RUGBY IN JAPAN NEWSLETTER Vol.11, No.2

The Rugby in Japan newsletter from Ian McDonnell is now into its 11th year.

RiJ is still catching up. Enjoy the read.

Contents

• Japan Rugby Top League 2013-14: Stage Two, Round 6

Japan Rugby Top League 2013-14

Stage Two, Round Six

Group A

Date	Team	Score	Team	K/O	Venue
Sat, 11 Jan 2014	Panasonic (4Ts)	32-31	Kobe (4Ts)	14:00	Hanazono, Osaka
	Toyota (1T)	14-11	NEC (1T)	14:15	Mizuho, Aichi
	Yamaha (2Ts)	15-29	Toshiba (4Ts)	13:00	Iwata, Shizuoka
	Canon (3Ts)	25-58	Suntory (8Ts)	13:00	Yokohama, Kanagawa

Group B

Date	Team	Score	Team	K/O	Venue
Sat, 11 Jan 2014	Kintetsu (2Ts)	17-20	Kubota (3Ts)	12:00	Hanazono, Osaka
	Toyota Industries (2Ts)	14-41	Ricoh (6Ts)	12:00	Mizuho, Aichi
	NTT Comm. (4Ts)	27-21	Coca-Cola (3Ts)	12:00	Tosu, Saga
	Kyuden (3Ts)	21-31	NTT Docomo (5Ts)	14:15	Tosu, Saga

Stage Two Round Six Wrap-up

Group A

In the second game of a double header at the Kintetsu Hanazono Rugby Ground in Osaka on Saturday, Panasonic Wild Knights beat Kobe Steel Kobelco Steelers 32-31. Panasonic had to dig deep to keep their unbeaten record in the group stages intact with this one-point win. Both sides scored four tries apiece and the Steelers could have had the win if a late penalty from Craig Wing had found its mark. South African, JP Pietersen put the Knights in front with a try in the thirty-fourth minute of the second half and that proved to be the winning score with the Craig Wing missed penalty. Panasonic led 17-0 after the first twenty minutes and then 24-10 at halftime before Kobe threw down the gauntlet in the second period. Kobe had hit the front 31-27 by the hour mark before Pietersen saved the day for the Knights.

In the second game of a double header at the Mizuho Rugby park in Nagoya, Toyota Verblitz beat NEC Green Rockets 14-11. In a low-scoring game in which either side could only score one try apiece, the result boiled down to goal kicking with Toyota five-eighth Takaya Monji out kicking NEC fullback Shaun Webb three penalties to two. Most of the scoring was done in the first stanza with the sides going to the halftime break with the scores all locked up at 11-all. The only time the score keeper was troubled in the latter half was Monji penalty in the third minute after which the score remained unchanged till the final whistle.

At Iwata in Shizuoka prefecture on Saturday, Yamaha Jubilo lost 29-15 to Toshiba Brave Lupus. Toshiba scored four tries to one in this bonus-point win that also had the run-on effect of denting the play-off aspirations of Jubilo. The scores were tied at 10-all by the half hour mark but a converted try to centre Tomohiro Semba took the Brave Lupus to the break with a 17-10 lead. Toshiba then ground down the Yamaha resistance throughout the second half with tries to Hiroki Yuhara and David Hill pushing out the score to 29-10. Toshiba shut up shop over the final ten minutes and although the home side added one more try the loss could have a major impact on their season.

In Yokohama, Canon Eagles lost 58-25 to Suntory Sungoliath. The Eagles are starting to feel the heat as the season wears on while true to form, Suntory are coming good at the right part of the year. In an open first half that saw both sides produce three tries each, Suntory enjoyed a narrow 24-22 lead at the completion of the first forty minutes. However, as the Sungoliath picked up the pace in the second half the Eagles fell off the pace allowing the reigning champions to ran in five more tries. Flanker Takamichi Sasaki picked up a hat-trick while left wing Kenta Tsukamoto picked up a double as well as the man of the match award.

Group B

In the first game of a double header at the Kintetsu Hanazono Rugby Ground in Osaka on Saturday, Kintetsu Liners went down 20-17 to Kubota Spears. Kubota took an early 10-0 lead after tries to fullback Sam Norton-Knight and right wing Yuji Ito before fullback Tadanobu Ko got Kintetsu on the scoresheet with a late penalty to take the teams to the break with Kubota leading 10-3. The liners tied things up at 10-all with a try to prop Daiki Toyota in the tenth minute and then hit the front 17-10 with a converted try to Radike Samo in the twenty-fourth minute. Centre Harumichi Tatekawa narrowed the difference with a penalty before centre partner Katoni Otukolo scored the match-winning try in the thirty-third minute.

In the first game of a double header at the Mizuho Rugby park in Nagoya, Toyota Industries Shuttles lost 41-14 to Ricoh Black Rams. Ricoh completely dominated the first half with three tries, including one to Japan international backrower Michael Broadhurst, as the Rams stormed out to a 17-0 lead by halftime. To their credit, the Shuttles fought back to 17-14 with two quick tries to open the second half. However, the comeback effort was quelled by three more Ricoh tries, including one to Tongan international lock Emosi Kauhenga.

