Congratulations RIJ Newsletter 10th Anniversary 2003-2013
RiJ looks at round two of the 2013-14 Top League season.
Enjoy the read.
CONTENTS
- Top League 2013-14 Stage One Round Two
Japan Rugby Top League 2013-14
Stage One, Round Two
Pool A
| Date | Team | Score | Team | K/O | Venue |
| Fri, 06 Sep 2013 | NTT Comm. (2Ts) | 20-33 | NEC (4Ts) | 19:00 | Chichibu, Tokyo |
| Sat, 07 Sep 2013 | Kyuden (2Ts) | 14-43 | Kobe (6Ts) | 19:00 | Level 5, Fukuoka |
|
| Toyota | 3-46 | Suntory (6Ts) | 17:00 | Kimiidera Stadium, Wakayama |
| Sun, 08 Sep 2013 | Toyota Industries (4Ts) | 30-34 | NTT Docomo (4Ts) | 13:00 | Sapporo, Hokkaido |
Pool B
| Date | Team | Score | Team | K/O | Venue |
| Sat, 07 Sep 2013 | Kubota (2Ts) | 22-17 | Kintetsu (1T) | 17:00 | Chichibu, Tokyo |
|
| Canon (2Ts) | 23-18 | Panasonic (2Ts) | 19:00 | Chichibu, Tokyo |
|
| Yamaha (3Ts) | 31-30 | Ricoh (3Ts) | 19:00 | Suzuka, Mie |
|
| Coca-Cola | 0-45 | Toshiba (7Ts) | 19:00 | Level 5, Fukuoka |
Stage One, Round Two Preview
Pool A
At the Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Ground in Tokyo on Friday evening, NTT Communications Shining Arcs play NEC Green Rockets. NTT Comm. are making steady progress in what is their fourth season in Top League and they will be looking to get in the winner’s circle after losing 32-6 to Suntory in the opening round. NEC also are coming of an opening round loss and will be ruing their lost chances against Kobe when the Steelers came from behind late in the match to take the result 28-26.
At the Level Five Stadium in Fukuoka, Kyuden Voltex face Kobe Steel Kobelco Steelers. After two seasons in the regional Kyushu league, Kyuden won their way back into Top League to finish twelfth in the fourteen-team competition and after losing 29-7 to NTT Docomo last weekend it is going to be important for their confidence that the Voltex get their first win of the new season. Kobe had their best season last year since taking the inaugural Top League title way back in 2003-4 when they finished fourth on the table and made it to the final of the National Championship. The Steelers will be looking to pick up where they left off last week when they beat NEC 28-26 with a gutsy performance.
In one of the big games of the early season, Toyota Verblitz face Suntory Sungoliath at the Kimiidera Stadium in Wakayama. Toyota managed a fifth place finish last year but had a few things gone their way they could have made the play-offs. However, that is all water under the bridge now as the Verblitz look to get back on the top shelf this season after a 21-18 win over Toyota Industries last round. After taking the Top League title the last two years in a row, Suntory are again shaping up as firm favourites to defend their title after an impressive 32-6 win over NTT Comm. in the first round.
Toyota Industries Shuttles and NTT Docomo Red Hurricanes travel to Hokkaido for their round two clash. Toyota Industries had their one and only season in Top League back in 2010-11 where they finished last on the table and were relegated. Nevertheless it has been a lot of pain for a lot of gain for the determined Shuttles and after a close 21-18 loss to Toyota last weekend they will throw the gauntlet down to NTT Docomo. NTT Docomo kept their place in Top League for the third season in a row when they beat Mitsubishi Dynaboars in the promotion and relegation play-offs at the end of last season and they drew first blood against Kyuden with a five tries to one win 29-7 win. It was an impressive win for the Osaka-based side with veteran No8 in the form of former Japan captain Takuro Miuchi named man of the match.
Pool B
In the first game of a double header at the Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Ground in Tokyo on Saturday, newly promoted Kubota Spears play Kintetsu Liners. Kubota played well against Yamaha last round though ran out of steam in the second half allowing Jubilo to win 38-28. The Liners were in their home town of Osaka for their first game of the season to play Panasonic Wild Knights but it was not enough to stop a rampant Panasonic who ran in six unanswered tries to win 46-0.
In the second game in Tokyo, Canon Eagles play Panasonic Wild Knights. Canon are only in their second season in Top League but this bright and enthusiastic team has nothing to lose week in week out and they will take the challenge to the more fancied Wild Knights knowing that they pushed Toshiba all the way in the opening round going down 10-8. Panasonic finished third last year and with the acquisition of Michael Hobbs, Berrick Barnes and JP Pietersen opposition sides will not want to give the Wild Knights space out wide. Kintetsu found that out in the opening round with the Knights winning 46-0.
