Round 11 had some nail-biting finishes and some big scores across the Divisions in the JRLO, as the Saitama Wild Knight went ahead of Kubota Spears after defeating them after hooter, but now trails Kobelco Kobe Steelers at the top of Division 1
Round 11 had some nail-biting finishes and some big scores across the Divisions in the JRLO, as the Saitama Wild Knight went ahead of Kubota Spears after defeating them after hooter, but now trails Kobelco Kobe Steelers at the top of Division 1
Tokyo Sungoliath won the Fuchu Derby against Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo, who are free-falling as it was their 5th straight defeat this season.
The annual Memorial match in Iwate prefecture for the Great East Japan Earthquake was won by the RedHurricanes Osaka, who defeated the hosts, Nippon Steel Kamaishi Seawaves 28-24.
Overall, it was a good weekend for the travelling away teams in Japan.
Division 1
Saturday March 14
Kubota Spears 30-32 Saitama Wild Knights - Tokyo (Chichibu)
The hosts, Kubota Spears, let the lead slip very late in the match and lost to Saitama Wild Knights, but only after 38 phases before Ryuji Noguchi scored a try wide on the right and Player of the Match Takuya Yamasawa nailed the conversion at Prince Chichibu Memorial Stadium.
It means that Kubota lost only their second match this season and dropped below the Wild Knights on the table, who are in second, and are leapfrogged by the Dave Rennie Kobelco Kobe Steelers, who secured a big bonus point win this weekend.
Damian de Allende opened the scoring in the close game, with teammate Koki Takeyama also getting on the score sheet as they led 15-10 at the break. Shinobu Fujiwara was the sole try scorer for the hosts in the opening period.
Tries to Koga Nezuka and David Bulbring for Frans Ludeke’s Spears side as well as a yellow card, were the highlights of the opening 20 minutes of the second half as they led 24-18.
Aside from points off the boot, Ockie Barnard scored for the Wild Knights, but they were still behind 25-30 going into the final, before the converted try by Noguchi and the conversion in the 83rd minute sealed the win.
The winning margin of two points was the fourth time in the last five meetings that four points or fewer had separated the sides.
Mie Honda Heat 26-31 Yokohama Canon Eagles - Tochigi
Yu Tamura steered the Yokohama Canon Eagles to just their second win this season and the second away win of the day in Division 1.
A Viliame Takayawa try and 11 points off the boot from Yu Tamura gave the Eagles a 16-7 lead with Pablo Matera scoring for the Heat.
Second-half tries by Sione Halasili, Amanaki Saumaki, and Ryo Tabata were enough to see the visitors win despite three tries also scored by the hosts by Lemeki Lomano Lava, and two by Fiji test hooker Tevita Ikanivere.
The Eagles stay at the bottom of the table, albeit with a winning return for Springbok Faf de Klerk, and the Mie Honda Heat are in 9th. They face new log leaders, Kobelco Kobe Steelers, next Friday at Hyogo in Round 12.
BlackRams Tokyo 37-33 Shizuoka BlueRevs - Tokyo (Komazawa)
PJ Latu was the POTM after BlackRams Tokyo defeated Shizuoka BlueRevs in a close match in Tokyo, with the result seeing the victors 4th on the table, while the Shizuoka BlueRevs are 7th. It was also a fourth consecutive win for BlackRams Tokyo.
Three first-half tries for the BlueRevs, including a double for Shuntaro Kitamura, had them narrowly ahead at the break 21-20, as the BlackRams scored two tries but had a yellow card.
There were two more tries for the visitors in the second half, but they were outscored by the victors (Masashi Onishi, Josh Goodhue, and captain TJ Perenara), scoring with the final try in the 79th minute and converted by Kotaro Ito on the hooter to claim the win.
Special mention to Takeshi Hino, who earned his 150th cap for Shizuoka BlueRevs, but unfortunately, it was his team's fifth loss in a row.
Kobelco Kobe Steelers 61-10 Mitsubishi Sagamihara Dynaboars - Hyogo
Brave Blossom regular starter Seungsin Lee was POTM in the big win, which saw Kobelco Kobe Steelers ascend to the top of the table with a full hat of points in Hyogo.
After the Dynaboars won last week, they faced an insurmountable challenge this weekend with a much-changed team after Head Coach Glenn Delaney made several changes - the game was settled at the half when they were already 47-0 down - the hosts ran in 7 tries in a ruthless performance.
