RUGBY IN JAPAN VOL.11, No.42

21 October 2014

CONTENTS

• Top League 2014-15: Stage 1, Round 7
• Gold Coast Sevens
• Odds and Sods-ARFU Asian Sevens Series
                         -Yuta Mochizuki

RiJ covers the final round of Top League, Stage 1 with the usual teams making it into the top group for the second half of the season. Domestic rugby in general and Top League in particular desperately needs to be restructured to balance the talent and make games more competitive. On another sour note, the Japan Sevens team put in an absolutely woeful performance in Beijing on the weekend in an indication that the short form of the game is not being given the respect it deserves in Japan.

Enjoy the read.

Japan Rugby Top League 2014-15

Stage One Round Seven

Pool A

Date	Team	Score	Team	K/O	Venue
Sun, 19 Oct 2014	Yamaha (1T)	19-14	Toshiba (1T)	14:05	Hanazono, Osaka
	NEC (8Ts)	54-33	Toyota Industries (3Ts)	13:00	Tendo, Yamagata
	Panasonic (4Ts)	43-13	NTT Comm. (1T)	13:00	Ota, Gunma
	Kubota (6Ts)	42-28	Sanix (4Ts)	13:00	Tenri, Nara

Pool B

Date	Team	Score	Team	K/O	Venue
Sun, 19 Oct 2014	Ricoh (2Ts)	12-13	Toyota (1T)	11:40	Chichibu, Tokyo
	Suntory (9Ts)	61-12	NTT Docomo (2Ts)	14:00	Chichibu, Tokyo
	Kintetsu (4Ts)	31-14	Coca-Cola (2Ts)	12:00	Hanazono, Osaka
	Kobe (3Ts)	17-14	Canon (2Ts)	13:00	Matsuyama, Ehime

Stage One Round Seven Wrap-up

Pool A

On Sunday, in the second game of a double header at Hanazono, Yamaha Jubilo played and beat table-topping Toshiba Brave Lupus 17-14. Yamaha already had enough points on the table to qualify for Group A in the second half of the season but in this clash, they were aiming for consistency and a psychological win over Toshiba. Only one try was scored in the first half with proceedings dominated by the boot with Yamaha fullback Ayumu Goromaru and Toshiba halfback Takahiro Ogawa attempting eight shots at penalty between them. The outcome was that Goromaru kicked four penalties and the conversion of the Rocky Havili try to Ogawa’s three penalties to give Yamaha a 19-9 lead at the break. Wing Shuhei Oshima scored the only points of the second half with a try in the thirteenth minute with Yamaha holding on for the win.

NEC Green Rockets and Toyota Industries Shuttles travelled to Tendo city in Yamagata prefecture for this game with NEC winning 54-33. After five straight losses, the Green Rockets chalked up only their second win of the season in spectacular fashion running in eight tries. There was little in the first half with the Shuttles managing to take a 19-14 lead into halftime before running out of steam in defence in the second half. Left wing Nemani Nadolo scored three of the six second half tries for NEC while on the other wing, Shindo Kamaike touched down twice. Nadolo was named man of the match for his significant contribution to the win. Five-eighth Yu Tamura was given plenty of goal kicking practice, successfully converting seven of the eight tries.

Panasonic Wild Knights hosted NTT Communications Shining Arcs in Ota city in Gunma prefecture in their final pool game, winning 43-13. In a tight first half, the scores were locked at 13-all at the break before the Wild Knights gradually exerted their dominance in the latter half. The home side added thirty unanswered points over the second half with centre Yasuki Hayashi scoring his second try of the match while Tadahiro Miwa and Masaki Tani completed the try scoring to bring up the bonus point. Berrick Barnes and Miwa both had a flawless day with their boots, kicking four conversions and five penalties between them.

Kubota Spears played Munakata Sanix Blues in Tenri city in the first-ever Top League game in Nara prefecture with Kubota winning 42-28. The Spears held a one-point, 15-14 lead at halftime before the second half opened up with both sides running the ball at every opportunity. Tries to Eroni Takitaki, Keegan Daniel, Kade Poki and Kenta Tanaka blew out the score to 39-14 before the Blues stormed back over the final quarter. Karne Hesketh and Bryce Robins added five pointers for the Blues to ensure at least a bonus point from the day’s activities. Japan international centre Harumichi Tatekawa was named man of the match for Kubota.

