The perception of club rugby in Japan as a soft option might still exist, albeit in rapidly diminishing numbers, but two who would disagree are Sam Cane and Steve Hansen.
Former All Black skipper Cane has had a less than satisfying introduction to Japan Rugby League One, with injury limiting the backrower’s involvement to six matches last term, and six thus far in the current campaign.
Almost as disappointingly, the 33-year-old’s on-field record with Tokyo Suntory Sungoliath has underwhelmed.
Sam Cane after his 100th Test for the All Blacks and TJ Perenara after his last home game | All Blacks post-match
Suntory have won just 50 percent of the matches when Cane has played, and only one in his second season.
Hansen has endured similar frustration.
Fixture
Japan Rugby League One
Toyota Verblitz
Tokyo Sungoliath
Now an ‘old hand’ in Japan, having acted as a mentor and then Director of Rugby at Toyota Verblitz since he completed his 16-years with the All Blacks at the end of the 2019, the Rugby World Cup-winning coach has been unable to find the key to Japanese club success.
Despite an at times all star player cast, which included two World Rugby Players of the Year on last term’s roster, Hansen has found it difficult adapting his methods to an environment where much of the communication is done via an interpreter.
With only one semi-final from five attempts, Hansen starts this weekend with a modest record of 41 wins, a draw and 37 defeats since his association with the club began in 2020.
The relative plight of the two men this season is something both will be eager to change – at the other’s expense – when Suntory meet Toyota as League One resumes after Easter.
The match is pivotal to the immediate objectives of both sides.
Currently sixth, but with several playoff contenders in hot pursuit, Suntory can ill afford to slip up against the league’s 10th-ranked side, especially with the leaders, Saitama Panasonic Wild Knights, still to come in the final round.
Toyota’s need is even more desperate.
Two points above the relegation zone, Hansen’s men need at least one more win, but possibly more, to ease clear.
This would allow Verblitz to avoid the post season ‘Replacement Battle’ against one of the top sides from Division Two.
Sunday’s game is one of the most consequential of a resumption that could also define the seasons of Ricoh Black Rams Tokyo and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Sagamihara Dynaboars.
Each would vault into playoffs contention if they can achieve upsets against the Wild Knights and Kobelco Kobe Steelers but may be cut adrift if they lose.
Kobe could confirm its playoffs participation with a win.
At the bottom, Urayasu D-Rocks could be condemned to the relegation series if they lose against Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo tomorrow night and Toyota subsequently win.
That scenario would also put Mie Honda Heat in peril with a loss to Kubota Spears Funabashi Tokyo-Bay.
Shizuoka BlueRevs can inflict major damage on the playoffs’ hopes of Yokohama Canon Eagles if they can continue their golden season when the two meet on Sunday.
