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Allende (3'), Osada (11'), Mitchell (15', 55'), Jager (36'), Onishi (64'), Sakate (69'), Yamasawa (72')
Tries
Matsushima (24'), Ozaki (61')
Yamasawa (4', 12', 16', 56', 65', 69'), Yamasawa (73')
Conversions
Kolbe (25', 62')
Yamasawa (19', 53')
Penalties
Kolbe (9')
The Saitama Panasonic Wild Knights needed a win to secure a home semifinal in the Division 1 JRLO playoffs and avoid playing the first round, and they did so in some style by destroying a Tokyo Suntory Sungoliath at Kumagaya Rugby Stadium, with a record win 60-17 and a 7th straight victory over the 6th-ranked team.
We said in our preview that coach Robbie Deans would want to see a more ruthless performance from his side, and he got exactly that, but the Suntory teams' shambolic defence did themselves no favours.
There was a good crowd in attendance on the warm Saturday afternoon, and although the average home attendance is down this season at 8,428 spectators compared to 10,376 last year, their fans have been given another semifinal and potential title shot to look forward to, while the heavy defeat for the Sungoliath side means they will play Kubota Spears Funabashi Tokyo Bay on Sunday 18th May in the quarterfinal playoffs at Hanazono Rugby Stadium.
The Wild Knights opened their account through Springbok centre Damian de Allende early in the game, which was converted by the division's top points scorer Kyohei Yamasawa. De Allende was a physical menace in the midfield, but he did make two uncharacteristic mistakes, knocking on the ball twice in the game in his own 22m, although one seemed a harsh call by the referee.
Deans had also selected to start his usual reserve props, and by the end of the game, in which their pack was also dominant, Craig Miller and AsaeliAi Valu both had to return to the field of action as their replacements both picked up knocks, which would be the one concern for the coaching team as they asses Keita Inagaki and Lisala Finau before their semifinal on May 25th when they face the winner of the Suntory and Spears match.
Elsewhere in the game, the Yamasawa brothers, Takuya and Kyohei, were sharp and fly half Kyohei looks a first choice for the upcoming Japan Brave Blossoms internationals with his accurate kicking and game management (he has averaged 12 points per game before the weekend), while Dylan Riley had a much better game this weekend compared to his return to action from injury in last week’s draw.
Cheslin Kolbe kicked three points early on in the game, but that was the only time the team was within any distance of the hosts as Saitama scored tries through Tomoki Osaka (his 7th this season and 3rd against this opposition), Liam Mitchell, and Lood De Jager in the half to lead 29-10 at the break.
Suntory fullback Kotaro Matsushima did get one back as he crossed over for a great solo try, beating two defenders with raw pace, and amazingly, it was his first try of the season.
The Springboks' second rower's score was from an intercept after a rare botched Suntory lineout to run in from 20 meters out.
The hosts were winning the physical contest, and the big men and the carries from the likes of Boshier, Gunter, and de Jager were not matched by the team in yellow, as Sam Cane and Harry Hockings couldn't get front-foot ball. The game went through a period of ping-pong kicking, but it was all a bit aimless and pragmatic after the free-flowing opening 30 minutes.
Suntory had not beaten the Wild Knights since 2018, and the one area of the game where they saw some success was their lineouts, which, coming into the match, had a 90% accuracy and were the source of 60% of their tries.
The second half lost a bit of pace and structure, and subs were introduced but quickly followed by reshuffles due to a flurry of injuries.
Liam Mitchell had a great break as the second row added to his personal highlights reel as he ran in a try from 25m out to score a brace, and his third in two games. The resulting conversion brought up the 200 points for the Wild Knights' fly-half.
Seiya Ozaki, on the right wing for Sungoliath, scored, and he has passed double figures in the past two seasons, but the Wild Knights struck back through a good solo effort from Itsuki Onishi as he ran through three woeful defenders to make it 46-17 with 15 minutes left.
At that stage, the highest number of points a team has scored in this fixture was by Suntory with 45 scored in 2016, and the biggest winning margin was 30 points.
Two yellow cards in quick succession for Chelsin Kolbe and then Sam Cane (reminiscent of the Rugby World Cup 2023 final as both sat next to each other in the sin bin but this time in the same colours) allowed the Wild Knights to add scores to hooker Atsushi Sakate and Kyohei Yamasawa capping off a personal highest tally in a game with a try at the end (23 points in total) and for the team to make it the biggest winning margin and points scored in this fixture.
The game’s final minutes saw uncontested scrums and even an outrageous Lachlan Boshier attempted drop goal from miles out. Liam Mitchell was awarded the Man of the Match in a dominant performance from the Wild Knights, while it's tough to see how this Tokyo Suntory Sungoliath will progress from their quarterfinal.
