Faf's Eagles primed to challenge Knights' unbeaten run
JAPAN LEAGUE PREVIEW: Springbok Faf de Klerk and his Yokohama Canon Eagles teammates are primed to challenge defending champions Saitama Panasonic Wild Knights’ five-year unbeaten run in round six of Japan Rugby League One on Saturday.
The huge influence De Klerk has already wielded during his short career in Japan Rugby League One has been a major component in the rise of the Eagles, who head to Kumagaya having lost just once this season.
They will be welcomed by a Saitama side who have built up strong momentum themselves, having dispatched each of the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Sagamihara Dynaboars, Toyota Verblitz and Ricoh Black Rams Tokyo, by
comfortable margins in recent weeks.
Although Saturday is just round six of a 16-round preliminary season, the serial-title-winning Wild Knights coach Robbie Deans knows the importance of gaining the psychological advantage over potential playoffs rivals, which is sure to give the match an added edge.
Elsewhere, second-placed Kubota Spears Funabashi Tokyo-Bay host Black Rams, and could be shooting for top spot on the ladder should the Wild Knights have been toppled the day before.
This scenario is also possible for Tokyo Suntory Sungoliath, whose game against the Dynaboars is after the Wild Knights play but at the same time as the Spears, meaning that – such is the closeness of the point’s table – it’s not implausible that the league could have three different leaders over the course of the round.
Away from the top of the ladder, Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo will be looking to build on last week’s impressive win over Verblitz when they open the round hosting the winless Hanazono Kintetsu Liners, while Shizuoka Blue Revs will continue their quest for a first win of the season on Sunday when they host the NEC Green Rockets.
The third match of Saturday’s triple-header sees Kobelco Kobe Steelers host an out-of-form Toyota Verblitz.
Both sides are seeking to end losing runs, Kobe having lost its last two, while Toyota are none from four, after having won their opening game of the season.
There is only one game in each of the lower divisions with the Toyota Industries Shuttles Aichi looking to get back on track after suffering their first loss of the season against Urayasu D-Rocks when they host a buoyant Kamaishi Seawaves.
The Seawaves venture south to Nagoya encouraged after registering their maiden win of the Division Two season at their last outing when they upset the Shimizu Corporation Koto Blue Sharks.
In Division Three, the unbeaten NTT Docomo Red Hurricanes travel to AGF Field in Tokyo to battle former Wallaby backrow Wycliff Palu’s Kurita Water Gush Akishima, who are chasing their second win of the season.
A win for the Red Hurricanes would see them return to the top of the point’s table.
DIVISION ONE
Saturday, January 28
TOSHIBA BRAVE LUPUS TOKYO v HANAZONO KINTETSU LINERS
Prince Chichibu Memorial Stadium, Tokyo, 12pm (JT)
Coming off their best performance of the season, Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo face the awkward prospect of playing the winless Hanazono Kintetsu Liners, who were much improved last weekend against Tokyo Suntory Sungoliath, even though the 51-10 scoreline might suggest otherwise.
The second division champions trailed last year’s finalists by just five points shortly before half-time, which will give coach Yoshitake Mizuma and his troops encouragement as the travel to the spiritual home of the Japanese game in Tokyo.
The improved showing came off the back of some ‘frank’ discussions internally in the build-up, with the emphasis put on personal accountability, most notably in defence.
But while the team showed a major improvement in the first half at Osaka, the players knows the improvement shown needs to last for 80 minutes, rather than just 40.
This is especially so given Brave Lupus cut loose to put eight tries past Verblitz, including two by former All Black centre Seta Tamanivalu, whom Brave Lupus coach Todd Blackadder described afterwards as “one of the best ball carriers in the world.”
“With his size and speed, it takes two defenders to handle him,” Blackadder explained.
“When he is playing well, it means the team is doing well.”
