Month: April 2024

 (Written by Azul: April 25, 2024)

The Japan Rugby League One is now in its final stages. On April 12, I went to Shimizu City, Shizuoka Prefecture, home of the Blue Revs, to watch the match between the Blue Revs and the Spears.

The distance from Hachioji City, Tokyo, where I live, to Shimizu City, Shizuoka Prefecture, where the game was held, is about 160 km away.

It takes about 2 hours to get there by Shinkansen bullet train, but since it was my first visit to the venue, I took the JR local train to get there. We left at 8:00 a.m. and it took us about 4 hours.

When I have time to spare, I enjoy this kind of trip. I got off at Shimizu station.

Shimizu City in Shizuoka Prefecture is famous for soccer. Shimizu is known throughout Japan as a city where soccer is popular. As an urban legend, it is said that even a middle-aged woman living in this city can lift a soccer ball more than 100 times. I have no soccer experience, so I can only do 50 times.

A signboard of the local soccer team, Shimizu S-Pulse, was posted at the station ticket gate. The S-Pulse symbol was also displayed on the station stairs.

The venue for today’s game was IAI Stadium, the home of the Shimizu S-Pulse soccer team.

The Blue Revs play in Shimizu once a year. In terms of frequency of games, the Blue Revs have played 6 games this season at the YAMAHA Stadium in Iwata City.

Then, I have arrived at the stadium. The official name of the stadium is IAI Stadium Nihondaira. The capacity of the stadium is 20,248, which is the same size as the Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium. The temperature that day was around 22 degrees Celsius, which was reminiscent of early summer. With such warm weather, you can already wear short sleeves.

On this day, Orange Wave, the official cheerleaders of Shimizu S-Pulse, were cheering for the Blue Revs, the home team. Originally, their cheer uniform is orange, the same color as the S-Pulse’s, but since the Blue Revs’ uniform is blue, they wore blue T-shirts and cheered for them only on this day. Also, the cheerleaders could not wear orange uniforms on this day because the color of the uniform of Spears, the Visitor Team of the day, is orange.

Let’s check the standings of League One Division 1 as of April 12.

2023-24	League One Order(Division 1) 4/12
ranking	team	Win	Lose	Even	WP	GD
1	Saitama Wildnights	13	0	0	61	401
2	Tokyo Brave Lupas	11	1	0	50	132
3	Yokohama Eagles	9	4	0	43	81
4	Tokyo Sungoliath	9	3	0	43	137
5	Kobe Steelers	7	5	0	34	152
6	Shizuoka Blue Revs	6	6	0	29	71
7	Toyota Verblitz	6	6	0	29	36
8	Kubota Spears	5	7	0	27	41
9	Sagamihara Dynaboars	5	7	0	22	-145
10	Black Rams Tokyo	2	11	0	13	-151
11	Mie Honda Heat	1	11	0	5	-412
12	Hanazono Riners	0	13	0	2	-343
	WP=Winning Point
	GD=Goal Difference
	Division 2

Blue Revs, the team they would be playing on this day, was currently in 6th place. The Revs have won three straight games.

Spears, on the other hand, was currently in 8th place.

Both teams still have a chance to finish in the top 4, which is a requirement to advance to the playoffs. Because of the close rankings of the two opponents, the game on this day would likely to be a cross game.

Here is the latest information on both teams that would play on this day.

First, let’s talk about the home team, SHIZUOKA Blue Revs.

SHIZUOKA Blue Revs was founded in 1982. They have won one Japanese championship (2015). The team’s style of play is characterized by strength in set play, especially in the scrum. The Blue Revs were the only team to defeat the top-ranked Wild Knights in the league last season. The Revs do not have a large pool of national team players or college stars, but rather develop players found by scouts to strengthen their team. The team rarely loses by large margins, and they are always close until the end of the game, making them a team worth rooting for.

Early this season, Kwagga SMITH, the mainstay of the team and the No. 8 player for South Africa, was out for a long time due to injury. However, since the second half of the season, the team has been winning a lot of games and has improved to the point where they can aim for the top again. It will be interesting to see if they can win this match again and make it four wins in a row.

The starting lineup for this day’s match is as follows.