Pool B

On Sunday, in the first game of a double header at the Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Ground in Tokyo, Ricoh Black Rams lost to Toyota Verblitz 13-12. Ricoh opened the scoring with a try to No8 Daiki Yanagawa early in the game with the only other score in the first half a penalty goal to Toyota five-eighth Takaya Monji. With only two points in it at halftime, the game was there for either side to take, as the second half got under way. Monji put Toyota in front 6-5 in the ninth minute with his second penalty before replacement hooker Yoshikatsu Hikosaka extended the lead with a try in the thirty-second minute. Monji added the extras to give the Verblitz a 13-5 lead inside the final ten minutes. Amanaki Lotoahea scored a late try for the Rams with the conversion closing the gap to 13-12, but Toyota held on for the win.

In the second game at Chichibu, Suntory Sungoliath beat NTT Docomo Red Hurricanes 61-12. The Sungoliath have had a wobbly season but have still produced six wins for just the one loss to Kobe. In total contrast, NTT Docomo have had a poor season with seven straight losses to finish on the bottom of their pool as the only team in either pool without a win. The Red Hurricanes stayed with their rivals in the first period, trailing 14-12 at halftime but fell away when it mattered in the second half. Five-eighth Tusi Pisi ran in two tries and then kicked the conversions to open up a 28-12 lead early in the latter half, opening up the floodgates for five more tries. Pisi was then named man of the match for his efforts in turning the game in Suntory’s favour.

In the first game of a double header at the Kintetsu Hanazono Rugby Ground in Osaka, Kintetsu Liners beat Coca-Cola West Red Sparks 31-14 on their home ground. Kintetsu brought up their fourth win of the season to finish the pool stage on twenty-two competition points. Kintetsu fullback Kazuki Sakamoto posted first points with a try in the twelfth minute, but Coca-Cola were next on the scoreboard when lock Yusaku Kuwazuru touched down on the half hour. Centre Jeffrey Ierome made sure the Liners took a lead into the break with a try in the thirty-sixth minute with the conversion from Yasumasa Shigemitsu extending the lead to 14-7. Kintetsu sealed the win over the third quarter with tries to Lepuha Latuila and Li Yang along with two conversions and a penalty to Shigemitsu giving the hosts a 31-7 lead. Coca-Cola scored a late consolation try, but it was too little too late.

Kobe Steel Kobelco Steelers played Canon Eagles in Matsuyama in Ehime prefecture on Sunday with the Steelers hanging on to win 17-14. Kobe finished the pool stage with six wins and a draw as the only side in either pool not to taste defeat this season. While on the other hand, this was a critical game for Canon because they still had not qualified for Group A in stage two later in the season, but the losing bonus point was enough to see them through. The Eagles had two players sinbinned in the first half and that allowed Kobe to put points on the board. Lock Andries Bekker and No8 Pasuka Mapakaitolo scored tries for Kobe in the first and twentieth minutes to get out to a 10-0 lead before Canon centre Tim Bennetts narrowed the gap with a try in the twenty-ninth minute. Centre partner Ryohei Mitomo potted the conversion to close the gap to 10-7 but hooker Mitsugu Yamamoto and Bennetts were sinbinned within two minutes of each other late in the half. In their absence, fullback Ryohei Yamanaka touched down for Kobe. Wing Tokiro Harada scored for Canon on the hour to make it 17-14 and from there neither side could add to the scoreboard.

Pool A

	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	Diff	BP1	BP2	Pts
1	Panasonic	7	6	0	1	308	116	192	5	0	29
2	Toshiba	7	5	0	2	218	141	77	4	2	26
3	Yamaha	7	4	1	2	227	113	114	5	2	25
4	NTT Comm.	7	4	0	3	172	169	3	3	2	21
5	Kubota	7	3	1	3	171	201	-30	3	1	18
6	NEC	7	2	0	5	194	233	-39	3	3	14
7	Toyota Industries	7	2	0	5	123	249	-126	1	0	9
8	Sanix	7	1	0	6	129	320	-191	1	0	6

Pool B

	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	Diff	BP1	BP2	Pts
1	Kobe	7	6	1	0	182	106	76	3	0	29
2	Suntory	7	6	0	1	202	137	65	3	1	28
3	Canon	7	4	0	3	184	142	42	3	3	23
4	Toyota	7	4	1	2	157	145	12	2	2	22
5	Kintetsu	7	4	0	3	182	178	4	4	2	22
6	Ricoh	7	2	0	5	183	160	23	2	4	14
7	Coca-Cola	7	1	0	6	90	210	-120	0	2	6
8	NTT Docomo	7	0	0	7	117	219	-102	2	3	5

Four points for win, two for draw, one bonus point for four tries or more (BP1) and one bonus point for losing by seven or less (BP2).

