Urayasu D-Rocks and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Sagamihara Dynaboars get Round Eighteen of Japan Rugby League One underway in Tokyo in what is the final round of regular season fixtures before the opening round of elimination playoffs, as well as the two-legged Replacement Battles (promotion/relegation matches).
Urayasu D-Rocks and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Sagamihara Dynaboars get Round Eighteen of Japan Rugby League One underway in Tokyo in what is the final round of regular season fixtures before the opening round of elimination playoffs, as well as the two-legged Replacement Battles (promotion/relegation matches).
Although the top six teams in the playoffs are confirmed, as well as the two bottom teams in Division 1, the placement on the log is all important as the first and second placed finishers receive a bye in the first weekend of the playoffs, with the third qualifier playing sixth, and fourth playing fifth.
For the Replacement Battles teams, Urayasu D-Rocks and Mie Honda Heat are squaring up against the top two sides from Division Two, with the matches played across two legs - one home, and one away - and the winner decided on points aggregate across the series.
Friday night’s game will allow D-Rocks head coach Greig Laidlaw to seek a better performance against the Dynaboars before they head to the Replacement Battle against Toyota Industries Shuttles Aichi. Even if they remain in the top division, the club confirmed that 13 players will depart after the season.
For the Dynaboars, after his fantastic debut in the JRLO, the team’s season was curtailed after Springbok winger Kurt-lee Arendse finished his first Japanese campaign three weeks ago (with seven tries from 12 appearances). The team could match last year’s total of six wins if they beat D-Rocks.
Last weekend’s results mean that Yokohama Canon Eagles missed out on the playoffs, and they head away to Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo, with the latter looking to cement their spot at the top of the Division. They should get the job done as the Eagles have suffered nine defeats in their last 11 matches, while flyhalf Mo’unga is flying high and has scored 11 tries this season.
Toshiba Brave Lupus
Toshiba Brave Lupus
Blue Revs
Honda HeatTodd Blackadder’s Brave Lupus need to only match or better the result achieved by the Wild Knights to finish top of the table, as they are both on the same number of points (66). The good news for the Eagles is that Springbok centre Jesse Kriel has confirmed he will be back next season.
Saitama Panasonic Wild Knights will want to put pressure on rivals Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo when they play Tokyo Suntory Sungoliath following the former champions' draw last weekend against Kubota Spears Funabashi Tokyo-Bay.
The Wild Knights have been out-scored in the final 20 minutes on six occasions, which is something Deans will want to amend.
Sungoliath have opted to name a strong side as they are chasing their third win in a row for just the second time this season. They are yet to beat the Wild Knights in the JRLO, but if Cheslin Kolbe can find the form from his MOTM performance last weekend, they could upset the odds, and a win could knock the Saitama side out of the top two and force them to play next weekend.
Kubota Spears Funabashi Tokyo-Bay nearly snatched a win late last week, but Frans Ludeke knows his side has to get maximum points from their game away to Toyota Verblitz, who have narrowly avoided the upcoming promotion/relegation series. For the Verblitz, Joseph Manu is joint 4th on the try-scoring standings with 11 in his debut season.
In Saturday’s final match, Kobelco Kobe Steelers host Shizuoka BlueRevs, and in what will be a foreboding of their match in the playoffs and could be a poker face game from the coaches in not wanting to give too much away. When they face each other in the first round of the division’s finals series a week later, we may well see a very different game plan and starting lineup, but momentum is also key at this point of the season. Shizuoka Blue Revs have momentum as they have seven wins in their last 8 games in the Division.
Kobe coach Dave Rennie has rested try scoring skipper Brodie Retallick as well as hooker George Turner, but for the Blue Revs, both Kwagga Smith and Charles Piutau will be in action over the weekend. Either way, both sides are guilty of leaking points as well as scoring plenty, so we could have two weekends of high-scoring mayhem from the two sides.
Sunday’s only Division 1 fixture pits Ricoh Black Rams Tokyo against the Mie Honda Heat, and the Rams will be looking for a win to equal their highest finish in JRLO. It would be seen as a good first season for Head Coach Tabai Matson and captain TJ Perenara, as the team they joined was in the season’s Replacement Battle last season.
For the Mie side, despite some stellar individual talent, this will be the fourth time in a row they will be playing in the Replacement Battle, and Kieran Crowley will be desperate for a win to head into the survival matches with some confidence, as they have lost their last 8.
Toyota Verblitz
Honda Heat
Wild Knights
Honda HeatHonda HeatFixtures
Friday 9 May
Urayasu D-Rocks v Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Sagamihara Dynaboars; at Tokyo, 6.35pm
Saturday May 10
Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo v Yokohama Canon Eagles; at Tokyo, 1pm
Saitama Panasonic Wild Knights v Tokyo Suntory Sungoliath; at Saitama, 2.30pm
Toyota Verblitz v Kubota Spears Funabashi Tokyo-Bay; at Aichi, 2.30pm
Kobelco Kobe Steelers v Shizuoka BlueRevs; at Hygo, 5pm
Sunday May 11
Ricoh Black Rams Tokyo v Mie Honda Heat; at Tokyo, 2.30pm
