RiJ Vol.6 No.33

September 15, 2009

Contact Ian McDonnell at all.4.one@hotmail.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Contents:

¡       Japan Rugby Top League 2009-10

s     Round Two Results

¡       2009-10 Top League Team Profiles

s     (3) Suntory Sungoliath

¡       The Grubber Kick:

s     IRB Ranking: 14 (7 September 2009)

s     Backchat: Stirling Mortlock.

 

RiJ brings the reader a preview and complete wrap-up of Top League round 2. Also, Suntory is the third in the series of Top League team profiles for the 2009-10 season. In The Grubber Kick, Japan hold onto 14 on the IRB rankings and it seems injured Wallabies captain Stirling Mortlock was a recent visitor to Kyuden.

 

 

 

TOP LEAGUE

 

2009-10 Round 2 Results

 

 

Round 2

Date

K/O

Teams

Score

Teams

Ground

Sat, 12 Sept 2009

17:00

NEC

6-29

Toshiba (4Ts)

Kashiwanoha, Chiba

 

18:00

Kubota (2Ts)

18-11

Yamaha (1T)

Chichibu, Tokyo

 

18:00

Honda (3Ts)

19-45

Toyota (7Ts)

Suzuka, Mie

 

17:00

Kintetsu (4Ts)

31-3

Kyuden

Nagai, Osaka

 

19:00

Kobe (2Ts)

12-9

Sanix

Nagai, Osaka

 

18:00

Coca-Cola (1T)

13-46

Suntory (6Ts)

Nagasaki

Sun, 13 Sept 2009

15:00

Ricoh (3Ts)

22-44

Sanyo (5Ts)

Yamagata

 


 

Round Two Preview

In one of five Saturday games, NEC Green Rockets host Toshiba Brave Lupus at the Kashiwanoha Stadium in Kashiwa city in Chiba. Both sides were losers in round one with NEC going down 29-11 to Kubota and Toshiba losing 24-18 to Sanyo. Last year Toshiba accounted for NEC 26-9 and the defending Top League champions will be trying to get their first win of the season after suffering only one round loss last year. On the other hand, NEC will be looking for local support as they too are seeking their first win of the new season. Expect Toshiba to come out of the blocks fast and hard as but NEC on home base will be hard to overcome.

 

Chiba based side Kubota Spears are back at the Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Ground in Tokyo for the second week in a row when they face Yamaha Jubilo. Kubota got their season off on the right foot last weekend in round one when they defeated NEC 29-11 on this ground and they will be hoping this is a lucky omen. These two teams played a game that went down to the wire last year with Kubota sneaking home 22-21 and with Yamaha coming off an 18-all draw with Toyota in round one this could again be a close result. Yamaha fullback Ayumu Goromaru scored all the points for his side against Toyota with six penalties and with Shane Drahm also in fine kicking form for the Spears a penalty here or there could be the only difference between these two teams at fulltime.

 

Honda Heat are at home in Suzuka city in Mie prefecture for this important clash with Toyota Verblitz. Honda are playing in Top League for the first time and in round one they held their nerve against Ricoh going down 23-15 after the scores were tied at 3-all at halftime. Toyota will be a different proposition for the Heat this round, however, as the Verblitz will be looking to make amends for the 18-all draw with Yamaha in the opening round last weekend. Honda halfback Young-Han Yang put  in a solid performance against Ricoh but he and his team mates may not have as much leeway against Toyota. Toyota have a lot of firepower right across the field and in a battle of the vehicle manufacturers there is bound to be more than rugby pride at stake.

 

In the first game of a double-header at the Nagai Stadium in Osaka, Osaka based Kintetsu Liners will be on familiar territory when they meet Kyuden Voltex. Both teams are coming off opening round losses after Kintetsu went down 19-12 to Coca-Cola and Kyuden lost 25-15 to Sanix and so these sides will be hungry for a win. Last season Kintetsu won this corresponding encounter 29-18 and with this being a hometown game the Liners will be backing themselves for the win. Kintetsu won promotion back into Top League last year after three years in the regions and finished an impressive ninth with five wins and eighth losses. The team has recruited well in the off-season with former All Blacks Leon MacDonald, Japan centre Shotaro Onishi moving down from Yamaha and former IBM fullback Tadanobu Ko all joining the ranks this year. All-in-all, it is going to be tough for Kyuden to get on top of Kintetsu in this one.

