Bok bruisers bring Cheslin Kolbe back down to earth
ROUND 18 WRAP: Springboks Damien de Allende and Lood de Jager scored tries, while fellow internationals Cheslin Kolbe and Sam Cane were yellow carded as the Wild Knights made an emphatic statement before the play-offs by crushing fellow title-hopefuls Sungoliath 60-17 at Kumagaya.
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League One’s inaugural winners ran in eight tries – four in each half – during their biggest win of the season, which has delivered a bye for the first week of the elimination series following a second-place finish on final standings.
Flyhalf Kyohei Yamasawa, who has averaged 13 points per game in a total of 209 for the year, signed off by scoring the 99th and last try of the Wild Knights’ regular season, during a season-high 23 points for the day.
The Wild Knights were shaded at the top of the table by Brave Lupus Tokyo, who will also skip the opening weekend of the play-offs following their workmanlike 49-28 victory over Yokohama Eagles.
While only seven points separated the sides at half-time, the defending champions ran away with the contest in the second period, with the first of their four tries for the half scored shortly after play resumed by All Black loose forward Shannon Frizell.
Fellow All Black, centre Seta Tamanivalu, had earlier scored the first try of the game.
After conceding three yellow cards last week during their loss to Kobe Steelers, the Eagles suffered again, ending their season with 14 men on the field after Springbok centre Jesse Kriel was despatched for a professional foul, shortly after he had scored his ninth try of the year.
The loss – their 12th – was a disappointing end to a campaign which saw the Eagles finish four short of the 10 wins they had recorded in each of League One’s first three seasons, which was twice good enough to reach the semifinals.
Verblitz have also endured a season shrouded in disappointment and this continued through to the final day as they fell to their 13th loss, 14-37 against third-placed Spears.
Despite Verblitz having avoided the Replacement Battle following last week’s win over the Heat, it quickly became apparent that normal ‘service’ had resumed at Aichi, with the Spears taking command after they scored the only tries of the opening quarter.
While tries either side of half-time by Brave Blossoms skipper Kazuki Himeno and South African lock Adre Smith offered the home side hope, it was brief as the Spears Tongan-born loose forward Finau Tupa scored twice in the final 30 minutes to see his side home.
Although not enough to jump into the top two, the game provided a good final workout for the Spears ahead of Sunday’s elimination match against a Sungoliath outfit they drew with earlier in the season.
Shizuoka BlueRevs coach Yuichiro Fujii would have been satisfied by his side’s final hit-out prior to the play-offs, with his charges once again getting the better of their upcoming quarterfinal opponent Kobe Steelers, claiming a 29-23 success at Hyogo to record their eighth win from nine outings since February’s surprising 14-62 loss to Kubota.
Fujii opted to start his internationals, skipper and loose forward Kwagga Smith, and centre Charles Piutau, but it was scrumhalf Shuntaro Kitamura who once again stole the show as he ended his remarkable rookie regular season with two tries.
It was the 23-year-old’s third double of a first year where he scored in 11 of the BlueRevs’ 18 games to finish joint second on the individual try-scoring standings alongside Wild Knights winger Koki Takeyama with 14.
Kobe coach Dave Rennie had opted to leave his test trio of skipper Brodie Retallick, hooker George Turner and centre Ngane Laumape on the sideline, and the ploy appeared to be working when 13 points from former Chiefs flyhalf Bryn Gatland had his men ahead two minutes out from half-time.
A try by fullback Kakeru Okumura nudged the BlueRevs back in front and while the lead changed hands twice in the second period, the BlueRevs held Kobe at bay through an at times frantic final 15 minutes which saw lock Gerard Cowley-tuioti and prop Kauvaka Kaivelata and Shizuoka centre Viliami Tahitua each spend time in the sinbin.
BlueRevs had beaten Kobe 15-13 on the opening day of the season.
Urayasu D-Rocks gained an injection of confidence heading into The Replacement Battle promotion/relegation series by recording a deserved 34-21 over Sagamihara Dynaboars in the latter’s final outing on Friday.