Shizuoka Blue Revs
No.	Name	height	weight	age
1	Takayoshi SHIGEHARA	187cm	116kg	24
2	Takeshi HINO	172cm	100kg	34	Japan 5caps
3	Heiichiro ITO	175cm	115kg	33
4	Eisin KUWANO	193cm	112kg	29
5	Murray DOUGLAS	198cm	115kg	34
6	Yuya Odo	187cm	104kg	34	Japan 5caps
7	Takuma SHOJI	182cm	100kg	25
8	Malgene ILAUA	187cm	107kg	30	Japan 7cap
9	Bryn HALL	183cm	93kg	32
10	Kakeru OKUMURA	180cm	83kg	25
11	Malo TUITAMA	182cm	91kg	27
12	Sylvian MAHUZA	179cm	82kg	30
13	Charles PIUTAU	186cm	95kg	32	NZ17caps, Tonga 1cap
14	Keagen FARIA	183cm	85kg	29
15	Futo YAMAGUCHI	167cm	76kg	24

** Player to watch **

Charles PIUTAU. 186 cm, 95 kg, 32 years old. He represented Tonga at RWC2023 and is the most experienced Blue Revs player who has played for his country. He is a breakthrough player for opposing defenses and makes his presence felt in attack. Currently, WTB TUITAMA of the same team is ranked first in the League One try ranking, but CTB PIUTAU’s contribution to the team’s chances is significant. Also, in defense, their hard work with their strong physical strength shines through.

Next, an update on the visiting team, KUBOTA Spears.

As last season’s League One champions, they are in eighth place with a record of 5 wins-7 loses, which is a disappointing result, but they still had a chance to advance to the playoffs at this point, so they would give their all in their remaining four games. They have not suffered any major defeats so far, except for the loss to the top-ranked Wild Knights. All of the losses were close games. Therefore, in the remaining four games, the team will need to be able to win close games.

This day’s starting lineup was as follows.

KUBOTA SPEARS
No.	Name	height	weight	age
1	Kota KAISHI	172cm	102kg	29
2	Dane COLES	184cm	110kg	36	New Zealand 90 cap
3	Opeti HELU	190cm	127kg	25
4	Ruan BOTHA	205cm	120kg	33
5	David BULBRING	199cm	113kg	34
6	Peter L. LABUSCHAGNE	189cm	106kg	35	Japan　19cap
7	Takeo SUENAGA	178cm	98kg	29
8	Faulua MAKISI	182cm	117kg	27	Japan　5cap
9	Shinobu FUJIWARA	171cm	76kg	25
10	Bernard FOLEY	182cm	89kg	34	Australia 71cap
11	Kim SURYUNG	186cm	90kg	26
12	Harumichi TATEKAWA	180cm	93kg	34	Japan　56cap
13	Sione TEAUPA	183cm	97kg	31	Japan 3cap
14	Koga Nezuka	173cm	82kg	25	Japan　1cap
15	Yuhei SHIMADA	183cm	87kg	26

** Player to watch **

Rikus PRETORIUS. 193 cm, 104 kg, 25 years old. Position = CTB. born in South Africa. joined Spears in 2022. He started the game as a reserve, but is expected to be an impact player from the second half. He is a huge CTB, over 190 cm tall, and is the nucleus of the attack and a breakthrough player for the opposing defense. One of the characteristics of this player is his inexhaustible stamina, which does not wane even in the late stages of the game. He made his debut in the 6th match of this season against the Black Rams, and has been an unwavering regular ever since.

Let’s begin the first half of the match.

From the start of the match, both sides attacked deep into enemy territory, creating several opportunities to score, but failed to score.

12 minutes into the first half:

It was Spears who scored first.

After attacking in front of the enemy 22m line, Lock BOTHA slipped behind the enemy defensive net, advanced forward, and from there, developed to the left, connecting a pass from Hooker COLES to CTB TATEKAWA, where TATEKAWA scored a try in the middle of the enemy in-goal on the left side.

The conversion goal after the try failed, and the score was 0-5.

15 minutes into the first half:

Spears tried a series of attacks, starting with a scrum from their own line. Although the ball was not deployed with fluent connections, Spears’ FW players picked up the ball down the field many times and made steady progress. The Blue Revs did not take the ball away from them, and the FW and BK connected the ball in unison, and finally, CTB SIONE scored a try in the left center.

The conversion goal after the try was also successful, making the score 0-12.

17 minutes into the first half:

From the restart kick-off after the try, Spears Lock BOTHA got past the Blue Revs defense and advanced all the way to the 10-meter mark in the enemy territory. From there, Spears’ players followed up with a series of follow-ups, and finally SO FOLEY scored a try right under the goal post in the enemy’s in-goal. During this time, the whistle was not blown and it was a no-whistle try.

The conversion goal after the try was also successful, making the score 0-19.

The score was 0-19, a rare one-sided game for the Blur Revs, who never give up until the very end.