In Suzuka in Mie prefecture, Yamaha Jubilo play Ricoh Black Rams. Yamaha had their best season for a number of years last year when they finished sixth on the table and with the surety of the goal kicking of Japan international fullback Ayumu Goromaru to rely on Jubilo beat Kubota 38-28 in the opening round with a hard-fought five tries to four win. Kubota led 21-20 at the break but Jubilo dominated the second period gradually pulling away on the scoreboard. Ricoh played out a 27-all draw with Coca-Cola last week but after leading 17-5 at halftime, they could not go on with the good start allowing Coca-Cola back into the match. It took a last minute penalty from Peter Daniels for the Rams to salvage the draw.
At the Level Five Stadium in Fukuoka, newly promoted Coca-Cola West Red Sparks played Toshiba Brave Lupus but found the going tough with Toshiba claiming an overwhelming 45-0 win. Coca-Cola had a draw with Ricoh in the first round but the polished Toshiba side presented a whole new set of problems for the Red Sparks to contain this week. Centre Keisuke Masuda scored two of the six Toshiba tries with veteran fullback Goshi Tachikawa and Cooper Vuna also crossing the Coca-Cola whitewash for five pointers.
Stage One Round Two Wrap-up
Pool A
At the Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Ground in Tokyo on Friday evening, NTT Communications Shining Arcs lost to NEC Green Rockets 33-20. NTT Comm. are making steady progress in what is their fourth season in Top League but this is their second loss in a row after losing 32-6 to Suntory in the opening round. NEC also were coming of an opening round loss against Kobe but chalked up this bonus point win scoring four tries to two. The Rockets were behind 20-18 going into the final quarter but finished strongly with fifteen unanswered points including a try to wing Nemani Nadolo.
At the Level Five Stadium in Fukuoka, Kyuden Voltex faced Kobe Steel Kobelco Steelers with the Steelers scoring six tries to two to record a 43-14 victory. After two seasons in the regional Kyushu league, Kyuden won their way back into Top League to finish twelfth in the fourteen-team competition and after losing 29-7 to NTT Docomo last weekend this loss was a dent in the confidence with the Voltex still looking for their first win of the new season. Kobe had their best season last year since taking the inaugural Top League title way back in 2003-4 when they finished fourth on the table and they picked up where they left off last week when they beat NEC with a gutsy performance. Kyuden led 14-0 early in the game but once Kobe found their rhythm they took complete control.
In one of the big games of the early season, Toyota Verblitz face Suntory Sungoliath at the Kimiidera Stadium in Wakayama but could not match it with the champions as Suntory took the result 46-3. After taking the Top League title the last two years in a row, Suntory are again shaping up as firm favourites to defend their title after an impressive 32-6 win over NTT Comm. in the first round and now this emphatic six tries to none win over Toyota. Left wing Ryutaro Takemoto put in a man-of-the-match performance with three tries while centre Ryan Nicholas contributed five conversions and two penalties.
Toyota Industries Shuttles and NTT Docomo Red Hurricanes travelled to Hokkaido for their round two clash with NTT Docomo taking a tight 34-30 victory. The Shuttles led 17-0 early in the first half but the Red Hurricanes fought back to be in front 21-20 by the break. A second try to man of the match in South African fullback Riaan Viljoen helped push out the lead to 31-20 before the Shuttles staged a fight back of their own adding two converted tries before the clock beat them. For the second week in a row NTT Docomo collected maximum points to take a share of the top of Pool A alongside Suntory. The Shuttles suffered their second close loss in a row but still came away with two bonus points.
Pool B
In the first game of a double header at the Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Ground in Tokyo on Saturday, newly promoted Kubota Spears play and beat Kintetsu Liners 22-17. Kubota played well against Yamaha last round though ran out of steam in the second half allowing Jubilo to win 38-28 but the Spears played out the full eighty minutes this week though it went down to the wire with Harumichi Tatekawa for Kubota and Yasumasa Shigemitsu exchanging penalties over the final quarter. It was the three successful penalties from the boot of Tatekawa that got Kubota home in the end.
In the second game in Tokyo, Canon Eagles played Panasonic Wild Knights causing one of the biggest upsets in Top League with a 23-18 win. Canon are only in their second season in Top League but this bright and enthusiastic team has nothing to lose week in week out and they took the challenge to the more fancied Wild Knights coming back from being 8-0 down in the first half. Panasonic beat Kintetsu 46-0 in the opening round but found Isaia Toeava difficult to handle playing out of five-eighth. Inside centre Ryohei Mitomo was the official man of the match for his efforts with the boot but it could easily have been Toeava or outside centre Tim Bennetts who scored both tries for the Eagles.
In Suzuka in Mie prefecture, Yamaha Jubilo beat Ricoh Black Rams 31-30 in a nail biter. Ricoh were in front 30-24 going into the final few minutes of the match when centre Male Sau crossed for Yamaha in the 36th minute to make it a one point game. It was then left to the surety of the goal kicking of Japan international fullback Ayumu Goromaru to land the conversion for Yamaha to put his side one point to the better and from there they held on to deny the Black Rams. Ricoh led 24-8 at one point in the first half but once again the worth of Goromaru as a kicker came to the fore to get Yamaha the win.
