RUGBY JERSEY – Japan Rugby League One 2022 Play-offs Final – Tokyo Suntory Sungoliath vs Saitama Panasonic Wild Knights

(Author: Azul, June 7, 2022)

Japan Rugby League One, which started on January 8, 2022, finally reached its final match on May 29.

During the week, there were several big matches before the finals, so let us report the results first.

The Division 1 and Division 2 matchups held at Hanazono Rugby Stadium in Osaka on Friday, May 27 and on Saturday, May 28 were as follows.

(1) Mie Honda HEAT vs NEC　Green　Rockets

The HEAT won the 2^nd match at the score 24-22, however lost the 1^st match at the score 10-33.

The Green Rockets was superior to the HEAT on its total winning points. Unfortunately, the HEAT could not move up to Division 1.

(2) Sagamihara Dynaboars vs NTT Shining Arcs

Dynaboars won this match 33-19. As a result, Dynaboars won two straight games in the replacement round, so they will be promoted to Division 1 next season. The Shining Arcs will be relegated to Division 2 next season.

(3) The 3rd Place play-off of League One was held on Saturday, May 28.　

Kubota Spears Funabashi Tokyo Bay vs Toshiba Brave Lupas Tokyo

Spears won this match 23-15 and placed 3rd. Brave　Lupas finished in 4th place.

The final match of the season for League One will be held on May 29 in Tokyo.

The game started at 3:00 p.m., but the temperature was 31 degrees Celsius, which was the temperature of mid-summer. This was the first time this season that the National Stadium was used for League One. Originally, the opening match was scheduled to be held on January 7 at the National Stadium, but it was cancelled due to the fact that many of the participating players became infected with the new Corona. Finally, we are now able to watch the League One games at the National Stadium.

Spectators no longer had to take Social Distance, but were required to wear masks. The attendance that day was 33,604. At first, I thought it would be a full house, but the new National Stadium has a capacity of 68,000, so that means it was almost 50% full. Next season, I hope to fill the stadium.

Now, let me introduce the two teams that made it to the finals.

First, Sungoliath, who came in the first in League One.　 They have an overall record of 14 wins and 2 losses in League One. The Sungoliath is the team that has won the first place in League One. The Sungoliath was defeated by the Brave Lupas and the Wild Knights. The Sungoliath will be looking for revenge against the Wild Knights, the team they lost to in the league.

Let’s take a look at the starting members of the final.

Suntory Sungoliath
No.	Name	height	weight	age
1	Shintaro Ishihara	181cm	105kg	31	Japan　11cap
2	Takuya Kitade	180cm	102kg	29	Japan　1cap
3	Shinnosuke Kakinaga	180cm	115kg	30	Japan　10cap
4	Tui Hendrik	188cm	110kg	26	Japan　47cap
5	Wataru Kobayashi	195cm	116kg	27
6	Iino Koji	190cm	110kg	27
7	Naoki Ozawa	182cm	102kg	33	Japan　4cap
8	Tom Sanders	190m	110kg	28
9	Yutaka Nagare	166cm	75kg	29	Japan　27cap
10	Hikaru Tamura	175cm	80kg	28
11	Tevita Li	182cm	95kg	27
12	Ryoto Nakamura	181cm	92kg	30	Japan　30cap
13	Samu Kerevi	186cm	106kg	28	Australia　38cap
14	Seiya Ozaki	175cm	85kg	26	Japan　3cap
15	Damian Mckenzie	177cm	78kg	27	New Zealand  40cap

＊＊　Players to watch out for ＊＊

Damian Mckenzie, 177cm, 78kg, position = FB. He is a hero of New Zealand with 40 caps for New Zealand. He was also the leading scorer in League One this season. He plays a decisive role in the critical phases of the game.

Next, we would like to introduce Saitama Panasonic Wild Knights, who are aiming for the championship for the second year in a row.

In the league this season, the team lost two games in a row from the opening match due to a new type of corona infection in the team. However, the team then went on a 14-game undefeated streak to advance to the playoffs in second place. In the league, they played with the Sungoliath in the seventh round and won outright with a score of 34-17. They were looking to win back-to-back league titles following last season.

The starting lineup for this final match is as follows

Panasonic Wild Nights
No.	Name	height	weight	age
1	Keita Inagaki	186cm	116kg	31	Japan 39cap
2	Atsushi Sakade	180cm	104kg	28	Japan 27cap
3	Taiki Fujii	183cm	114kg	24
4	Jack Cornelsen	195cm	110kg	27	Japan 6cap
5	George Kruis	198cm	123kg	32	England 32cap
6	Ben Gunter	195cm	120kg	24	Japan 2cap
7	Lachlan Boshier	191cm	104kg	27
8	Shunsuke Nunomaki	178cm	78kg	29	Japan 6cap
9	Keisuke Uchida	179cm	86kg	30	Japan 22cap
10	Takuya Yamasawa	176cm	84kg	27	Japan 3cap
11	Marika Koroibete	182cm	96kg	29	Australia 42cap
12	Hadleigh Parkes	187cm	107kg	34	Wales 29cap
13	Dylan Riley	187cm	102kg	25	Japan 4cap
14	Koki Takeyama	175cm	84kg	25
15	Ryuji Noguchi	177cm	83kg	26	Japan 13cap

＊＊　Players to watch out for ＊＊

Shota Horie Shota Horie is 35 years old, 180 cm, 105 kg. Position = Hooker. This season, he has often played as an impact player in the second half. He has the tactical acumen and skill to turn the tide when his team is down. Though he is 35 years old, he is showing the best performance of his career. He is also expected to be a key player in Japan’s national team at next year’s RWC.