21 minutes into the first half:

From the restart after the try, Spears had a lineout on their own right side. From there, Spears made a long throw and CTB TATEKAWA to WTB NEZUKA, who broke the line at top speed, cut through the Blue Revs’ defensive line, and quickly approached the enemy’s in-goal. SH FUJIWARA of Spears followed and scored a try right under the goal post of the enemy’s in-goal.

The conversion goal after the try was also successful, making the score 0-26, and the Spears’ attack was so one-sided and dominant that it was almost too much to handle. Before the game started, I too did not expect it to be so one-sided.

28 minutes into the first half:

From the restart kickoff, Blue Revs went into the enemy 22m line area and got a scrum of their own ball. From here, Blue Revs CTB MAFUZA rolled a light golo punt towards the enemy in-goal, which CTB PIUTAU held in-goal to score Blue Revs’ first points of the match.

The conversion goal after the try was also successful, making the score 7-26.

31 minutes into the first half:

With the earlier try, the Blue Revs came to life and moved forward in a series of attacks, deep in enemy territory. However, the ball rolled underneath and SH FUJIWARA of Spears picked it up, and from deep in their own territory, they moved forward at once into the enemy territory. FB SHIMADA followed FUJIWARA, received the ball, and ran through to the left center of the enemy’s in-goal for a try.

The conversion goal after the try failed, but the score was 7-31.

The first half ended with this score. Can the Blue Revs recover from this big deficit? The loser of this match will be in the playoff contention.

Now, let’s start the second half.

Blue Revs had lost too many points in the first half, so they introduced Sione BUNA as No.8 and OKAZAKI as SH at the start of the second half.

In the first half, there were many scenes where they were easily overtaken around the densely-packed perimeter, so it was thought that they have taken countermeasures against that.

9 minutes into the second half:

The Blue Revs advanced their position to the enemy 22m line and got a scrum on their own ball. The Blue Revs pushed forward with a scrum, and then moved to the right, where CTB MAFUZA forced his way through a dense crowd in front of the enemy in-goal to score a try.

The Blue Revs got off to a flying start, scoring the first points of the second half.

18 minutes into the second half:

The Blue Revs, with their momentum on their side, took control of the game and attacked in the enemy territory. CTB PIUTAU brought the ball out of the pack, feinted against the defense, and scored a try in the middle left of the opposition’s in-goal. The conversion goal after the try failed, but in the second half, the Blue Revs were mesmerizing, scoring two tries in a row.

During this period, Blue Revs used their strength, the scrum, as a starting point to keep the game close. when Blue Revs scrummed, they first did not let Spears push them around. From there, they drew penalties from their opponents and steadily moved their position forward. The Blue Revs crowd at their home stadium cheered the Blue Revs players on with a chorus of “Go Go Revs.

34 minutes into the second half:

The Blue Revs continued to dominate the game in the second half, but Spears, who could no longer afford to lose a single game in order to advance to the playoffs, held firm and refused to allow any more scores.

Spears, now on the defensive, committed a series of infractions that resulted in one man being temporarily sent off for a scrum infringement and a second man being temporarily sent off for a dangerous neck tackle in defense. At this point, the Spears had to play with 13 players, two fewer than the Blue Revs.

After the game resumed from an opponent’s penalty, Blue Revs took advantage of their numerical superiority to spread the ball wide to the left and right, launching a series of attacks. Finally, the ball was passed to WTB TUITAMA at the left end, and TUITAMA scored a try at the left corner of the enemy’s in-goal.

A difficult conversion goal from the left end was scored by WTB FARIA in fine style, and the score was 26-31 Blue Revs were finally within 5 points.

37 minutes into the second half:

The Blue Revs were closing in on the enemy’s in-goal and were attacking in succession, but Spears picked up the spill and had a chance to attack after a long time. Spears kicked the ball into their own in-goal for a 50-22 lineout, but the Blue Revs grabbed the ball before it could go off the pitch. FB YAMAGUCHI counter-attacked from in front of his own in-goal.

Spears caught FB YAMAGUCHI of Revs near the center of the ground. Here, a tight battle ensued, from which Blue Revs Lock TUPOU, who took over as a substitute, broke away and gained nearly 30 meters, closing in on the enemy’s in-goal.

However, the Blue Revs were fouled for a knock-on here and it was a Spears ball scrum with 2 minutes remaining. If they continue to hold onto the ball until the end of the match, Spears would win.

40 minutes into the second half:

Spears kept the ball in the air from a tight pack, with the FWs continuing to attack on the flanks. At the final horn, the Blue Revs’ FW ran into the crowd and the crowd stopped moving, and the referee called an infringement on Spears.