At the Level Five Stadium in Fukuoka, newly promoted Coca-Cola West Red Sparks play Toshiba Brave Lupus. Coca-Cola had a 27-all draw with Ricoh in the first round and were unlucky not to take full points. However, the polished Toshiba side will present a new set of problems for the Red Sparks to contain this week. Toshiba have been one of the most consistent and also most successful sides in Top League down through the year and this year looks to be no exception. The Brave Lupus were runners-up last season losing to Suntory in the final and they got their new season off to a winning start with a scratchy 10-8 win over Canon.
Pool A
|
| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | Diff | BP1 | BP2 | Pts |
| 1 | Suntory | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 78 | 9 | 69 | 2 | 0 | 10 |
| 2 | NTT Docomo | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 63 | 37 | 26 | 2 | 0 | 10 |
| 3 | Kobe | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 71 | 40 | 31 | 1 | 0 | 9 |
| 4 | NEC | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 59 | 48 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 6 |
| 5 | Toyota | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 24 | 64 | -40 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 6 | Toyota Industries | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 48 | 55 | -7 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 7 | NTT Comm. | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 26 | 65 | -39 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | Kyuden | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 21 | 72 | -51 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Pool B
|
| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | Diff | BP1 | BP2 | Pts |
| 1 | Toshiba | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 55 | 8 | 47 | 1 | 0 | 9 |
| 2 | Yamaha | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 69 | 58 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 9 |
| 3 | Panasonic | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 64 | 23 | 41 | 1 | 1 | 6 |
| 4 | Canon | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 31 | 28 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| 5 | Kubota | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 50 | 55 | -5 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| 6 | Ricoh | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 57 | 58 | -1 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| 7 | Coca-Cola | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 27 | 72 | -45 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| 8 | Kintetsu | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 17 | 68 | -51 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
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 of stage 1 round 2, NTT Docomo fullback Riaan Viljoen heads the point scorers list with 33 points.
|
| Name | Team | T | G | PG | DG | Pts |
| 1 | Riaan Viljoen | NTT Docomo | 3 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 33 |
| 2 | Ayumu Goromaru | Yamaha | 0 | 4 | 7 | 0 | 29 |
| 3 | Ryan Nicholas | Suntory | 1 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 28 |
| 4 | Atsushi Tanabe | Panasonic | 0 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 24 |
| 4 | Shaun Webb | NEC | 0 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 24 |
| 4 | Daisuke Yamamoto | Kobe | 0 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 24 |
| 7 | Takuya Takahira | Ricoh | 1 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 22 |
| 8 | Gintaro Takahashi | Kubota | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 19 |
| 9 | Mark Gerrard | Toyota Ind | 0 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 18 |
| 10 | Ryohei Mitomo | Canon | 0 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 16 |
Leading Try Scorers
At the completion of stage 1 round 2, NTT Docomo fullback Riaan Viljoen heads the try scorers list with 3 tries.
|
| Name | Team | Tries |
| 1 | Riaan Viljoen | NTT Docomo | 3 |
| 2 | Shindo Kamaike | NEC | 2 |
| 2 | Kohei Kawaguchi | Coca-Cola | 2 |
| 2 | Hirotoki Onozawa | Suntory | 2 |
| 2 | Rikiya Asami | Toyota Ind | 2 |
| 2 | Nicholas Ealey | Panasonic | 2 |
| 2 | Shota Tanaka | Yamaha | 2 |
Stage 1, Round 2 Man-of-the-match Awards
| Pool | Teams | Score | Teams | MOTM | |
| Fri 06 Sep 2013 | A | NTT Comm. | 20-33 | NEC | Ryota Asano, |
| NEC No.5 | |||||
| Sat 07 Sep 2013 | B | Kubota | 22-17 | Kintetsu | Harumichi Tatekawa, |
| Kubota No.12 | |||||
| B | Canon | 23-18 | Panasonic | Ryohei Mitomo, | |
| Canon No.12 | |||||
| B | Yamaha | 31-30 | Ricoh | Male Sau, | |
| Yamaha No.12 | |||||
| B | Coca-Cola | 0-45 | Toshiba | Keisuke Masuda, | |
| Toshiba No.13 | |||||
| A | Kyuden | 14-43 | Kobe | Kenji Shomen, | |
| Kobe No.15 | |||||
| A | Toyota | 3-46 | Suntory | Ryutaro Takemoto, | |
| Suntory No.11 | |||||
| Sun 08 Sep 2013 | A | Toyota Industries | 30-34 | NTT Docomo | Riaan Viljoen, |
| NTT Docomo No.15 |
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