 

In the second game at Nagai, Kobe Steelers play the Fukuoka Sanix Blues. In the opening round Kobe were also at the Nagai complex where they scrambled a 25-all draw with Suntory after being down 25-12 at one stage early in the second half. On the other hand, Sanix beat Kyuden 25-15 in Fukuoka last weekend to set the wheels in motion for the new season. Last season in Kyoto, Sanix sprung a surprise when they beat Kobe 25-22 after the Steelers had won their first three games and so the men from Kobe will be very wary not to drop their guard again this time round. The Blues well and truly controlled proceedings against Kyuden but Kobe will be much tougher this round.

 

Coca-Cola West Red Sparks and Suntory Sungoliath travel to Nagasaki prefecture for this round two clash. Coca-Cola beat Kintetsu 19-12 last Saturday in Fukuoka and they stay on the island of Kyushu for the second week in a row. For Suntory, they had to settled for a 25-all draw with Kobe in Osaka in the first round and so this will be an important game for the Sungoliath to open their account this season. Suntory won 39-10 last season in Hiroshima but they went down 23-22 the previous season in what was one of only two round losses that year.

 

In the final game of round two, Ricoh Black Rams and Sanyo Wild Knights travel to Yamagata prefecture as the Knights get set to welcome the Rams back to Top League. Ricoh won promotion back to Top League this season after one year in the regional Top East competition and they have re-built their operations since suffering relegation. However, Sanyo will be the acid test for Ricoh to see how much they have improved. As the Top Challenger in the National Championship last season, Ricoh remarkably won their way through to the semi-finals only to be stopped in their tracks 59-3 by none other than Sanyo and so that game would have provided valuable lessons for head coach Todd Louden, his coaching staff and players. Nevertheless, it is going to be a tall order for newly promoted Ricoh to topple Sanyo who went on to claim the National Championship title last year as well as finish as Top League runner-up to Toshiba in the Microsoft Cup final.

 

 

Round Two Wrap-up

After two rounds of the 2009-10 Top League season only two teams have collected back-to-back wins with Sanyo sitting on top of the table on 9 points followed by Kubota in second place on 8 points. Although Suntory and Toyota remain unbeaten, they have one win and one draw apiece and are on 7 points on the table. Kintetsu, Toshiba and Kobe are all on 6 points while Sanix sit below them on 5 points. Ricoh and Coca-Cola have one win and one loss each and are on 4 points. Yamaha are down in eleventh place on 3 points from a draw and a bonus point loss while at the bottom off the table Honda, Kyuden and NEC are all still to garner any competition points.

 

In one of five Saturday games, NEC Green Rockets hosted Toshiba Brave Lupus at the Kashiwanoha Stadium in Kashiwa city in Chiba with Toshiba coming up with a 29-6 win. Both sides were losers in round one with NEC going down 29-11 to Kubota and Toshiba losing 24-18 to Sanyo. Last year Toshiba accounted for NEC 26-9 and the defending Top League champions got their first win of the season with a very similar score line to last year. Toshiba led 12-6 at halftime but the Brave Lupus put in a strong second half performance to stamp their authority on the game. Fullback and man-of-the-match Goshi Tachikawa scored two tries in the second half with the latter bringing up a four try bonus point for his team. Five-eight David Hill contributed three conversions and a penalty.

 

Chiba based side Kubota Spears were back at the Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Ground in Tokyo for the second week in a row when they faced Yamaha Jubilo. Kubota got their season off on the right foot last weekend in round one when they defeated NEC 29-11 on this ground and their lucky omen worked again when they defeated Yamaha 18-11. These two teams played a game that went down to the wire last year with Kubota sneaking home 22-21 and with Yamaha coming off an 18-all draw with Toyota in round one this was another close result. Yamaha fullback Ayumu Goromaru scored all the points for his side against Toyota last week but he did not have the same opportunities against Kubota. Shane Drahm was in fine kicking form for the Spears last week but against Yamaha he missed three penalties while a further three attempts at drop goal went wide. However, the conversion and two penalties that he did kick was a vital difference between these two teams at fulltime.