Finally, the Blue Revs had the right to attack, and from this point, the Blue Revs started their attack with a tap kick, and the two sides dueled across the in-goal. Blue Revs’ Lock TUPOU then made a powerful move to score a try in the in-goal at left midfield. Finally, the score was tied 31-31.

The Blue Revs still had the right to score a conversion goal, which would give them a comeback victory. The kick was positioned in the middle left, a little closer to the goal post, which was a less difficult position.

Blue Revs WTB FARIA took the kick, but his foot got caught on the ball and he missed. It was an unexpected ending, and the game ended in a draw between the two sides.

The photo above shows the Blue Revs players consoling FARIA, who was nodding off after missing the final goal.

We would like to thank the players of both teams for a great and passionate game.

＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊

Stop the war.

Peace to Ukraine

＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊

 (Written by Azul: April 16, 2024)

On April 6, 2024, I went to Komazawa Park Athletic Field in Setagaya-ku, Tokyo to watch the Japan Rugby League One, Section 12 match between the Black Rams and the Eagles. The game started at 13:00, and although the temperature was 15 degrees Celsius, the spring sunshine made for a warm day to watch the game,

Let’s check the League One Division 1 standings before the game starts. Including this day’s game, there are only 5 games left, and each team is striving to move up as much as possible in the standings.

2023-24	League One Order(Division 1) 4/5
ranking	team	Win	Lose	Even	WP	GD
1	Saitama Wildnights	11	0	0	51	336
2	Tokyo Brave Lupas	10	1	0	46	130
3	Tokyo Sungoliath	8	3	0	39	128
4	Kobe Steelers	7	4	0	34	161
5	Yokohama Eagles	7	4	0	33	43
6	Kubota Spears	5	6	0	26	43
7	Shizuoka Blue Revs	5	6	0	24	42
8	Toyota Verblitz	5	6	0	24	19
9	Sagamihara Dynaboars	5	6	0	22	-104
10	Black Rams Tokyo	2	9	0	13	-108
11	Mie Honda Heat	1	10	0	5	-383
12	Hanazono Riners	0	11	0	2	-307
	WP=Winning Point
	GD=Goal Difference

The bottom three teams in League One (10th~12th) will have to play for a spot in Division 2, and since the Black Rams are currently in 10th place and 9 points behind the 9th place Dynaboars, they need to win at least two of their remaining four games.

On the other hand, today’s opponent, Eagles, is currently in 5th place in Division 1 and is only a few points away from the 4th place position, which is the requirement to advance to the playoffs. They could not afford to drop this match either.

Let me introduce both teams that will play today.

First, let me introduce the home team, RICOH Black Rams.

Founded in 1953, the RICOH Black Rams reached its peak as a club in the 1970s, winning the Japan National Championship twice and the National Working Men’s Tournament three times,

In recent years, the team has fallen out of contention for championships, but as a member of Division 1, they have made their presence felt as a mid-tier team. They have played close games against top teams and have won some of their games by 7 points or less. The team also has national team players from various countries, making it an attractive team.

Today’s starting lineup was as follows

Black Rams
No.	Name	height	weight	age
1	Kazuma NISHI	180cm	108kg	28
2	Hinata TAKEI	171cm	97kg	26
3	Shohei OYAMA	186cm	115kg	25
4	Harrison FOX	198cm	118kg	23
5	Michael Stolberg	202cm	116kg	31
6	Amato Fakatava	195cm	117kg	29	Japan 7caps
7	Brodi McCURRAN	193cm	108kg	29
8	Nathan HUGHES	195cm	126kg	32	England 22caps
9	Shota YAMAMOTO	166cm	74kg	32
10	Kohei Horigome	177cm	88kg	28
11	Netani Vakayalia	181cm	95kg	24	Japan 7th
12	Matt MCGAHAN	185cm	89kg	30
13	Ryohei ISODA	178cm	90kg	27
14	Daisuke NISHIKAWA	184cm	95kg	26
15	Izac Lucas	180cm	85kg	24

** Player to watch **

Nathan HUGHES. 195 cm,126 kg,32 years old. Position = No.8. caps for England = 22. native of Fiji. very rangy back row player who also played 7-man rugby. He played for Fiji, NZ, and England before finally choosing to play for England, where he is the Black Rams’ leading scorer in front of the in-goal.

Now, let us introduce the visiting team, the CANON Eagles.