PANASONIC WILD KNIGHTS v YOKOHAMA CANON EAGLES
Kumagaya Sports and Culture Park Rugby Field, Saitama, 2.30pm (JT)
First plays fourth as the Yokohama Canon Eagles trek to Saitama looking to overturn a wretched recent history in relations between the two clubs.
Saitama have scored 190 points in their last five meetings, achieving an average winning score of 38-12 during this period.
To be fair to the Eagles, no one else has beaten the Wild Knights in this time either, although given Canon’s recent improvement, a similar defeat on Saturday would be a major setback.
Both sides tinkered with their line-ups last weekend, looking to share the workload and increase their playing options, but have returned to near full-strength combinations, although Canon was dealt a blow when veteran Brave Blossoms flyhalf Yu Tamura, the competitions leading point-scorer, was ruled out.
After starting sluggishly in the opening two matches, the defending champions have blown their opponents away in the first half of their last three, leading by game-deciding margins of 19, 13 and 20 at the mid-point, which is a trend the Eagles will need to thwart to have any chance of a boil over.
Canon coach Keisuke Sawake reported after last weekend’s win over NEC that giving the opportunity to his back up players – ‘Risers’ as the players call them – paid a dividend on the field but has also contributed to a notable lift in intensity at recent trainings.
The players will need to lift even further to be any chance at Kumagaya.
While the return of star halfback Faf de Klerk, who came off the bench last week, will up the ante, the South African will take on even more leadership responsibility in Tamura’s absence.
“We are challengers,” Sawake said after last weekend’s win, “it [playing the defending champions] is a chance to test what we have.”
Should the Eagles fly highest of the two protagonists, it would put an end to a 37-game unbeaten sequence by the Wild Knights which dates back to the 2018 semi-finals.
OBELCO KOBE STEELERS v TOYOTA VERBLITZ
Kobe Sports Park Universiad Memorial Stadium, Hyogo, 2.30pm (JT)
Two sides looking for an upturn in fortunes square off at Kobe, with the home side seeking for a change of luck after two losses, while Toyota Verblitz – in light of four consecutive defeats – are desperate for a change in attitude after their horror show at Brave Lupus last time, where they shipped 63 points.
First time skipper Pieter Steph du Toit lamented his side’s lack of physicality in the aftermath, noting the “passion and pride” was all on the Toshiba side.
Neither Steph du Toit nor supervising coach Ben Herring offered Covid as an excuse, although it has caused some problems at the club.
Verblitz Director of Rugby Steve Hansen and his coaching understudy will be expecting a response this week and have sent a clear message to the players by relegating Springbok fullback Willie le Roux to the bench.
The Steelers have their own frustrations, having failed to fire a shot against Suntory in the game that commemorated the 28th anniversary of the Kobe earthquake, before being unable to finish off against Kubota Spears Funabashi Tokyo-Bay, after giving themselves a chance by closing to four points with 13 minutes left.
Although just six points behind the top four, the Kobe brains trust of head coach Nick Holten and club adviser Wayne Smith won’t be shirking from the need to not get too far off from the competition leaders, even with the competition still in its relative infancy.
Having coached together with Super Rugby’s Crusaders in the late 1990s, and then with the All Blacks between 2004 and 2017, Hansen and Smith find themselves in opposing camps for a rare time during their long careers.
Sunday, January 29
SHIZUOKA BLUE REVS v NEC GREEN ROCKETS TOKATSU
Yamaha Stadium, Iwata, 2pm (JT)
What do they have to do to get a win in Japan Rugby League One?
The players and staff of the Shizuoka Blue Revs could be forgiven for having asked this question of themselves this week, after the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Sagamihara Dynaboars overcame an eight-point deficit in the final four minutes last Sunday to claim a draw, that would have been a win but for a missed conversion.
The shared points continued the hard luck story that has been the Blue Revs’ season, having narrowly failed to beat Verblitz before having the Wild Knights score in injury time to snatch a one-point victory.