 

Honda Heat were at home in Suzuka city in Mie prefecture for this important clash with Toyota Verblitz. Honda are playing in Top League for the first time and in round one they held their nerve against Ricoh going down 23-15 after the scores were tied at 3-all at halftime. Toyota were a different proposition for the Heat this round, however, as the Verblitz made amends for the 18-all draw with Yamaha in the opening round last weekend with a convincing seven tries to three 45-19 win. Honda halfback Young-Han Yang put  in a solid performance against Ricoh but he and his team mates did not have as much leeway against Toyota. Toyota have a lot of firepower right across the field and in a battle of the vehicle manufacturers there was more than rugby pride at stake. Toyota brought up an early bonus point with four first half tries taking a 26-7 lead into the break. Then, Honda fought back to 26-19 with two tries early in the second half, but two sinbinnings throughout the second stanza hurt their chances allowing Toyota to run in a further three tries. Toyota centre Hideki Namba was among the try scorers with two five-pointers.

 

In the first game of a double-header at the Nagai Stadium in Osaka, Osaka based Kintetsu Liners were on familiar territory when they met Kyuden Voltex. Both teams were coming off opening round losses after Kintetsu went down 19-12 to Coca-Cola and Kyuden lost 25-15 to Sanix and so both sides were hungry for a win but it was Kintetsu that came away with the spoils winning 31-3. Last season Kintetsu won this corresponding encounter 29-18 and with this being a hometown game the Liners must have been backing themselves for the win. Kintetsu won promotion back into Top League last year after three years in the regions and finished an impressive ninth with five wins and eighth losses. The team has recruited well in the off-season with former All Blacks Leon MacDonald, Japan centre Shotaro Onishi moving down from Yamaha and former IBM fullback Tadanobu Ko all joining the ranks this year. All-in-all, it was tough for Kyuden with Kintetsu keeping the score ticking over with regular points throughout the match with halfback Chul-Won Kim scoring two of the four tries for the Liners.

 

In the second game at Nagai, Kobe Steelers beat the Fukuoka Sanix Blues 12-9 in a low-scoring match. In the opening round Kobe were also at the Nagai complex where they scrambled a 25-all draw with Suntory after being down 25-12 at one stage early in the second half. On the other hand, Sanix beat Kyuden 25-15 in Fukuoka last weekend to set the wheels in motion for the new season. Last season in Kyoto, Sanix sprung a surprise when they beat Kobe 25-22 after the Steelers had won their first three games and so the men from Kobe were wary not to drop their guard again this time round. However, the result went down to the wire with Kosei Ono giving Sanix a chance with two second half penalties narrowing the difference to 12-9. Nevertheless, the score remained unchanged over a tense final 15 minutes with Kobe holding on for the win.

 

Coca-Cola West Red Sparks and Suntory Sungoliath travelled to Nagasaki prefecture for this round two clash with Suntory winning 46-13. Coca-Cola beat Kintetsu 19-12 last Saturday in Fukuoka and they stayed on the island of Kyushu for the second week in a row. For Suntory, they had to settled for a 25-all draw with Kobe in Osaka in the first round and so this was an important game for the Sungoliath to open their account this season. Suntory won 39-10 last season in Hiroshima but they went down 23-22 the previous season in what was one of only two round losses that year. However, in this game Suntory but on a convincing performance in scoring three tries in each half while restricting Coca-Cola to just one try. Centre Ryan Nicholas landed five from six conversions and also kicked two penalties to guarantee the Sungoliath the win. Fullback Go Aruga also picked up two tries.

 

In the final game of round two, Ricoh Black Rams and Sanyo Wild Knights travelled to Yamagata prefecture as the Knights welcomed the Rams back to Top League. Ricoh gave Sanyo a mighty scare by running up a 22-6 lead late in the first half but after that it was all Sanyo who found their composure to win 44-22. Ricoh won promotion back to Top League this season after one year in the regional Top East competition and they have re-built their operations since suffering relegation. However, Sanyo were the acid test for Ricoh to see how much they have improved. As the Top Challenger in the National Championship last season, Ricoh remarkably won their way through to the semi-finals only to be stopped in their tracks 59-3 by none other than Sanyo and so that game would have provided valuable lessons for head coach Todd Louden, his coaching staff and players. Nevertheless, it was always going to be a tall order for newly promoted Ricoh to topple Sanyo who went on to claim the National Championship title last year as well as finish as Top League runner-up to Toshiba in the Microsoft Cup final. Sanyo fullback Atsushi Tanabe converted all five tries as well as kicking three penalties in helping his side to the win.