Founded in 1980, CANON Eagles is a relatively young club compared to Black Rams, and was promoted to the Top League in 2012, but after a long period of stagnation in the middle to lower divisions, they made a breakthrough in 2021 when they brought in the famous coach SAWAKI from Suntory, and last season they reached the playoffs and finished in third place. This season, the team has managed to recover from the injuries of two key players, South African national team SH Faf de Klerk and CTB Jesse Kriel, who were sidelined for an extended period of time at the beginning of the season, and has managed to improve its ranking to the point where it can aim for the playoffs with its existing squad. With only five games remaining, it will be interesting to see how far they can go in the standings.

The starting lineup for this day’s match was as follows

CANON Eagles
No.	Name	height	weight	age
1	Takato OKABE	180cm	105kg	29
2	Shunta NAKAMURA	176cm	100kg	29	Japan
3	Ryosuke IWAIHARA	184cm	115kg	27
4	Max DOUGLAS	201cm	112kg	23
5	Mathew PHILIP	201cm	117kg	29	Australia 31caps
6	Kobus Van DYK	196cm	108kg	29
7	Naoto Shimada	181cm	99kg	32
8	Amanaki Lelei MAFI	189cm	112kg	33	Japan 29caps
9	Koki ARAI	175cm	80kg	30	Japan
10	Yu Tamura	181cm	92kg	34	Japan 70caps
11	Masayoshi TAKEZAWA	176cm	86kg	28
12	Yusuke KAJIMURA	181cm	95kg	28	Japan 2caps
13	Rohan Janse van RENSBURG	185cm	108kg	29	South Africa 1cap
14	Viliame TAKAYAWA	184cm	103kg	26
15	Jumpei OGURA	172cm	80kg	31	Japan 4cap

** Player to watch **

Amanaki Lelei MAFI. 189 cm, 112 kg, 33 years old. He was rated as the world’s strongest No. 8 by a rugby magazine before the start of RWC2019, and was the leading FW for Japan in both RWC2015 and 2019, Although he was not selected for RWC 2023 due to injury, he is still a powerful breakthrough player. The match of the day will feature a showdown with HUGHES of the Black Rams as the No. 8.

The attendance for the day was 7,454. Toward the end of the season, the number of spectators gradually increased due to the warmer weather.

Now, the match was about to begin.

7 minutes into the first half:

The Eagles advanced deep into enemy territory after the Black Rams committed an infringement in their own territory, from which the Eagles elected to take a penalty kick, The Black Rams were not well-prepared to defend the maul and were easily able to advance, allowing Eagles hooker NAKAMURA to score a try right in the middle of the enemy in-goal.

The conversion goal after the try was also successful, and the Eagles scored the first points of the game.

Since this was a match between the 5th-ranked Eagles of League One and the 10th-ranked Black Rams, I thought at this point that it would be a one-sided match for the Eagles as the first score was easily scored.

After the Black Rams scored the first goal, the defenders fought hard, and the sound of their bodies hitting each other during tackles could be heard in the stands. A professional game has to be like this to be interesting.

Black Rams is currently ranked 10, but I am not sure why they are in this position, as they have many attractive professional players such as FL FAKATAVA, a member of the Japan national team, No.8 HUGHES, a former member of the England national team, and FB LUCAS.

The first half also produced some decisive scoring chances, but they did not score.

39 minutes into the first half:

While the Black Rams attacked deep into enemy territory and missed several scoring chances, the Eagles, once they got deep into the enemy territory, continued their attack and went up to the enemy 22-meter line.

The Black Rams again committed an infringement in their own territory, and from there the Eagles went into a scoring pattern that started early in the first half, with a penalty kick, a lineout, and a maul. The scorer was FL SHIMADA.

The conversion goal after the try failed, and the score was 0-12.

The first half ended with this score.

The home team, Black Rams, was hoping to respond to the large crowd and get back on the scoreboard in the second half against the top-ranked Eagles.

At halftime, the mascots of both teams circled the stadium.

In case we were wondering, the Black Rams’ mascot is called RAMUMARU, and the Eagles’ mascot is called KANON Chan.

Now, let the second half begin.

9 minutes into the second half:

The Eagles attempted their third maul attack of the day from their own ball lineout deep in enemy territory. However, the Black Rams were able to respond and stopped the Eagles from advancing in a maul.

However, the Eagles were able to move to the right, and LO  Van DYK forced his way through just under the goal posts to score a try.

The conversion goal after the try was also successful, making the score 0-19.

