Round 3 of the Japan Rugby League One 2025-2026 season only features one game in Division 2, none in Division 3, but a full complement of matches in the top-flight - three matches on each of Saturday and Sunday. After this weekend, the JRLO takes a break until 10th January 2026.
Round 3 of the Japan Rugby League One 2025-2026 season only features one game in Division 2, none in Division 3, but a full complement of matches in the top-flight - three matches on each of Saturday and Sunday. After this weekend, the JRLO takes a break until 10th January 2026.
Saturday December 27
BlackRams Tokyo v Mie Honda Heat; at Saga, 1.05pm
BlackRams Tokyo and Mie Honda Heat are both still winless this campaign, and one will hope to come out on top to kickstart the weekend’s matches.
The home team starts with Liam Gill at number 8, All Black and captain TJ Perenara at scrumhalf, and Isaac Lucas at fullback. The last time they faced Mie Honda Heat last season, they were huge 67-22 victors, and a win here would lift them off the foot of the table.
The visitors have star talent of their own. The second row combination includes Trevor Hosea and RWC winner Franco Mostert, and Argentine Pablo Matera captains from the flank, and Manu Vunipola starts at fly-half.
Kubota Spears v Tokyo Sungoliath; at Tokyo (Chichibu), 2.30pm
Sam Cane's unbeaten Tokyo Sungoliath, who top the log, take on Malcolm Marx and the Kubota Spears, who are third, with both sides having started the season with two wins.
Sungoliath’s Head Coach, Kosei Ono, who stepped into the role last season with a tough start, was the fly-half for the Brave Blossoms when they beat the Springboks in the ‘Miracle of Brighton’ and played at the club for eight years as a player before taking over the coaching reins.
This campaign, the international contingent, which includes Cheslin Kolbe, Sean McMahon and Sam Cane, and Tongan-born backrower Tevita Tatafu (who has returned after playing with European champions Bordeaux), have all been in fine form, and all will feature this weekend.
But the task of travelling to beat Kubota Spears is not an easy one. Frans Ludeke’s team includes Bernard Foley pulling the strings at fly-half and the dangerous Kiwi Shaun Stevenson at fullback. The hosts have also lost just one of the last eight against Sungoliath.
Kobelco Kobe Steelers v Toyota Verblitz; at Hygo, 2.30pm
Former Wallaby and All Black coaches Dave Rennie and Ian Foster/Steve Hansen will go head-to-head when Kobelco Kobe Steelers and Toyota Verblitz play the final game on Saturday.
Dave Rennie’s Kobe beat them 63-21 last season in a huge win, but they have been inconsistent over their past 7-8 games. Captain Brodie Retallick will make his 38th JRLO appearance, Ardie Savea starts at 7, Bryn Gatland at flyhalf, and Anton Lienert-Brown as the side has a strong Japanese and NZ mix.
Pieter Steph Du Toit starts in the second row for the Verblitz, former Brave Blossoms captain Kazuki Himeno captains his team and starts at 7 in a great contest among the loose forwards, while Aaron Smith starts at 9 to try and unlock the opposition defence. His Kiwi teammate Mark Telea starts on the right wing as the fixture is full of intriguing micro-battles.
Sunday December 28
Shizuoka BlueRevs v Urayasu D-Rocks; at Shizuoka, 2pm
Shizuoka BlueRevs and Urayasu D-Rocks enter the weekend, both coming off defeats, and the match has the potential for plenty of points.
The hosts have won the last eight against this weekend’s opposition, and last season the pair combined to produce a 62-52 scoreline in one game - the first time in the Japanese league that both sides had topped 50 in a match.
On Christmas Eve, Shizuoka Blue Revs announced the signing of Janko Aukamp, ??an 18-year-old from South Africa, as a development player.
Yokohama Canon Eagles v Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo; at Tokyo (Chichibu), 2.30pm
Yokohama’s new Head Coach this season, Leon MacDonald and his adversary at Brave Lupus, Todd Blackadder, were both key cogs in the Crusaders dynasty in Super Rugby as players.
It has not been a welcome introduction to the JRLO for MacDonald as his Eagles side is now on a losing run of six-in-a-row, which is the Eagles’ worst run of consecutive defeats since they were beaten eight times through the 2014 and 15 period.
Neither side, nor their fans, would expect them to be Yokohama Canon Eagles (11th) and Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo (9th) but a win here before the break would be a welcome relief despite it being so early in the season.
Mitsubishi Sagamihara Dynaboars v Saitama Wild Knights; at Kanagawa, 2.30pm
The Wild Knights confirmed the signing of three new players before this round, all from within the Japanese universities: Kaito Takada, Juan Oosthuyzen (former Bulls Academy), Oosthuyzen, and Mikishiro Naramoto (who has played for Japan U20).
Mitsubishi Sagamihara Dynaboars won their first game this season last weekend and will now try to unpick the unbeaten Saitama Wild Knights. New signing, All Black scrumhalf Brad Weber, has been cleared for a possible debut.
The Wild Knights, under new boss Atsushi Kanazawa, have been victorious over Sagamihara the last seven times they have played and averaged 57 points per game.
Saturday December 27
Nippon Steel Kamaishi Seawaves v Kyushu Electric Power Kyuden Voltex; at Iwaki, 12pm
With just the one fixture in the division, Nippon Steel Kamaishi Seawaves hosts Kyushu Electric Power Kyuden Voltex, with both sides having won one and lost one thus far.