 

 

2009-10 Japan Rugby Top League Round Two

 

Team

P

W

L

D

F

A

Diff

BP1

BP2

Pts

1

Sanyo

2

2

0

0

68

40

28

1

-

9

2

Kubota

2

2

0

0

47

22

25

-

-

8

3

Suntory

2

1

0

1

71

38

33

1

-

7

4

Toyota

2

1

0

1

63

37

26

1

-

7

5

Kintetsu

2

1

1

0

43

22

21

1

1

6

6

Toshiba

2

1

1

0

47

30

17

1

1

6

7

Kobe

2

1

0

1

37

34

3

-

-

6

8

Sanix

2

1

1

0

34

27

7

-

1

5

9

Ricoh

2

1

1

0

45

59

-14

-

-

4

10

Coca-Cola

2

1

1

0

32

58

-26

-

-

4

11

Yamaha

2

0

1

1

29

36

-7

-

1

3

12

Honda

2

0

2

0

34

68

-34

-

-

0

13

Kyuden

2

0

2

0

18

56

-38

-

-

0

14

NEC

2

0

2

0

17

58

-41

-

-

0

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).

The top four finishers qualify for the Microsoft Cup 2010, the finals series for the 2009-10 Top League season.

The top four finishers automatically qualify for the 47th National Championship 2010 with the teams that finish 5th to 10th playing off to determine the final 2 Top League teams.

The bottom two finishers are automatically relegated to regional leagues for the 2010-11 season.

The teams that finish 11th and 12th go through the promotion and relegation play-offs against regional challengers to retain their places in Top League for 2010-11.

 

 

Round 1 Man-of-the-match Awards

Date

Teams

Score

Teams

Ground

MOTM

Fri. 4 Sep. 09

Sanyo

24-18

Toshiba

Chichibu, Tokyo

Tony BROWN,

Five-eighth

Sat. 5 Sep. 09

Ricoh

23-15

Honda

Chichibu, Tokyo

Stephen LARKHAM,

Fullback

 

NEC

11-29

Kubota

Chichibu, Tokyo

Shane DRAHM,

Five-eighth

 

Toyota

18-18

Yamaha

Mizuho Stadium, Nagoya

No award for draw

 

Kobe

25-25

Suntory

Nagai Stadium, Osaka

No award for draw

 

Coca-Cola

19-12

Kintetsu

Level 5, Fukuoka

Shaun WEBB,

Fullback

 

Sanix

25-15

Kyuden

Level 5, Fukuoka

Kaname NISHIBATA,

No.8

 

 

Round 2 Man-of-the-match Awards

Date

Teams

Score

Teams

Ground

MOTM

Sat. 12 Sep. 09

NEC

6-29

Toshiba

Kashiwanoha, Chiba

Goshi TACHIKAWA,

Fullback

 

Kubota

18-11

Yamaha

Chichibu, Tokyo

Shane DRAHM,

Five-eighth

 

Honda

18-45

Toyota

Suzuka, Mie

Takashi KIKUTANI,

No.8

 

Kintetsu

31-3

Kyuden

Nagai Stadium, Osaka

Chul-Won KIM,

Halfback

 

Kobe

12-9

Sanix

Nagai Stadium, Osaka

Daisuke OHATA,

Wing

 

Coca-Cola

13-46

Suntory

Nagasaki

Juntaro TAKEMOTO,

No.8

Sun. 13 Sep. 09

Ricoh

22-44

Sanyo

Yamagata

Seiichi SHIMOMURA,

Centre

 

 

Leading Point Scorers

Sanyo fullback Atsushi Tanabe has jumped to the top of the point scorers list after round two with 33 points.