18 minutes into the second half:

The Black Rams also advanced to the enemy’s in-goal line and attacked a number of times with a maul, but the Eagles’ defenders were not allowed to keep the ball out of the enemy’s hands just before the Eagles’ goal line. The difference seemed to be in the accuracy of the maul attack rather than the strength of the individual players.

The Black Rams seemed to lose heart as they kept missing great scoring opportunities, and when the Eagles got the ball, prop Harasiri, who came on as a substitute, counter-attacked and gained the ball at once. The ball was then followed up by CTB KAZIMURA, who connected with the ball and scored a try in the left corner of the in-goal.

The conversion goal after the try failed, but the score was 0-24.

22 minutes into the second half:

The Black Rams started to turn the tide of the game with a series of substitutions of young players. Lock YAMAMOTO and SH MINAMI were the nucleus of the attack, and after a series of attacks they gradually closed in on the enemy in-goal, with SH MINAMI finally scoring a try in the right corner at the goal post.

The conversion goal after the try was also successful, making the score 7-24.

32 minutes into the second half:

Perhaps inspired by the Black Rams’ counterattack try, the Eagles attacked in rapid succession, WTB TAKAYAWA of the Eagles received the ball at the right end, dragged two Black Rams defenders behind him, and scored a try right in the middle of the enemy in-goal.

The conversion goal after the try was also successful, making the score 7-31 in favor of the Eagles.

36 minutes into the second half:

In the closing minutes of the match, the Black Rams attempted another maul attack from a lineout in front of the enemy in-goal. The maul had been blocked by the Eagles up to this point, but the backs joined the maul and SH MINAMI scored his second try of the day in the left corner of the enemy’s in-goal.

The conversion goal after the try failed, and the final score of the match was 12-31.

The Black Rams were unable to accumulate any winning points, but the young players who played in the second half of the match were dynamic, and the team was able to reap some rewards for the remainder of the match and for next season.

The Eagles, on the other hand, took a step forward in their quest to advance to the playoffs with a win. The team will now work together as one and give their all in the remaining four games.

＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊

Stop the war.

Peace to Ukraine

＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊

 (Written by Azul: April 5, 2024)

This time, I went to watch a night game for the first time in a while.

The game was held on Friday, March 22, 2024 from 19:00 at Chichibunomiya Rugby Ground in Minato-ku, Tokyo. The match was between the Kubota Spears, last year’s League One champion, and the Panasonic Wild Knights, the League One champion of the year before last. This matchup between two strong teams was expected to be a heated and exciting game.

The League One standings up to the 10th round are as follows.

2023-24	League One Order(Division 1) 3/22
ranking	team		Win	Lose	Even	WP	GD
1	Saitama Wildnights		10	0	0	46	303
2	Tokyo Brave Lupas		9	1	0	42	123
3	Tokyo Sungoliath		8	2	0	38	130
4	Kobe Steelers		6	4	0	29	118
5	Yokohama Eagles		6	4	0	29	41
6	Kubota Spears		5	5	0	26	76
7	Toyota Verblitz		5	5	0	24	35
8	Shizuoka Blue Revs		4	6	0	20	26
9	Sagamihara Dynaboars		4	6	0	18	-109
10	Black Rams Tokyo		2	8	0	12	-108
11	Mie Honda Heat		1	9	0	4	-378
12	Hanazono Riners		0	10	0	2	-264
WP=Winning Point
GD=Goal Difference

It had been a while since I had seen a night game, but since it was still March, it was a little cold, but many office workers were watching the game on their way home from work. The total number of spectators on that day was 9,491.

As for the two teams playing this day, the Wild Knights are in first place and are the only team to have won all of their games. Spears, on the other hand, is currently in sixth place and needs to close the gap to five points to qualify for the playoffs. With six games remaining, the Spears should be able to close the gap between themselves and the top 4 teams.

Let me introduce the two teams that will be playing on this day.

First, an update on the host team for the day, the Kubota Spears.

Last season, they won the League One championship for the first time, and this season, they are aiming for back-to-back championships. However, they have struggled quite a bit so far, with 5 wins and 5 losses for a winning percentage of 50%. The main reason for this is that they are missing hooker Marcolm MARX due to injury. He is considered the best hooker in the world and was the nucleus of Spears’ FW, so the team’s set plays have become unstable. In addition, the team’s commanding presence, former Australian SO Bernard FOLEY, also left the team early this season with an injury, contributing to the team’s struggles. However, for the Spears’ reserve players, this is a chance for them to play in the game, and we hope that they will be able to improve their player lineup.

