Malcolm Marx gets one over on Cheslin Kolbe

WRAP: Spears and Wild Knights will meet in the Japanese play-offs for the fourth time in five seasons.

The Spears pipped Sungoliath 20-15 in a nervous second quarterfinal.

The Spears twice lost to the Wild Knights in the semifinals, in the final Top League and maiden Japan League One season, before edging Saitama on the most famous day in the northwestern Tokyo club’s history, when they won the league’s second final, 17-15.

Sungoliath will feel they blew their opportunity to reach the League One semifinals for the fourth straight year, handicapping themselves today with a large error rate, alongside the concession of a 14-9 penalty count, which repeatedly released pressure they had been building.

Their mistakes included an obstruction from an attacking line-out in the first half, which saw a try ruled out, while each of Spears’ tries came off Sungoliath errors, the first a needless forward pass exiting their 22 meters, and the second after the concession of a penalty near the goal-line.

After trailing 0-3 at the break, Sungoliath took the lead when wing Cheslin Kolbe had too much gas for the cover defence as he chased down a well-weighted 40-metre kick by veteran Brave Blossoms fullback Kotaro Matsushima.

The 31-year-old was unable to convert from a wide angle, which was the first of three costly misses by the Springbok, especially given Wallaby flyhalf Bernard Foley was on target with all three of his attempts for Spears.

Having surrendered the lead from the restart, when the Spears profited from the forward pass by working wing Komasa Nezuka over off the resulting scrum, Sungoliath responded again almost instantly.

The game’s third try in eight minutes was scored by back row Sam Cane, after the Spears were caught out from a quickly taken line-out near their goal-line, with the former All Black skipper found at the front to plant the ball down unopposed.

Sungoliath’s two-point lead lasted 10 minutes before South African-born second row forward Ruan Botha plunged over for Kubota’s second try after man-of-the-match Malcolm Marx had been halted just short by desperate defence.

The conversion gave the Spears the five-point break they finished with, after the sides traded penalty goals to complete the scoring.

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本日のプレーヤー・オブ・ザ・マッチ S東京ベイ マルコム・マークス選手と共に南アフリカ代表の東京SG チェスリン・コルビ選手🇿🇦@Kubota_Spears @sungoliath #NTTリーグワン #リーグワン #WelcomeToRugby pic.twitter.com/hy24nQuomT

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The BlueRevs’ finest journey yet in League One came to an end after the Steelers proved too clinical on a damp day in Osaka, scoring four tries to two in a convincing 35-20 victory.

Despite making seven changes to the side that lost to the BlueRevs last week, former Wallaby coach Dave Rennie’s ploy of resting some of his senior players came up trumps, with his side being led to victory by Bryn Gatland, who kicked 13 points as part of a masterful performance which allowed the Kansai-based side to cash in on the pressure they created.

The former Chiefs flyhalf worked a nice backline switch with fullback Seungsin Lee to allow the latter to score a crucial try just after halftime, before landing the killer blow with seven minutes remaining when he produced an accurate cross kick that found winger Inoke Burua a few metres out from the goal-line.

Confronted with the BlueRevs’ 74-kilogram Futo Yamaguchi, whom the kick had isolated as the last defender, Burua, who had a 26-kilogram weight advantage, simply ran over the top of the luckless Shizuoka fullback to extend Kobe’s advantage to nine points.

Gatland finished the Blue Revs off with two late penalty goals, lifting the Stealers into the semifinals for the first time since the club won League One’s forerunner, Top League, in 2018.

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ラックサイドから力でねじ込み、S東京ベイ、ルアン・ボタ選手がトライ🏉@Kubota_Spears #NTTリーグワン #リーグワン #WelcomeToRugby pic.twitter.com/0j0k7yCUKy

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