Marx stars to seal victory for Spears over Kolbe's Sungoliath

ROUND 15 WRAP: World Rugby Player of the Year Malcolm Marx bagged just his second try of the season, but it was as important as any other he has scored in Japan Rugby League One, as the Spears bounced back from last week’s upset loss to Verblitz by inflicting an historic 27-22 defeat on Tokyo Sungoliath.

Spears had mauled their rivals 79-20 when they met earlier in the season, putting a record score on the western Tokyo outfit.

While the calculator was not required on Sunday, there was more pain for a gallant Sungoliath side as they fell to a fourth consecutive defeat for the first time since the 2004-2005 season.

Desperate to break their losing streak, Sungoliath fought hard to avoid their fate, with two tries by rookie South African backrower Pierich Siebert helping them to a 19-12 halftime advantage after his countryman Marx had driven Spears ahead with his 27th-minute try.

While the Springbok hooker had been seemingly unstoppable close to the goal-line in previous seasons – a point backed up by a tally of 35 tries from 51 games- his scoring prowess returned at an opportune time, as the Spears eventually subdued their rivals despite a tense finish after a Cheslin Kolbe penalty goal closed the gap to five with 12 minutes to play.

Although beaten, fifth-placed Sungoliath have collected bonus points from each of their last four matches, and are almost over the line as far as qualification for the play-offs is concerned, 11 points clear of seventh-placed Verblitz.

Despite the win, the third-placed Spears were unable to collect a bonus point and are now three behind Kobe Steelers on the championship ladder, after they claimed maximum points from their 38-24 win over Verblitz at Aichi.

Steve Hansen’s men were chasing a sixth win from their last seven outings, but they were stunned when rookie Kobe fullback Shunsuke Uenobo crossed for the first of what would become a hat-trick of tries in just the second minute.

The 22-year-old, who burst onto the scene with a hat-trick on debut against BlueRevs in February, has scored nine tries in as many appearances, crossing the goal-line in each of his last three games.

Uenobo completed his hat-trick nine minutes into the second spell to allow Dave Rennie’s charges to edge clear after Verblitz had closed to within four shortly after halftime.

While Uenobo didn’t score again, Kobe winger Inoke Burua did, with the former Fiji Under-20 international scoring twice in the final stages to round out his side’s impressive victory.

The 26-year-old, who managed just four tries after joining Kobe from Yokohama last season, has taken time to settle at the Steelers, and went scoreless through his first five appearances this year, but a try against the BlackRams in January lit the fire, and he has now scored 11 tries in his last 10 outings, only going try-less three times during that run.

Kobe are now within a point of Wild Knights on the championship standings.

The Wild Knights remain on top of the table, but only after putting down a valiant effort from BlueRevs 34-24, having at one point trailed, 7-21.

Wild Knights rarely have it easy visiting Shizuoka, and it took just two minutes for the home side to make their mark after BlueRevs hooker Takeshi Hino opened the scoring with a try.

He added another 30 minutes later as Shizuoka threatened to repeat last year’s upset victory over the Wild Knights on home soil.

The visitors were given a lifeline a minute before halftime when scrumhalf Taiki Koyama scored, and the league leaders gradually took control after the break, outscoring the BlueRevs 20-3 in the second period.

A hat-trick by Auckland-educated centre Viliame Tatakawa helped propel Yokohama Eagles to a convincing 33-15 win over Urayasu D-Rocks in the battle at the bottom of the table, with an 11th straight defeat almost certainly condemning Graham Rowntree’s men to end-of-season relegation jeopardy.

D-Rocks are now 10 points astern of the ‘safety’ of 10th position on the championship ladder and seem certain to appear in the Replacement Battle for the fourth season in a row.

Yokohama’s win, which also saw the former Maori All Blacks skipper Billy Harmon score twice, has lifted the Eagles out of the relegation series positions, being replaced by Dynaboars after they sank to a 45- 26 defeat against Brave Lupus Tokyo.

The game turned on a 16th-minute yellow card awarded against the Dynaboars’ Charlie Lawrence, with Brave Lupus taking advantage with two tries in the Hong Kong-born inside centre’s absence, overturning an early seven- point deficit to lead 14-7 by the time the Sagamihara man returned.

It was the Dynaboars’ 17th yellow card of the season, and the second in as many weeks for Lawrence, with his side conceding 14 points, the lead on the scoreboard, and the momentum in the game, on each occasion.

By halftime, Brave Lupus led 28-7, and there was no catching them as the defending champions secured an invaluable try-scoring bonus point, stretching the gap between themselves and the chasing pack to six points after all three sides ranked immediately below them on the standings lost.

One of these was Mie Heat, whose finals hopes were dealt a devastating blow on Friday night as they were crushed 5-49 by BlackRams Tokyo.

The impressive maximum point victory leaves the BlackRams on the cusp of a maiden appearance in the League One play-offs, needing just one win from the final three matches to qualify.

Tabai Matson’s charges overwhelmed a Heat outfit that had won its last three matches during a surprisingly one-sided first half, which ended with the BlackRams 39-0 ahead, and their bewildered rivals in damage control mode.

While Heat made a better fist of the second period, not even a yellow card to TJ Perenara could stem the onslaught, with BlackRams flyhalf Ichigo Nakakusu scoring the only points during the All Blacks’ absence when he crossed for his second try.

The talented 25-year-old ran up 19 points and ended the weekend at the top of the individual points chart with 169 beside his name.

Former Reds utility back Isaac Lucas scored twice for the victors, his second try-scoring double in three weeks, while the New Zealand-born winger Taira Main also contributed two of the BlackRams’ eight tries.

It was an illustration of the BlackRams’ dominance that it took until the 79th minute before centre Soki Watanabe scored Heat’s only points.

The defeat leaves Heat six points adrift of the sixth and final qualifying place, with matches against second-placed Kobe and third-placed Spears to come before a date with play-offs’ rival Verblitz on the final weekend of the regular season.