The starting lineup for the day was as follows

KUBOTA SPEARS
No.	Name	height	weight	age
1	Kota KAISHI	172cm	102kg	29
2	Dane COLES	184cm	110kg	36	New Zealand 90 cap
3	Kengo KITAGAWA	178cm	110kg	31	Japan　3cap
4	Uwe HELU	193cm	120kg	33	Japan　18cap
5	David BULBRING	199cm	113kg	34
6	Finau TUPA	190cm	115kg	34
7	Peter L. LABUSCHAGNE	189cm	106kg	34	Japan　19cap
8	Takeo SUENAGA	178cm	98kg	29
9	Shinobu FUJIWARA	171cm	76kg	25
10	Tomoki KISHIOKA	178cm	85kg	26
11	Hiroyuki YAMASAKI	174cm	85kg	25
12	Harumichi TATEKAWA	180cm	93kg	34	Japan　56cap
13	Rikus PRETORIUS	193cm	104kg	25
14	Koga Nezuka	173cm	82kg	25	Japan　1cap
15	Yuhei SHIMADA	183cm	87kg	25

** Player to watch **

Tomoki KISHIOKA. 178cm, 85kg, 26 years old. He is a graduate of Waseda University. He joined the Spears with high expectations after winning the University Championship in his university days, and started playing in games in his first year, but then FOLEY, the SO of the Australian national team, became a regular player, and he gradually started to play less and less. This season, after FOLEY was injured, he became a starter and took over the Spears’ commanding position. Every time he appears in a game, he wows the audience with his dynamic play, using the ground widely as he is known for. He hopes to make this season a breakthrough year.

Next, I would like to introduce the Visitor Team, Saitama Panasonic Wild Knights.

They became the only team in League One to win all of their matches in Section 9 against Brave Lupas, and took a step forward toward winning the championship this season. The regular members of the team boast a depth of players that could be called a world-class team, and with the return of Japanese flanker Ben GUNTER and WTB player TAKEYAMA from injury, the team is now well-positioned to win this season’s League One championship.

This day’s starting lineup was as follows

Panasonic Wild Nights
No.	Name	height	weight	age
1	Craig Miller	186cm	116kg	33	Japan 17cap
2	Atsushi Sakade	180cm	104kg	30	Japan 41cap
3	Asaeli Ai VALU	187cm	115kg	34	Japan 30cap
4	Liam Mitchell	197cm	117kg	28
5	Lood De JAGER	206cm	127kg	30	Soth Africa 65cap
6	Ben GUNTER	195cm	120kg	26	Japan 8cap
7	Lachlan BOSHIER	191cm	110kg	29
8	Jack CORNELSEN	195cm	110kg	29	Japan 20cap
9	Taiki Koyama	171cm	74kg	29	Japan
10	Rikiya Matsuda	181cm	92kg	29	Japan 37cap
11	Koki TAKEYAMA	175cm	87kg	27	Japan 1cap
12	Damian De ALLENDE	190cm	105kg	32	Soth Africa 78cap
13	Dylan RILEY	187cm	102kg	26	Japan 18cap
14	Tomoki OSADA	179cm	90kg	24	Japan 7cap
15	Takuya YAMASAWA	176cm	84kg	29	Japan 6cap

** Player to watch **

Koki TAKEYAMA is 175cm, 87kg, 27 years old. He is a graduate of Teikyo University. He missed the first half of this season due to injury, but finally returned to the team mid-season. As a utility player, he can play any position in the BK, but he has a wide vision of the entire ground and always reads the flow of the game. His ability to appear at the right moment to score a try makes him a genuine scorer.

Let’s start the first half.

4 minutes into the first half:

Early in the game, Spears had a PG opportunity due to a foul by their opponents in enemy territory. FB SHIMADA scored the first goal for Spears. The score was 3-0.

14 minutes into the first half:

The Wild Knights attacked in enemy territory, and first WTB TAKEYAMA broke through on the left touchline and advanced about 20 meters, where TAKEYAMA was held up by the Spears defense, but the WildKnights then moved to the right and the ball was passed to CTB De ALLENDE, who broke through the enemy line and scored a try right under the goal post in the enemy’s in-goal.

The conversion goal after the try was also successful, making the score 3-7 in favor of the Wild Knights.

20 minutes into the first half:

The Wild Knights entered the enemy territory and attacked in succession, gradually moving forward and passing the ball to WTB TAKEYAMA on the left flank, who cut through the opposing defenders in the narrow space on the left flank, and scored a try in the left corner of the enemy in-goal. TAKEYAMA showed that his try-scoring instinct has not diminished in spite of his long absence this season.