Leading Point Scorers

At the completion Stage 1, Round 7, Toshiba halfback Takahiro Ogawa tops the point scorers list with 83 points.

	Name	Team	T	G	PG	DG	Pts
1	Takahiro Ogawa	Toshiba	1	18	14	0	83
2	Berrick Barnes	Panasonic	2	13	15	0	81
3	Ayumu Goromaru	Yamaha	0	22	11	0	77
4	Yasumasa Shigemitsu	Kintetsu	1	18	11	0	74
5	Takaya Monji	Toyota	1	17	11	0	72
6	Daniel Peters	Ricoh	2	17	8	0	68
7	Harumichi Tatekawa	Kubota	1	14	11	0	66
8	Ryohei Mitomo	Canon	1	19	7	0	64
8	Tusi Pisi	Suntory	3	17	5	0	64
10	Tadahiro Miwa	Panasonic	2	16	6	0	60

Leading Try Scorers

At the completion Stage 1, Round 7, Canon back rower Adam Thomson tops the try scorers list with nine tries.

	Name	Team	Tries
1	Adam Thomson	Canon	9
2	Nemani Nadolo	NEC	7
3	Daisuke Komatsu	Ricoh	6
3	Takaaki Nakazuru	Suntory	6
5	Yoshimi Watanabe	NTT Docomo	5
5	Kyosuke Horie	Yamaha	5
5	Tomoki Kitagawa	Panasonic	5
5	Kenta Tanaka	Kubota	5
9	Steven Bates	Toshiba	4
9	Mose Tuiali’i	Yamaha	4
9	Deryck Thomas	Toyota	4
9	Seiichi Shimomura	Panasonic	4
9	Siale Piutau	Yamaha	4

Stage One, Round Seven Man-of-the-match Awards

Date	Group	Teams	Score	Teams	MOTM
Sun 19 Oct 2014	B	Ricoh	12-13	Toyota	Yoshikatsu Hikosaka,
					Toyota No.16
	B	Suntory	61-12	NTT Docomo	Tusi Pisi,
					Suntory No.10
	B	Kintetsu	31-14	Coca-Cola	Kazuki Sakamoto,
					Kintetsu No.15
	A	Yamaha	19-14	Toshiba	Ayumu Goromaru,
					Yamaha No.15
	A	NEC	54-33	Toyota Industries	Nemani Nadolo,
					NEC No.11
	A	Panasonic	43-13	NTT Comm.	Yasuki Hayashi,
					Panasonic No.12
	B	Kobe	17-14	Canon	Tokiro Harada,
					Canon No.11
	A	Kubota	42-28	Sanix	Harumichi Tatekawa,
					Kubota No.12

Japan Squad for Autumn Tests

On 14 October 2014, the Japan Rugby Football Union announced the 30-man squad for the autumn tests.