 

 

Name

Team

T

G

PG

DG

Pts

1

Atsushi Tanabe

Sanyo

-

6

7

-

33

2

Ryan Nicholas

Suntory

-

8

3

-

25

3

Ayumu Goromaru

Yamaha

-

-

8

-

24

4

Tadanobu Ko

Kintetsu

-

4

5

-

23

5

Shane Drahm

Kubota

-

2

5

1

22

6

Shaun Webb

Coca-Cola

-

1

6

-

20

6

Yoshimitsu Kawano

Ricoh

-

4

3

1

20

8

David Hill

Toshiba

-

4

3

-

17

9

Kosei Ono

Sanix

-

2

4

-

16

10

Dustin Cooper

Toyota

-

-

5

-

15

 

 

 

 

Top League Profiles 2009-10 - (3) Suntory Sungoliath

http://www.suntory.co.jp/culture-sports/sungoliath/

 

Established: Suntory was established in 1980. Suntory is based in the western Tokyo area of Fuchu. The team mascot is a gorilla. For the moniker Sungoliath, “Sun” refers to the sun in the sky and “Goliath” refers to the giant namesake in the David and Goliath story. The team slogan for 2009-10 is, like the last few years, “ALIVE”.

 

The Company: beverage maker of such consumables as beer, whiskey and a variety of waters, soft drinks and coffees.

 

Titles:

Top League

From the 2003-4 season to the 2005-6 season the team that finished on top of the table claimed the Top League (TL) title. From the 2006-7 season to present, the top four finishers on the TL ladder progress to the Microsoft Cup, the play-off series to determine the overall TL champion

2008-9: 3rd on table on 51 points with 10 wins & 3 losses.

2007-8: 2nd on table on 53 points with 10 wins, a draw & 2 losses.

2006-7: 2nd on table on 56 points with 11 wins & 2 losses.

2005-6: 6th on 32 points with 6 wins & 5 losses.

2004-5: 8th on 24 points with 4 wins & 7 losses.

2003-4: 4th on 37 points with 8 wins & 3 losses.

 

Microsoft Cup

From 2007 the Microsoft Cup (MC) has acted as the play-off finals series to determine the overall Top League (TL) champion with the top four finishers on the TL ladder progressing to the MC. From 2004~6 the MC was a separate knock-out tournament for the top 8 finishers in TL.

2009: Knocked out by Sanyo 32-22 in semi-final.

2008: Champion. Beat Toyota 33-10 in semi-final. Beat Sanyo 14-10 in final.

2007: Runner-up. Beat Yamaha 40-39 in semi-final. Lost to Toshiba 13-14 in final.

2006: Runner-up. Beat Yamaha 35-17 in first round & Kubota 44-25 in semi-final. Lost to Toshiba 16-33 in final.

2005: Knocked out by eventual champion Toshiba 13-33 in first round.

2004: Knocked out by eventual champion NEC 5-32 in first round.

 

National Championship – twice (2002 & 1996);

2009 (10 teams): Runner-up. Beat Kubota 62-17 in first round, beat Waseda University 59-20 in second round and then won by default in the semi-final after Toshiba withdrew from the Championship over a doping scandal involving wing Christian Loamanu. Lost to Sanyo 24-16 in final.

2008 (8 teams): Runner-up. Beat Toshiba 47-24 in SF. Lost to Sanyo 40-18 in final.

2007 (8 teams): Lost to Toyota 17-39 in semi-final.

2006 (8 teams): DNQ as only top 4 TL teams qualified.

2005 (8 teams): DNQ as only top 4 TL teams qualified.

2004 (22 teams): Knocked out 27-34 by NEC.

 

Corporate Champions – 3 times (2003, 2002 & 1996 (joint champions with Sanyo after final was drawn 27-all))

 

Colours: Suntory wear a yellow jersey with black flashes through the flanks, black shorts and socks. Their second jersey is predominately white with yellow flashes through the flanks.

 

Style of Play: Suntory are set for more big things again this year with a well balanced set-up both on and off the field. The catalyst of head coach Katsuyuki Kiyomiya as the great reformer, now in his fourth year is one of the driving force behind Suntory, while he is joined by former Wallabies coach Eddie Jones who has taken on more of a prominent role this year as general manager. Kiyomiya is gaining the reputation as a wonder coach after five highly successful years at Waseda University, and he is slowly converting that success to the more competitive corporate Top League competition. His presence at Suntory has also attracted the very cream of graduating university players over his time with the club. The signings of university players read like a who’s who of the stars over the past four seasons. Former Waseda captain and backrower Takamichi Sasaki, former KGU captain and fullback Go Aruga, Hosei lock Koji Shinozuka and big Nihon University wing Takeshi Fujiwara are just a few names. Five-eighth Yoshinori Sogabe joined Suntory from Waseda too, while prop Kensuke Hatakeyama also played with Waseda. Kiyomiya is certainly applying the Waseda philosophy of smart attacking Rugby to Suntory.

