RUGBY JERSEY – Japan Rugby League One Division 1, No.13 – RICOH Black Rams Tokyo vs Toshiba　Brave Lupus Tokyo

(Author: Azul, April 21, 2022)

April 16, 2022. The match I went to see was the Japan Rugby League One Division 1 match between Black Rams Tokyo and Brave Lupus Tokyo. The venue was Chichibunomiya Rugby Ground in Minato-ku, Tokyo, and the game started at 14:30.

The host team for the day was Black Rams.

Before the game starts, let’s check the Division 1 standings just before the game started.

ranking	team	Win	Lose	Even	WP	GD
1	Tokyo Sungoliath	11	1	0	51
2	Kubota Spears	10	2	0	44
3	Saitama Wildnights	9	3	0	44
4	Yokohama Eagles	8	4	0	36
5	Tokyo Brave Lupas	7	5	0	34
6	Toyota Verblitz	7	5	0	32
7	Kobe Steelers	5	7	0	26
8	Shizuoka Blue Revs	4	8	0	20
9	Black Rams Tokyo	3	9	0	16
10	Red Hurricanes Osaka	3	9	0	14	-207
11	Green Rockets Tokatsu	3	9	0	14	-157
12	Shining Arks Tokyo Bay	2	10	0	13

WP=Winning Point

GD=Goal Difference

Black Rams are currently in 9th place, and if they fall below 10th place, they will have to play in a promotion or relegation deciding match with Division 2, which is only 2 points behind 10th place. Depending on the results of this week’s matches, they will be in 10th place.

Brave Lupus, on the other hand, is currently in 5th place. However, to qualify for the final tournament, they must finish in fourth place. Again, the margin of victory is two points. Depending on this week’s results, it is possible to move up.

This is a game that both teams cannot afford to lose. In their last meeting, Black Rams won. What will happen now?

Before the match, let’s take a look at the most recent team information for both teams.

First, let’s look at the home team, Black Rams.

RICOH Black Rams Tokyo: The parent company is an office equipment manufacturer. Host area is Setagaya-ku, Tokyo. In the Top League, the predecessor to League One, they were ranked in the middle of the standings. Last season, the team finished in fifth place, its highest ranking since its founding. This season, the team had a good start to the season, but after injuries to some of the team’s key players, the team has been in a slump.

Here is today’s starting lineup.

Black Rams
No.	Name	height	weight	age
1	Yuichiro Taniguchi	180cm	106kg	23
2	Yuki Mori	181cm	111kg	36
3	Sotaro Okawa	181cm	112kg	30
4	Daiki Yanagawa	191cm	108kg	32	Japan 1cap
5	Michael Stolberg	204cm	120kg	30
6	Shohei Fukumoto	181cm	93kg	29
7	Junpei Yukawa	180cm	89kg	25
8	Amato Fakatava	195cm	118kg	27
9	Matt Lucas	172cm	82kg	29
10	Izac Lucas	178cm	84kg	22
11	Yoshiyuki Koga	175cm	83kg	23
12	Kohei Horigome	177cm	89kg	26
13	Yuki Ikeda	185cm	98kg	26
14	Netani Vakayalia	180cm	88kg	23
15	Taira Main	178cm	89kg	21

** Player to watch **

Michael Stolberg. 204 cm, 120 kg, 29 years old. Position: Lock. He is from Australia. After playing for Sunwolves and Kintetsu, he joined Black Rams this season. He is a real fighter whose fighting spirit overflows from his body, and he continues to work with dedication on the front line. He is a very prominent player in spite of his humble position as a lock. This means that he is very athletic.

Next, let’s talk about today’s visiting team, Brave Lupus.

In contrast to Black Rams, Brave Lupus had a string of black matches in the early part of the season, but they have been winning in the second half of the season and have improved their ranking to a position where they can aim for the top four. They are a strong team with five Top League championships, so it seems that they are finally coming into their own.

Here is today’s starting lineup.

Brave Lupas
No.	Name	height	weight	age
1	Yuma Fujino	181cm	115kg	26
2	Shin Oouchi	181cm	110kg	24
3	Yuta Kokaji	178cm	109kg	23
4	Warner Dearns	201cm	117kg	20	Japan 1cap
5	Jacob Pierce	201cm	106kg	24
6	Michael Leitch	189cm	113kg	33	Japan 72cap
7	Matt Todo	185cm	104kg	33	New Zealand  25cap
8	Hiroki Yamamaoto	187cm	95kg	29	Japan 5cap
9	Yuhei Sugiyama	169cm	76kg	24
10	Tom Taylor	186cm	92kg	32	New Zealand  3cap
11	Taiki Matsunobu	186cm	95kg	31
12	Hayata Nakao	176cm	86kg	26
13	Nicolas Mccurran	188cm	93kg	25
14	Jone Naikabula	177cm	95kg	27	Japan
15	Shohei Toyoshima	175cm	87kg	32

＊＊　Player to watch　＊＊

Warner Dearns. 201 cm, 112 kg, 20 years old. Position: Lock. Born in New Zealand. After graduating from high school, he joined Brave Lupus and quickly earned a regular position in the team. In League One, he has shown outstanding ability in terms of athleticism and running ability.

Let the game begin.

