time, including today’s game in Tokyo which saw Kubota Spears Funabashi Tokyo Bay steal a memorable 30-27 win at the expense of Toyota Verblitz, after having trailed for much of the contest.
Despite out-scoring their rivals five tries to three, it took until the 75th minute for the ex-Wallaby flyhalf Bernard Foley to find the posts, finally nailing the conversion of second-rower Merwe Olivier’s try, which drew the 2022-23 champions level, 27-27.
While their off-season signing from Saitama Panasonic Wild Knights, Rikiya Matsuda, was faultless off the tee, and high-profile rugby league convert Joseph Manu marked his first game of professional rugby union with a try, it proved in vain as Foley nailed an 83rd-minute dropped goal to seal the deal.
The 30-27 defeat represented a disappointing start for Steve Hansen and reunited assistant Ian Foster’s side, after another off-season of star recruitment.
Defending champions, Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo, needed all those qualities at Nissan Stadium, as they came from behind to edge Yokohama Canon Eagles, 28-21.
The home side led 16-7 at halftime, with returning Springbok scrumhalf Faf de Klerk a try-scorer, but they couldn’t sustain the momentum as Todd Blackadder’s side fought back with three second-half tries, including one each from All Blacks, flyhalf Richie Mo’unga and backrower Shannon Frizell.
Today’s third game in Division One saw Urayasu D-Rocks demolished in the second half by the improving Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Sagamihara Dynaboars, who won on the opening weekend for the second year running, having beaten Hanazono Kintetsu Liners in the corresponding match last year.
The Dynaboars trailed 11-9 at halftime but put their newly promoted opponents away in the second half with four tries, including one by on-debut Springbok winger Kurt-lee Arendse.
The opening day of the league yesterday saw Mie Honda Heat – who won just once in the grade last season – and Shizuoka Blue Revs, both make winning starts in dramatic finishes.
Heat had ex-Saracens flyhalf Manu Vunipola to thank for their 23-21 win over Ricoh Black Rams Tokyo, after the former England age-grade representative goaled an 81st-minute penalty to give his side the lead for the first time in the match.
Two tries on his club debut by ex-Wallaby flanker Liam Gill had the Black Rams in the ascendency for much of the contest but tries by winger Larry Sulunga – a teammate of Gills’ at Urayasu last year – and ex-Los Pumas skipper Pablo Matera closed the home side to within a point, before Vunipola capped his Japanese debut by delivering in the game’s biggest moment.
Blue Revs, who won just five times last term while finishing eighth, prevailed 15-13 in Suzuka after a stormy finish at home to Kobelco Kobe Steelers, with the visitors ending with 13 men after former (Auckland) Blues second-rower Gerard Cowley-Tuoiti and ex-All Black midfielder Ngane Laumape were both ejected from the game by red and yellow cards respectively.
Dave Rennie’s men led 13-3 at halftime after on debut Scotland hooker George Turner and skipper and ex-All Black second rower Brodie Retallick had both scored tries, rumbling over from close range.
The scoreline hadn’t changed when Cowley-Tuioti departed, 18 minutes before the finish, but the Blue Revs capitalised immediately, with the former Waikato winger from New Zealand’s national provincial championship, Valynce Te Whare – who had come off the bench only two minutes earlier – hitting a short ball at pace to mark his first touch in Japan Rugby League One with a try.
This set up a frantic finish, but Kobe looked set to cling on before Laumape’s exit, which allowed Shizuoka’s replacement backrower, Fiji-born Vueti Tupou, to score two minutes later.
Veteran fullback Sam Greene held his nerve to convert from near the posts, clinching a two-point win over an opponent who had hammered the Blue Revs 63-19 in April when the two sides last met.
There was no such drama at Tokyo’s Ajinomoto as the Saitama Panasonic Wild Knights made it six wins in a row against Tokyo Suntory Sungoliath, cruising to a 33-12 success.
The visitors, who made it 49 wins from 55 regular season matches in the league, established a 13-0 halftime advantage following two tries from Brave Blossoms winger Tomoki Osada, and reinforced their dominance when backrowers Jack Cornelsen and Lachlan Boshier scored within five second-half minutes after ex-Crusaders centre Isaiah Punivai had finally got Sungoliath on the board with their first try of the campaign.
While a further try to Sungoliath by the former Queensland Reds second rower Harry Hockings closed the gap to 25-12 entering the last 15 minutes, ex-(Wellington) Hurricanes centre Vince Aso scored the Wild Knights’ fifth try of the afternoon to complete a perfect start to the season for last term’s finalists.
Divisions Two & Three
Former England flyhalf Freddie Burns provided the star turn in Osaka, scoring 19 points to upstage veteran Wallaby Quade Cooper as Toyota Industries Shuttles Aichi upset Hanazono Kintetsu Liners 24-20.
Burns scored two of his side’s three tries, propelling the visitors to a 24-8 advantage after 50 minutes, and while Hanazono mounted a comeback with two tries in the final quarter of an hour, it came too late to save the game, with the Shuttles safely negotiating the final moments, despite the late loss of backrower Tama Kapene to a yellow card.
Discipline also played a big role in Kyushu Electric Power Kyuden Voltex’s 27-23 over Japan Steel Kamaishi Seawaves at Fukuoka in Saturday’s other Division Two match.
The Seawaves lost winger Gosuke Kawakami to a red card for dangerous play while leading 6-0, and suffered, with the Voltex running in four tries in the 20 minutes before their visitors returned to a full on-field complement.
Despite restricting their hosts to three second-half points, while scoring two converted tries themselves, the Seawaves came up four points short, although they returned north with a bonus point for their plucky effort.
Today’s matches in the section saw Shimizu Koto Blue Sharks edge fellow promoted side Hino Red Dolphins by a point after the home side’s centre Keita Doi missed a late penalty goal, while ex-Wales coach Wayne Pivac’s miserable run in Japan continued following a surprise loss to NTT Docomo Red Hurricanes Osaka.
After dropping five straight to end last season, Pivac’s NEC Green Rockets Tokatsu were toppled 34-13 on their visit to Osaka.
In Division Three, SECOM Sayama Rugguts and Yakult Levins Toda made winning starts to their livesin Japan Rugby League One after wins today against Kurita Water Gush Akishima and LeRIRO Fukuoka, with Levins hooker Kosetsu Kawachi scoring the league’s first hattrick of the season.
The biggest win of the round across the league came in yesterday’s Hiroshima derby where Mazda Sky Activs Hiroshima piled on eight tries in a 61-26 win over cross-town rivals Chugoku Electric Power Red Regulions, with ex-Ealing Trailfinders second rower Andrew Davidson scoring twice.