Japan Squad

Name	Club	DOB	Age	Hgt/Wgt	Caps
Ryuhei ARITA (552)	Coca-Cola Red Sparks	21/03/1989	25	176/100	7
Shoji ITO (553)	Kobe Steel Kobelco Steelers	02/12/1980	33	191/100	26
Keita INAGAKI (Uncapped)	Panasonic Wild Knights	02/06/1990	24	183/115	-
Hitoshi ONO (445)	Toshiba Brave Lupus	06/05/1978	36	192/106	85
Shinnosuke KAKINAGA (Uncapped)	Suntory Sungoliath	19/12/1991	22	180/114	-
Takeshi KIZU (533)	Kobe Steel Kobelco Steelers	15/07/1988	26	183/114	28
Hendrik TUI (565)	Suntory Sungoliath	13/12/1987	26	189/107	25
Luke THOMPSON (493)	Kintetsu Liners	16/04/1981	33	196/108	48
Kensuke HATAKEYAMA (515)	Suntory Sungoliath	02/08/1985	29	178/115	58
Hayden HOPGOOD (575)	Kamaishi Seawaves	30/07/1980	34	190/105	1
Shinya MAKABE (534)	Suntory Sungoliath	26/03/1987	27	192/118	27
Amanaki LELEI MAFI (Uncapped)	NTT Communications	11/01/1990	24	189/112	-
Masataka MIKAMI (567)	Toshiba Brave Lupus	04/06/1988	26	178/115	21
Ryuta YASUI (572)	Kobe Steel Kobelco Steelers	06/12/1989	24	187/105	2
Hiroshi YAMASHITA (523)	Kobe Steel Kobelco Steelers	01/01/1986	28	183/122	36
Hiroki YUHARA (537)	Toshiba Brave Lupus	21/01/1984	30	173/102	16
Michael LEITCH (518)	Toshiba Brave Lupus	07/10/1988	25	190/105	37
Craig WING (571)	Kobe Steel Kobelco Steelers	26/12/1979	34	180/90	7
Kosei ONO (492)	Suntory Sungoliath	17/04/1987	27	171/83	22
Ayumu GOROMARU (467)	Yamaha Jubilo	01/03/1986	28	185/99	41
Male SAU (568)	Yamaha Jubilo	13/10/1987	27	183/97	18
Harumichi TATEKAWA (557)	Kubota Spears	02/12/1989	24	181/94	26
Yu TAMURA (555)	NEC Green Rockets	09/01/1989	25	181/92	25
Toshiaki HIROSE (495)	Toshiba Brave Lupus	17/10/1981	33	173/82	21
Atsushi HIWASA (545)	Suntory Sungoliath	22/05/1987	27	166/72	36
Yoshikazu FUJITA (562)	Waseda University	08/09/1993	21	184/90	18
Karne HESKETH (Uncapped)	Munakata Sanix Blues	01/08/1985	29	178/98	-
Kotaro MATSUSHIMA (576)	Suntory Sungoliath	23/02/1993	21	175/88	4
Yuki YATOMI (481)	Yamaha Jubilo	16/02/1985	29	176/82	13
Akihito YAMADA (574)	Panasonic Wild Knights	26/07/1985	29	181/90	9

Back-up Squad

Name	Club	DOB	Age	Hgt/Wgt	Caps
Kazuhiko USAMI (Uncapped)	Canon Eagles	17/03/1992	22	197/111	-
Keisuke UCHIDA (558)	Panasonic Wild Knights	22/02/1992	22	177/85	8
Yusuke NAGAE (551)	Toyota Industries Shuttles	19/07/1985	28	171/107	17

Unavailable

Name	Club	DOB	Age	Hgt/Wgt	Caps
Justin IVES (544)	Canon Eagles	24/05/1984	30	196/105	23
Fumiaki TANAKA (510)	Panasonic Wild Knights	03/01/1985	29	166/71	44
Hisateru HIRASHIMA (514)	Kobe Steel Kobelco Steelers	15/01/1983	31	180/110	35
Kenki FUKUOKA (569)	University of Tsukuba	07/09/1992	22	175/83	11
Michael BROADHURST (566)	Ricoh Black Rams	30/10/1986	27	196/111	16
Ryu Koliniasi HOLANI (512)	Panasonic Wild Knights	25/10/1981	32	188/112	35
Kyosuke HORIE (578)	Yamaha Jubilo	11/07/1990	24	183/103	2
Shota HORIE (530)	Panasonic Wild Knights	21/01/1986	28	180/105	32

Odds & Sods

Odds & Sods brings the reader weekly news shorts, gossip and general happenings from the world of Rugby in Japan.

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ARFU Asian Sevens Series

At the third and final round of the ARFU Asian Sevens Series at the Chaoyang Stadium in Beijing on 18 and 19 October 2014, Hong Kong claimed the series title beating South Korea in the final. In a high scoring decider, Hong Kong won 36-19 with Rowan Varty and Nick Hewson both scoring doubles. Hong Kong won all three legs of the series and remained unbeaten throughout after claiming the titles in Hong Kong and Malaysia earlier in the season.

An out-of-sorts Japan struggled to beat the Philippines and China in the pool stages, beat Kazakhstan 14-12 in the quarters and lost to South Korea 24-21 in the semis. For what it was worth, Japan beat Sri Lanka 24-19 in the third-place play-off.  Head coach Tomohiro Segawa commented, “We finished third in Beijing, did not win any of the three legs on the series to finish third overall in a very disappointing season. It is everything to represent Japan and especially important for us maintain our position as the best team in Asia and as head coach I feel the responsibility. We were able to blood a number of younger players in international Sevens across the series but the inability to pick consistent squads remains an issue for us.”

A bright note from Beijing for Japan saw the Women beat China 24-19 in the final, though China won the overall series title.

Yuta Mochizuki

Toshiba tight forward Yuta Mochizuki brought up his one hundredth Top League game against Yamaha at Hanazono on Sunday 19 October 2014. Mochizuki has 7 caps for Japan and played his first Top League game back in the 2004-5 season