In the first game of a double header in Tosu in Saga prefecture, NTT Communications Shining Arcs beat Coca-Cola West Red Sparks 27-21. The Arcs scored four tries to three and picked up full points to consolidate their place mid table. Right wing Yamato Eto crossed for two quick tries in the first half to have the Sparks 14-0 inside the first ten minutes of play. However, NTT kept their cool and picked up points as the opportunity arose to finish the half 14-10 in arrears. This composure paid dividends as the second half progressed with captain Hiraku Tomoigawa leading by example with two of three tries in the half as the Arcs edged out to 27-14 late in the game. A late try gave Coca-Cola a losing BP but that was scant consolation.

In the other game at Tosu, Kyuden Voltex lost 31-21 to NTT Docomo Red Hurricanes. Things are heating up for the Voltex and the Hurricanes as they sit at the bottom of the Group B table with the wooden-spooner in this group automatically relegated for next season. Had Kyuden won, it would have all but sealed the relegation fate of NTT Docomo but as things now stand the situation is still fluid. Kyuden led 7-5 at halftime before things opened up in the second half with a total of six tries scored. Former national captain in Takuro Miuchi rose to the occasion with two tries as the 38-year-old No8 turned back the clock and was accordingly handed the man of the match award.

Group A

	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	Diff	BP1	BP2	Pts
1	Panasonic (+4)	6	6	0	0	197	90	107	4	0	32
2	Suntory (+4)	6	5	0	1	239	150	89	4	0	28
3	Toshiba (+2)	6	4	0	2	145	113	32	1	2	21
4	Kobe (+2)	6	3	0	3	185	158	27	4	1	19
5	Yamaha (+3)	6	3	0	3	149	155	-6	2	1	18
6	Toyota (+1)	6	2	0	4	103	169	-66	1	0	10
7	NEC (+3)	6	0	0	6	115	183	-68	1	3	7
8	Canon (+1)	6	1	0	5	112	227	-115	0	2	7

 Group B

	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	Diff	BP1	BP2	Pts
1	Kubota (+4)	6	5	0	1	153	75	78	2	1	27
2	Toyota Industries (+3)	6	4	0	2	178	157	21	4	0	23
3	Kintetsu (+3)	6	4	0	2	149	144	5	1	2	22
4	Ricoh (+2)	6	3	0	3	189	137	52	4	2	20
5	NTT Comm. (+4)	6	3	0	3	144	172	-28	3	1	20
6	Coca-Cola (+1)	6	2	0	4	120	149	-29	2	3	14
7	Kyuden (+1)	6	2	0	4	131	196	-65	2	0	11
8	NTT Docomo (+2)	6	1	0	5	114	148	-34	1	2	9

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 One and then Stage Two, Round Six, Suntory centre Ryan Nicholas tops the point scorers list with 171 points.

	Name	Team	T	G	PG	DG	Pts
1	Ryan Nicholas	Suntory	2	43	25	0	171
2	Ayumu Goromaru	Yamaha	2	32	28	0	158
3	Shaun Webb	NEC	2	17	30	0	134
4	Harumichi Tatekawa	Kubota	0	22	23	0	113
5	Ryohei Mitomo	Canon	1	31	14	0	109
6	Yasumasa Shigemitsu	Kintetsu	2	27	14	0	106
7	Yoshio Kimishima	NTT Comm.	2	26	11	0	95
8	Berrick Barnes	Panasonic	3	16	13	0	86
9	Shotaro Onishi	Toyota Ind.	1	28	6	0	79
10	Takahiro Ogawa	Toshiba	2	13	13	0	75

Leading Try Scorers

At the completion Stage One and then Stage Two, Round Six, Kobe centre Jaque Fourie tops the try scorers list with 14 tries.

	Name	Team	Tries
1	Jaque Fourie	Kobe	14
2	Akihito Yamada	Panasonic	10
2	Kenta Tsukamoto	Suntory	10
4	Shindo Kamaike	NEC	9
4	Ryan Kankowski	Toyota Ind.	9
6	Tokiro Harada	Canon	8
6	Rikiya Asami	Toyota Ind.	8
6	Masakatsu Hikosaka	Toyota	8
6	JP Pietersen	Panasonic	8
6	Tomoki Kitagawa	Panasonic	8
11	Radike Samo	Kintetsu	7
12	Koliniasi Ryu Holani	Panasonic	6
12	Shuetsu Narita	Suntory	6
12	Tim Bennetts	Canon	6

Stage 2, Round 6 Man-of-the-match Awards

Date	Group	Teams	Score	Teams	MOTM
Sat 11 Jan 2014	B	Kintetsu	17-20	Kubota	Daiki Toyota,
					Kubota No.1
	A	Panasonic	32-31	Kobe	Fumiaki Tanaka,
					Panasonic No.9
	B	Toyota Industries	14-41	Ricoh	Michael Broadhurst,
					Ricoh No.8
	A	Toyota	14-11	NEC	Steven Yates,
					Toyota No.15
	B	NTT Comm.	27-21	Coca-Cola	Hiraku Tomoigawa,
					NTT Comm. No.11
	B	Kyuden	21-31	NTT Docomo	Takuro Miuchi,
					NTT Do. No.8
	A	Yamaha	15-29	Toshiba	Steven Bates,
					Toshiba No.7
	A	Canon	25-58	Suntory	Kenta Tsukamoto,
					Suntory No.11