1 minute of the first half: Brave Lupus always attack at full throttle from the start of every match. On this day, after securing the ball in the lineout after the kickoff, the FW and BK worked in unison, and their momentum did not wane at all. No. 8 Yamamoto scored the first try in the left corner of the opponent’s in-goal. After the try, SO Taylor succeeded in scoring the conversion goal, making the score 0-7, and Brave Lupus took the lead.

10 minutes into the first half

Black Rams made a number of unintentional errors as a result of the pressure from the Brave Lupus up front. The Brave Lupus team simply formed a maul in front of the goal as they had done in the past, but they could do little to push back and easily gave up their second try of the day. It was hooker Oouchi who scored the try in the right center of the field. The conversion goal after the try was also successful, and the score was 0-14, giving Brave Lupus a big lead.

14 minutes into the first half

Brave Lupus won the right to take the PG in enemy territory, and the kicker SO Taylor who is the No. 1 kicker in League One made a steady stream of successes. The score was 0-17, and Brave Lupus took a one-sided lead.

21 minutes into the first half:

Black Rams first score was a PG in enemy territory. Black Rams made a series of attacks in enemy territory, but could not break through, so they chose to go for the PG after a foul on their opponents. The PG was successful by SO Lucas and the score was 3-17.

Black Rams made several big gains in a series of attacks, but were blocked in front of the goal line by Brave Lupus on several occasions. Nevertheless, Black Rams showed persistence in attack, held the ball, deployed to the right, and when SO Lucas received the ball, he drew several defenders from the opposing team and passed to No. 8 Fakatava. He went on to score a try right down the middle. The conversion goal after the try failed, and the score was 8-17, with Black Rams within 9 points.

28 minutes into the first half.

Black Rams are finally on the offensive. A quick tempo move to the left was intercepted by WTB Naikabula of the Brave Lupus, and Naikabula ran more than 50 meters solo to score a try in the middle of the right field. The conversion goal after the try failed. The score was 8-22.

The first half ended with this score.

In the games that I have seen of Brave Lupus so far, their pattern of losing is that if they continue to attack without thinking about the pace from the first half, they run out of steam in the second half. However, during their recent winning streak, they have maintained their fitness in the second half. Now, let’s see what will happen.

At halftime, Ram Maru, Black Rams’ mascot, showed up and put on his charm. He is the No. 1 mascot in the League One mascot popularity poll.

So let’s get the second half underway.

Four minutes into the second half:

On a penalty kick resulting from an infringement by the opponent, Brave Lupus elected to go into touch, resulting in a lineout in front of the opponent’s goal, which was their own ball. From here, Brave Lupus won the ball and tried to advance with a maul. Black Rams showed more tenacity than in the first half, when they scored in a similar attack, but were unable to push back and scored another try right in the middle by Brave Lupus hooker Oouchi. The conversion goal after the try was also successful, making the score 8-29.

19 minutes into the second half

Black Rams attacked after entering enemy territory, deployed to the right side, and connected the ball from SO to WTB on the right edge, from where they made a significant gain to the goal line. There, a penalty kick was awarded for a foul on the opposing team, resulting in a lineout of their own ball in front of the enemy goal. The team won the ball from there and formed a maul to advance. The maul was joined by BK players, who pushed the ball all the way to the in-goal, where hooker Onishi, who came on as a substitute, scored the try. The conversion goal after the try was also successful, making the score 15-29. The Black Rams were now 14 points behind.

25 minutes into the second half

Brave Lupus, confident in their FWs, seemed to have been fired up by Black Rams’ maul try, and they attacked the enemy line and relentlessly repeated the FW side attack. In the end, LO Pierce scored a try in the middle of the left field with a strong effort. The conversion goal after the try was also successful, and the score was 15-36, giving Brave Lupus a big lead.

33 minutes into the second half

Black Rams took a long touch kick out of their own half by SO Mcgahan, who took over from his own team, and as he crossed the enemy 22 meters, the ball went out of the area for a lineout of their own ball. It was an exquisite touch kick. FB Lucas passed the ball behind him to WTB Kurihara, who took over and scored a try in the left center of the field. After the try, the conversion goal was also successful, making the score 22-36. Black Rams were now 14 points behind.

37 minutes into the second half: Black Rams scored a try.

With Black Rams having scored a try earlier, the bonus point awarded to the Brave Lupus team for scoring three or more tries against the opposing team disappeared. Therefore, with little time remaining, they were determined to score a try, no matter what.

On the other hand, if Black Rams scored seven more points, they would be awarded one winning point even if they did not win the match, so they had to desperately try to score a try. Otherwise, there was the worst case that they would end up in the replacement game.

With less than five minutes remaining, the game suddenly became heated. Both sides were trying to advance, even from their own positions. However, it was Brave Lupus who scored the final try. After a series of attacks, the ball was turned to the left and WTB Kuwayama, who came on during the game, scored the final try in the left corner. The conversion goal after the try was also successful, making the final score 22-43.

As a result, Brave Lupus gained 5 points. However, the fourth-placed Canon Eagles also won, so they remain in fifth place with two points difference.

Black Rams, on the other hand, remained in ninth place after the teams ranked 10th through 12th all lost. However, they are only two points behind.

The next round of the tournament will also be completely unpredictable.

Stop the war.

Peace to Ukraine