The conversion attempt after the try failed, and the score was 3-12.

29 minutes into the first half:

Wild Knights again dominated the ball, and from a lineout deep on the left side of the opposition line, they mauled their way forward. The Wild Knights’ SH KOYAMA ran through the dense side of the maul and scored a try in the left center of the enemy’s in-goal.

The conversion goal after the try was also successful, making the score 3-19.

38 minutes into the first half:

SO MATSUDA kicked a short punt, which was caught directly by CTB RILEY, and he brought it right under the goal post in the enemy’s in-goal for a try.

The conversion goal after the try was also successful, making the score 3-26. The first half ended with this score, and Wild Knights took a 23-point lead.

Spears should have come into this match looking for a must-win, but they were unable to make any headway against the Wild Knights’ defensive formation. On the contrary, when Wild Knights deployed a series of attacks, they exploited holes in their opponents’ defenses at key points to make progress.

This game was the same matchup as last season’s final, so we expected Spears to rally in the second half.

Let’s get the second half underway.

3 minutes into the second half:

It was again the Wild Knights who scored early in the second half.

They kicked into the enemy territory, and SH KOYAMA quickly re-gained the ball as it rolled over, and then ran to the left, where FB YAMASAWA ran in to create a numerical advantage, where Yamasawa quickly cut in and scored a try in the middle left of the enemy in-goal. During this time, the Spears were unable to set up their defense and easily allowed the score to stand.

The conversion goal after the try was also successful, making the score 3-33.

14 minutes into the second half:

The Wild Knights gained control of the ball as the game wore on, leaving Spears on the defensive. They then attacked deep into enemy territory and had a PG opportunity from a foul on their opponents. The Spears were already up by 30 points, but a penalty shot made it 3-36. This penalty shot demoralized the opposing team.

19 minutes into the second half:

Spears finally had an opportunity to score at this time. After a deep penetration into the enemy territory, the Spears secured the ball from a lineout on their own and mauled their way forward, matching Spears’ absolute scoring pattern, only to have the ball taken back by the Wild Knights.

From there, Wild Knights secured the ball from their own lineout from their own 22m line, and FL BOSHIER ran deep into the enemy territory, overcoming their defense. The ball was finally passed to CTB RILEY, who followed up and scored a try right under the goalposts.

The conversion goal after the try was also successful, making the score 3-43.

24 minutes into the second half:

At this time of the game, Spears made some player changes and introduced some young players. Thanks to their efforts, the FWs fought well in a tight battle and created chances in front of the enemy goal. The team formed a maul in front of the in-goal on the right edge of the enemy line and went close to the in-goal, from which they moved to the left and SO KISHIOKA kicked a pass. WTB Yamasaki caught the ball and Spears scored their first try of this match.

The conversion goal after the try failed, but the score was 8-43.

31 minutes into the second half:

Toward the end of the match, Spears finally dazzled the crowd with their attacking play.

31 minutes into the second half:

In the final minutes of the match, the Spears finally dazzled the crowd with their attack as they formed a maul near the 10-meter line on the left edge of the enemy line. From there, hooker ERA became the center of a maul that quickly advanced more than 10 meters and scored a try to the left of the enemy’s in-goal.

The conversion goal after the try was also successful, making the score 15-43.

34 minutes into the second half:

Spears scored back-to-back tries, but the Wild Knights showed their strength here.

The Wild Knights moved forward, controlling the ball in a tight battle, and when the enemy day defense broke down slightly, substitute SO Kyohei Yamasawa exploited the hole and broke through behind the opposing defense, scoring a try right in the middle of the enemy’s in-goal.

The conversion goal after the try was also successful, making the score 15-50.

36 minutes into the second half:

The Wild Knights started from their own territory, and after a series of big gains, they moved into the enemy territory, where the Yamasawa brothers, SO and FB, exchanged passes in perfect coordination. FB Takuya Yamasawa scored a try in the right corner of the enemy’s in-goal.

The try was scored by FB Takuya Yamasawa in the right corner of the in-goal.

The conversion goal after the try failed and the score was 15-55.

42 minutes into the second half:

In the closing minutes of the match, Spears made a last gasp attack on the enemy’s in-goal and the ball spilled into the in-goal and was held up by replacement FL MOARA.

The conversion goal after the try was also successful, and the final score was 22-55.

This was a rematch of last season’s final, but in terms of content, the Wild Knights won handily, and the Spears will be looking for revenge by finishing in the top four and qualifying for the playoffs. There is still more than a month left until the end of the season.

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Stop the war.

Peace to Ukraine

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