While describing last week’s performance as “a step forward” Shizuoka skipper Kwagga Smith cited the concession of 16 penalties as a major work on for the side, although he noted it was largely down to too much enthusiasm, as opposed to players taking short cuts.
For the NEC Green Rockets Tokatsu, one of Sunday’s biggest objectives will be to score second half points, having failed to improve their scoreboard total on the last two weekends, when they had trailed by just seven at the midway point each time.
Supervising coach Rob Taylor bemoaned the number of “simple errors” his side made last week against Yokohama, which continue to hinder their attack.
“We have to find ways to correct those errors and connect more dots,” Taylor said.
After edging Kintetsu on the opening weekend, the competition has been hard work for NEC Director of Rugby Michael Cheika and his men, although they will feel the Blue Revs – who share the same number of log points – are an opponent within range.
History favours the home side though, with Shizuoka having won the last two matches scoring 93 points in the process.
TOKYO SUNTORY SUNGOLIATH v MITSUBISHI HEAVY INDUSTRIES SAGAMIHARA DYNABOARS
Prince Chichibu Memorial Stadium, Tokyo, 2.30pm (JT)
The on-going rise of the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Sagamihara Dynaboars faces its next test in the form of back- to-back finalists Tokyo Suntory Sungoliath, who went ahead of their rivals on the point’s table for the first-time last weekend.
Having made light work of the Hanazono Kintetsu Liners in the second half, which took their tally of points to 172 from the last four outings, Sungoliath will know a more resolute defence, which rates as the sixth best in the division, awaits them on Sunday.
To maintain, or even improve, their defensive ranking, the Dynaboars are going to need to come up with a plan to stop Suntory’s ace fullback Seiya Ozaki, whose four tries at Hanazono lifted his tally to 10 for the campaign, three more than anyone else.
With three wins and a draw to go alongside a heavy loss to the Wild Knights, the promoted side are on a roll, coach Glenn Delaney highlighting the side’s persistence – as evidenced by the comeback to draw against Shizuoka – as the key factor.
“The players’ character is great, they had the tenacity not to give in,” the New Zealander told the Japanese media.
“We are playing positively with the mindset that anything is possible at any time.”
That belief is going to be put under the blowtorch by the Sungoliath who piled on 75 points (winning 75-7) when the sides last met two seasons ago.
Suntory scored 11 tries that day, five by winger Tevita Li, who is remarkably yet to score this season.
They will need to put in a much tougher shift to break Sagamihara down this time.
KUBOTA SPEARS FUNABASHI TOKYO BAY v RICOH BLACK RAMS TOKYO
Edogawa Athletic Stadium, Tokyo, 2.30pm (JT)
Still unbeaten, Kubota Spears Funabashi Tokyo-Bay will be aiming to keep the pressure on the league-leading Wild Knights when they receive the most penalised side in the competition at Edogawa.
Their visitors, Ricoh Black Rams Tokyo have so far conceded 77 penalties across five matches, which is six more than the next worst ‘offender’ (NEC Green Rockets Tokatsu) and have come at a rate of 15 a game.
“It’s too much, and a responsibility of each individual,” captain Shuhei Matsuhashi said after the loss to Saitama, suggesting that getting away from the game plan and playing too individually was the fault.
Even so, this failing hasn’t stopped them from winning two of their last three, and they trailed the Wild Knights by just six playing into the wind in the first period last week, only to be caught out by two intelligent kick pass plays in the final 10 minutes of the half which exposed their defence on the edge and allowed Saitama to draw clear by a match-winning 20 points at the break.
The scope for improvement in a relatively youthful Black Rams outfit makes them a dangerous opponent for a Spears side that continue to impress, adding to their good recent record against Kobe last weekend by withstanding a furious finish from the visitors to win by four.
Coach Frans Ludeke hailed the on-field leadership after that victory.
The South African cited the performance to hold on against Kobe, and their two tries in the last five minutes to draw with Yokohama in round two, as examples of his side’s ability to make the right decisions and stay composed when the pressure is at its greatest.