Now, let the final match begin.

This match was called “the strongest spear” versus “the strongest shield,” as one sports newspaper put it. The “strongest spear” refers to the Sungoliath’s offensive prowess, while the “strongest shield” refers to the Wild Knights’ iron-clad defense.

Six minutes into the first half:

From the start of the match, both sides kicked each other, and before RWC2019, the Japanese national team was not good at handling these kicks, often giving up tries to their opponents from counter-attacks when they kicked in. Today, however, the kicking tactic has spread to all teams in League One. This is a sign of the evolution of Japanese rugby.

The Sungoliath entered the enemy territory and came very close to scoring a try, but were repeatedly blocked by the Wild Knights. After a foul by the Wild Knights in front of the goal posts, the Sungoliath opted to go for the PG, which FB Mckenzie converted to give Sungoliath the lead. Sungoliath scored first. The score was 3-0.

11 minutes into the first half:

The Wild Knights were in the enemy territory, and the ball was played to the right by WTB Takeyama.　Takeyama received the ball in the right corner. He ran behind the enemy defense and kicked the ball forward. The Wild Knights’ SH Uchida then held up the ball in the in-goal to score a try.

However, a video review revealed a throw forward infringement by the Wild Knights, and the try was called off.

14 minutes into the first half:

The Wild Knights were just entering enemy territory when a scrum led to an infringement by the opposing team, giving them the right to go up for a PG. This was scored by the Wild Knights’ SO Yamasawa, tying the score at 3-3. It was a difficult PG with a distance of about 50 meters.

27 minutes in the first half:

The Wild Knights were able to score again in the second half.

On this day, the Wild Knights looked more powerful in attack than in the league. Once they gained the right to attack, they made steady progress with a series of attacks. After a series of attacks, the Wild Knights moved to the left, and FB Noguchi made a big gain. Noguchi passed to WTB Koroibete, who scored a try in the middle of the right field. The conversion goal after the try was also successful, making the score 3-10 in favor of the Wild Knights.

31 minutes into the first half:

The Wild Knights attacked again and the Sungoliath was unable to stop the Wild Knights attack, and the ball was passed to Koroibete again, who scored another try in the middle of the right field .

However, a video review revealed that the Wild Knights had committed a knock-on infringement and the try was cancelled.

39 minutes into the first half:

The Sungoliath came close to scoring a try in the closing minutes of the first half. Five meters before the goal line, Sungoliath FB Mckenzie picked up the ball and dived into the opposition in-goal. However, the Wild　Knights’ SO　Yamasawa got his hands on the ball and Mckenzie dropped the ball just before the try. The Wild Knights’ Yamasawa’s play was worth it. The Wild Knights were able to end the first half with a 7-point lead.

The second half began.

Six minutes into the second half:

The Wild Knights replaced their hooker with Horie. This allowed the Wild Knights to take a lead over Sungoliath.

12 minutes into the second half:

The Wild Knights were fouled in a tight battle in their own half. FB Mckenzie of the Sungoliath scored a difficult PG from 45m long and an angle in the right center of the field. The score was 6-10 and Sungoliath closed the gap to 4 points.

17 minutes into the second half:

The Sungoliath went on the offensive and made a series of attacks in enemy territory, and the Wild Knights were fouled deep in their own territory, giving up a PG to the Sungoliath. The Sungoliath FB Mckenzie scored to make the score 9-10, and Sungoliath finally pulled within one point.

24 minutes into the second half:.

The Wild Knights attacked into enemy territory and quickly  the Wild Knights’ SO Yamasawa scored to make the score 9-13.

26 minutes into the Second Half:

The Sungoliath was able to get into the enemy territory when they drew a foul of their opponents in a tight battle and selected to go for the PG. FB Mckenzie of the Sungoliath scored to make the score 12-13, again within one point.

The game was now in a stalemate as both sides traded PGs. Mckenzie of the Sungoliath had been successful in 100% of their PG attempts to this point.

32 minutes into the second half:

The Wild Knights were somewhat pushed by Sungoliath in a dense battle for a while until late in the game. Finally, from a right-handed deployment, Wild Knights’ CTB Riley pushed with great force and scored a try in the middle of the right field. A conversion goal after the try was missed, and the Wild Knights made the score 12-18.

The score remained unchanged, and Wild Knights became the first League One champion. The Sungoliath had a couple of decisive chances, but in the end, the victory went to Wild Knights.

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Stop the war.

Peace to Ukraine

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