D-Rocks ended an open first half with a seven-point cushion after outscoring the Dynaboars four-tries-to-three before scoring the only points of the second period via twin penalty goals from fullback Otere Black.
Key man Israel Folau came through 30 minutes unscathed while England loose forward Nathan Hughes scored his second try in as many weeks and promises to be a trump card for coach Greig Laidlaw in the two-legged shootout with Aichi.
It was a disappointing end for the Dynaboars who were denied a seasonal best seventh win. They finished ninth, the same rank as last season.
Black Rams Tokyo matched their previous best placing in a League One campaign, finishing seventh after they won the 108th and final game of the division’s regular season on Sunday, belting the Replacement Battle-bound Heat 67-22.
All Black scrumhalf TJ Perenara was among the try-scorers, while former Queensland Reds fullback Isaac Lucas scored twice as the Black Rams ran riot, finishing with 11 tries, eight of which came in the second half as the Heat capitulated.
Divisions Two & Three
The Liners stormed into The Replacement Battle on Saturday on the back of their 10th win from the last 11 matches following a comprehensive 38-7 drubbing of Division Two champions Aichi.
Needing to win to delay the departure of Wallaby veteran Quade Cooper from Osaka for another two weeks, the result was never in doubt, with the Kansai-based outfit holding Aichi scoreless for the final 68 minutes, after they had gone behind to a try by former Super Rugby man, Chance Peni.
The way the match played out was an encore from last week, when the Liners had held Green Rockets Tokatsu scoreless for the final 50 minutes of their 42-19 win.
The Liners’ performance was led by scrumhalf Will Genia, with the Wallaby centurion scoring eight minutes before half-time to give his side the lead.
It was the 37-year-old’s 10th try of the campaign, which has included one in each of the Liners’ last four matches.
England flyhalf Freddie Burns, with 11, is the only player to have scored more tries in the section than the Papua New Guinean-born Australian.
The hefty defeat was a disappointing note for Aichi to sign off from their successful regular season, with their attention now moving to the Replacement Battle against the D-Rocks.
The Red Dolphins avoided being pulled into a Replacement Battle against Division Three runners-up the Rugguts after an 80th-minute penalty goal by former Blues and Glasgow flyhalf Simon Hickie completed a comeback 22-21 victory over All Black Lima Sopoaga’s Blue Sharks.
The Blue Sharks, who started the weekend with two chances of escaping the promotion/relegation series but were denied them both, scored the opening two tries of the game, and led 12-0 before the visitors mounted their comeback.
They were aided by a second half penalty try, and two yellow cards against the Blue Sharks, which allied with Hickie’s boot to get the Red Dolphins home.
The defeat meant the Blue Sharks’s hopes of avoiding the promotion/relegation series rested on the Seawaves upsetting Voltex on Sunday, but these were dashed when Voltex returned from Iwate after securing a 24-15 win.
While the home side twice came within two points, a 70th-minute try by hooker Hayato Yoshida settled the issue, allowing Voltex a comfortable ride on the 920-mile trip back to Fukuoka.
The Liners success rendered the Green Rockets’ match with Red Hurricanes Osaka on Sunday irrelevant to the final finishing order but after having had their promotion hopes ended prior to kick off, Wayne Pivac’s men took their frustration out on Red Hurricanes Osaka, romping to a 69-17 victory.
Loose forward Aserri Masivou bagged a hat-trick, to take his tally for the season to nine, while Highlanders hooker Ash Dixon also scored twice among the Green Rockets’ 10 tries.
Hiroshima scored an appropriate 40-10 win over Red Regulions to claim their second win from the season’s three city derbies on the day they were crowned Division Three champions.
Hiroshima had their title confirmed after the Rugguts had been unable to secure maximum points from yesterday’s 22-17 win over Akishima, but celebrated in style, blanking their local rivals 26-0 in the second half.
The loss to Sayama brought the curtain down on a disappointing season for Water Gush, who were unable to make up the ground after opening their campaign with three losses.
Le RIRO Fukuoka completed a strong finish to their maiden League One season, notching up the third win of their final five matches with a 27-15 win over fellow new boys, Yakult Levins Toda.
