Kobelco Kobe Steelers are the fifth team to have reached the Division 1 Japan Rugby League playoffs following the results of Round 16, while Urayasu D-Rocks look all but confirmed to play the relegation-promotion Replacement Battle playoffs after another loss.
Kobelco Kobe Steelers are the fifth team to have reached the Division 1 Japan Rugby League playoffs following the results of Round 16, while Urayasu D-Rocks look all but confirmed to play the relegation-promotion Replacement Battle playoffs after another loss.
For Dave Rennie’s Kobe side, it is the first time they have reached the end-of-season championship series since 2018, when they won the Japanese national title. They defeated Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Sagamihara Dynaboars 59-33 in Osaka, and the former Chiefs, Glasgow and Wallaby Head Coach has taken them to the playoffs in just his second season in Japan.
Confirmed to be heading to the play-offs are Shizuoka BlueRevs, Saitama Panasonic Wild Knights, Kubota Spears Funabashi Tokyo-Bay, and defending champions Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo - all four sides won their matches over the weekend.
Kobe sits in 5th on the log and will play fourth on the first weekend of the elimination playoff series with Shizuoka Blue Revs currently occupying 4th on the log. They came from behind on Sunday to beat Yokohama Canon Eagles 38-28 in an error-strewn and exciting match - the result also means that the Eagles will struggle to make the top six.
They were cruelly denied a bonus point in the last play of the game as Blue Revs ran away for a 95m try- the seventh-placed Eagles are six points behind Tokyo Suntory Sungoliath, and the latter are in the driving seat after winning their match on Sunday too.
Suntory Sungoliath
Honda Heat
Blue Revs
Kobelco Steelers
Suntory SungoliathSuntory & Yokohama are both vying for the 6th & final play-off spot, and Tokyo Suntory Sungoliath beat Toyota Verblitz 45-28, which saw a dropped ball over the try line by Cheslin Kolbe and a first brace for ex-All Blacks skipper Sam Cane.
The Wild Knights withstood a TJ Perenara-inspired Ricoh Black Rams Tokyo, with the former All Black scrum half grabbing a late brace of tries, but the former champions held on to a 27-21 win at home. The Black Rams are 8th and face Tokyo Suntory Sungoliath next weekend, with a win giving them a small chance of catching the team two places above them, although there is an 8-point gap with two games remaining.
Kubota Spears Funabashi Tokyo-Bay continued their win streak at Spears Edoriku field to 24 matches as they saw off 11th-placed Mie Honda Heat, but it was a close game at the half-time break. Malcolm Marx changed the game as the Springbok hooker assisted Wallaby Bernard Foley for a try, had a hand in his side’s second try and then scored a brace himself to take his season tally to 9 tries (and a total of 35 tries in 45 appearances for Frans Ludeke’s side) to condemn Kieran Crowley Mie Heat to a 9th consecutive loss.
The Spears remain in second on the log standings, but head to play top-ranked Saitama Panasonic Wild Knights next weekend, which will be crucial as a win for the Spears will likely secure a top-two finish and a home semifinal (as well as a bye in the first weekend of the playoffs).
Mie Honda Heat play a sudden death match against Toyota Verblitz in Round 17, and if Mie Honda Heat win the contest, Steve Hansen & Ian Foster’s side will have to defend Division One status in The Replacement Battle.
Urayasu D-Rocks lost to Todd Blackadder’s Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo on Friday night, with the bottom-placed team conceding nine tries in the 61-19 result and a spot in the Replacement Battle for Greig Laidlaw’s side. Richie Mo’unga scored 21 points for the defending champions Brave Lupus.
Urayasu D-Rocks probably will play the Division Two runners-up (one of Toyota Industries Shuttles Aichi, NEC Green Rockets Tokatsu or Hanazono Kintetsu Liners). Their silver lining has been Wallaby midfielder Samu Kerevi, who scored his ninth try in his last eight appearances in the weekend’s loss.
| # | Team | PL | W | L | D | PD | BP | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo | 15 | 12 | 2 | 1 | 181 | 6 | 56 |
| 2 |  Shizuoka Blue Revs | 15 | 11 | 4 | 0 | 86 | 6 | 50 |
| 3 |  Kobelco Kobe Steelers | 15 | 8 | 7 | 0 | 95 | 9 | 41 |
| 4 |  Yokohama Canon Eagles | 15 | 6 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 30 |
| 5 |  Mitsubishi Sagamihara Dynaboars | 15 | 6 | 9 | 0 | -161 | 2 | 26 |
| 6 |  Urayasu D-Rocks | 15 | 2 | 13 | 0 | -228 | 2 | 10 |
Division One
Friday, 25 April 2025
Urayasu D-Rocks 19-61 Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo; at Tokyo
Saturday, 26 April 2025
Kubota Spears Funabashi Tokyo-Bay 39-20 Mie Honda Heat; at Tokyo
Saitama Panasonic Wild Knights 27-21 Ricoh Black Rams Tokyo; at Saitama
Kobelco Kobe Steelers 59-33 Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Sagamihara Dynaboars; at Osaka
Sunday 27 April
Shizuoka Blue Revs 38-28 Yokohama Canon Eagles; at Shizuoka
Toyota Verblitz 28-45 Tokyo Suntory Sungoliath; at Osaka