 

Kiyomiya has kept his thoughts simple for the 2009-10 season with fitness, defence and the breakdown key words in his vocabulary.

 

Players to Watch:

Suntory pride themselves on their attack. With the likes of the 2007-8 Top League MVP Hirotoki Onozawa on the wing and Ryan Nicholas and Koji Taira in the centres with Go Aruga at the back they will be troubling many an opposition try line this season. Also adding spark in the backline is halfback and sometimes wing Shuetsu Narita who puts his Sevens experience to great use while Yoshinori Sogabe keeps the opposition guessing when he is at five-eighth.

 

Suntory also have a big, strong pack with backrower Takamichi Sasaki taking over the captaincy this season. The set pieces again look stable this year with versatile Koji Shinozuka at lock or on the side of the scrum. One of the strengths in the forwards this season is the front row, with props Akira Ozaki, Yosuke Ikegaya and Kensuke Hatakeyama all gaining international experience over recent seasons while the same applies to hookers Yusuke Aoki and Takashi Yamaoka.

 

Suntory have also acquired a wealth of overseas talent to bolster their ranks. On top of the list is former Australian captain and halfback George Gregan while in the forwards there are Tongan Hale T-Pole and Fijian Tomasi Soqeta. They are joined by South African Wayne van Heerden in the pack while New Zealander Tusi Pisiata is new in the backs this year. New Zealand born centre Ryan Nicholas is now in his fifth season with Suntory and since qualifying on residency grounds he has earned 15 test caps for Japan.

 

Japan Cap holders in the current squad: (13)

Over the course of the 2009 Asian Five Nations series and the 2009 Pacific Nations Cup, hooker Tateo Kanai made his debut for Japan while hooker Yusuke Aoki, wing Hirotoki Onozawa and centres Ryan Nicholas and Koji Taira also took part in the two series. Onozawa played his 50th test against Korea in the A5N this year becoming only the fourth Japanese player to earn fifty caps for Japan behind former centre Yukio Motoki (79), former No8 Takeomi Ito (62) and former wing Daisuke Ohata (58).

 

In the two home tests against the USA in November 2008, tighthead prop Kensuke Hatakeyama made his test debut running on in the No.3 jersey in both tests while hooker Yusuke Aoki and centres Ryan Nicholas and Koji Taira also took part in the series.

 

NZ born centre Ryan Nicholas, lock Koji Shinozuka and props Akira Ozaki and Yosuke Ikegaya debuted for Japan last year in 2008.

 

At the 2007 Rugby World Cup in France, Suntory were represented by veteran wing Hirotoki Onozawa who played in all four games, as No11 against Australia and Wales and came on as No22 against Fiji and Canada. Young flanker/No8 Takamichi Sasaki captained Japan in the opening game against Australia during which he injured his left knee and consequently missed the rest of the Cup. Centre Koji Taira also played in all four games, starting as outside centre against Australia and coming on as a replacement in the other three. Fullback Go Aruga was the run on fullback against Fiji and Canada.

 

Naoya OKUBO 33 y/o, 23 tests in back row and Naoya OKUBO 33 y/o, 6 tests in the back row both retired at the end of last season. (NB: this is not a typo, both names are the same!)

 

Hirotoki ONOZAWA 31 y/o, 52 tests on wing/full-back.

Yusuke AOKI 26 y/o, 18 tests at hooker.

Koji TAIRA 26 y/o, 17 tests at centre.

Ryan NICHOLAS 29 y/o, 15 tests at centre.

Takashi YAMAOKA 33 y/o, 13 tests at hooker.

Go ARUGA 25 y/o, 12 tests at fullback.

Kensuke HATAKEYAMA 24 y/o, 8 tests at tighthead prop.

Takamichi SASAKI 25 y/o, 6 tests at flanker/No8.

Koji SHINOZUKA 26 y/o, 5 tests at lock/flanker.

Tateo KANAI 24 y/o, 4 tests at hooker.

Kiyonori TANAKA 33 y/o, 3 tests at scrum half.