Anton Lienert-Brown bagged a brace of tries, and Ardie Savea and the POTM were among the first-half scorers.
The only tries for the Dynaboars came from Haniteli Vailea and Jose Seru, with Kobe scoring two more, including the 12th try of the season for Kobe captain Brodie Retallick.
Sunday March 15
Toyota Verblitz 59-19 Urayasu D-Rocks - Aichi
Well, it seems that when Steve Hansen’s Toyota Verblitz wins in 2026, they win big, putting 59 points on the struggling Urayasu D-Rocks on Sunday.
It's a third win in a row for the Verblitz, after defeating Brave Lupus and Sagamihara Dynaboars in recent weeks, and they have risen to 7th on the table and are suddenly in playoff contention.
Graham Rowntree-coached Urayasu D-Rocks continue to slump and are now 11th of the 12 teams and look set for another relegation battle at the end of a JRLO season.
They were only behind 12-19 at halftime in Aichi, but Toyota Verblitz ran in 6 second-half tries (Lourens Erasmus with two of those) and could only muster a single try by Ren Iinuma, which was converted.
There was a try for D-Rocks Samu Kerevi, who had missed the previous two rounds.
Tokyo Sungoliath 60-21 Toshiba Brave Lupus - Tokyo (Chichibu)
It gets worse before it gets better might not be comforting words for the defending champions, Toshiba Brave Lupus, who slumped to their 5th straight defeat, and Todd Blackadder's side just has no answers as Tokyo Sungoliath ran riot on Sunday to win the Fuchu Derby for the first time in three years.
The win means Sungoliath stay in fourth on the log. Leading 27-14 at the break (17 points to Cheslin Kolbe), they comfortably ran away with the result in the second period. Kolbe added 11 more points for a match haul of 28, which included two tries. Teammate Taiga Ozaki also scored twice for the winners.
Former Japan captain Michael Leitch was among the three try scorers for the defeated Brave Lupus.
Saturday March 14
Kyushudenryoku Kyuden Voltex 48-50 Hanazono Kintetsu Liners - Fukuoka
Hanazono Kintetsu Liners converted a slight halftime lead of 33-27 into the win at full-time, but not for the first time this season, had to endure an epic close game to win. This despite going down 0-17 to start the match to the side who were 7th-placed coming into the round.
Tomoya Kimura scored a brace as they came back and ran in 5 tries in the half, and Springbok Manie Libbok was yellow-carded. Akihito Yamada scored a hat-trick for the hosts in the opening forty minutes.
Takahiro Hayashi was the POTM as he scored twice in total to secure the win, and they had to complete the final ten minutes without Libbok, who received a second yellow card.
In total the game had 15 tries.
Shimizu Koto Blue Sharks 26-34 Toyota Industries Corporation Shuttles Aichi - Tokyo
Toyota Industries Corporation Shuttles Aichi Isileli Manu was the POTM after they fought back in the second half to overturn a slight deficit of 19-21 at the break, a half in which they had incurred three yellow cards!
The Blue Sharks scored three first-half tries but should have taken greater advantage of the numerical supremacy.
Despite a 4th yellow card in the match in the second period, Shuttles Aichi came out on top with Isileli Manu scoring a hat-trick. He is now second on the Division try scoring charts with 8 this season.
Sunday March 15
Nippon Steel Kamaishi Seawaves 24-28 Red Hurricanes Osaka - Iwate
Nippon Steel Kamaishi Seawaves could not defeat the visitors in the Memorial match at Reconstruction Stadium in a disappointing loss for Toutai Kefu and his side.
Two tries each saw Red Hurricanes Osaka have a slight 15-14 lead by halftime. They continued to exchange points in the second period, but 8 points from the kicking tee for Taiki Yamaguchi gave his side the win.
Division Three
Sunday March 15
Chugoku Electric Power Red Regulions 29-37 Kurita Water Gush Akishima - Hiroshima
Chugoku Electric Power Red Regulions remain rooted to the bottom of the division with this loss, and Kurita Water Gush Akishima climbed one spot.
Four tries in the first half gave the visitors a healthy 24-10 lead at halftime, and despite being outscored in the second period, they had enough of a cushion to see off the fightback.