Akira OZAKI 31 y/o, 3 tests at prop.

Yosuke IKEGAYA 30 y/o, 3 tests at tighthead prop.

 

The Coach: Katsuyuki Kiyomiya (42) is now in his fourth year after taking over from Yoji Nagatomo who had the job for the previous three years before that. The charismatic Kiyomiya came to Suntory after 5 years at prestigious Waseda University. At Waseda he took his students to 5 university championship finals, winning three. He had tremendous success at Waseda and back at Suntory he is producing the same sort of results with his old team. In some ways Kiyomiya is going around in circles, that is to say, he learned his rugby as a student at Waseda and then went on to Suntory as a No8. In 1985 Kiyomiya captained the Japan Schoolboys side. While at university as a second year student (1988), Waseda won the university championship title and also went on to win the National Championships with a 22-16 win over Toshiba, the last uni side to do so. He also captained Waseda in his fourth year (1990) as they again won the uni title. As a player at Suntory he was part of the side that won the corporate and national titles in 1996. Upon retiring as a player in 2001 he went back to Waseda as head coach. Thus, Kiyomiya has enjoyed unprecedented success as a player at Waseda and Suntory and then as a coach at Waseda.

 

In a unique move, Kiyomiya has cut his ties as a company man linked to Suntory and signed one-year professional contracts as head coach. Thus, his continued presence as head coach will be totally results driven. If Suntory has a poor year he says he will step aside. Even given moderate success, Kiyomiya will operate on yearly contracts. He also noted that three years is a possible limit as a coach in a professional team, though he is now in his fourth year.

 

The Captain: Backrower Takamichi Sasaki (25) has taken over as the new captain of Suntory for the 2009-10 season. Sasaki is in his fourth season at Suntory and he has the leadership experience behind him to do the job after having captained Japan on two occasions (Against Australia in the 2007 RWC and Australia A in the 2007 Pacific Nations Cup). He was also the captain at Waseda University under present coach Kiyomiya.

 

Centre and Waseda graduate Daigo Yamashita was captain for the three years before Sasaki, who in turn took over from halfback Kiyonori Tanaka who had the job the previous year. Lock Takahiro Hayano had the job for the 2 years before Tanaka.

 

Losses: (7)

Kohei MAEDA 26 y/o, prop, 180/110, To Suntory Foods after 3 years with club.

Naoya OKUBO 33 y/o, 23 tests in back row, 187/100. To Suntory company staff after 10 years with club.

Naoya OKUBO 33 y/o, 6 tests in the back row, 189/101. To Suntory company staff after 10 years with club.

Keiji MORIOKA 30 y/o, wing, 165/70. To Suntory company staff after 7 years with club.

Kwang-Moon LEE (Korea), 26 y/o, flanker/No8, 187/104, after one year with club.

Uche ODUOZA (Eng), 22 y/o, wing, 188/100, after one year with club.

Rocky HAVILI (Tonga) 29 y/o, wing/centre, 180/100. To Ricoh after 2 years with club.

 

Gains: (5)

Wayne van HEERDEN (SA), 30 y/o, lock/backrow, 197/110, S14 Cheetahs.

Shinya MAKABE, 22 y/o, lock/flanker, 192/110, from Chuo Univ. He has represented and captained Japan at U19 level.

Tusi PISIATA (NZ), 27 y/o, utility back, 183/91. S14 Crusaders.

Hiroki MIYAMOTO, 22 y/o, utility back, 174/87, from Doshisha Univ. He has represented Japan at U19 and High School levels.

Reo KISHIWADA, 22 y/o, centre, 180/88, from Hosei Univ. He has represented Japan at U19 and High School levels.

 

Overseas Players & Staff (6 + 4):

Ryan NICHOLAS (NZ) 29 y/o, centre, 192/100, 5th year, NZ Maori, Highlanders S12, 15 caps for Japan.

Hale T-POLE (Tonga), 30 y/o, lock/flanker, 192/110, 2nd year, 15 caps for Tonga & 5 for Pacific Islands. From Ospreys, Wales and formerly S14 Highlanders.

Tomasi SOQETA (Fiji), 26 y/o, No8, 191/120, 2nd year, 3 caps for Fiji.

George GREGAN (Aus), 36 y/o, halfback, 173/76, 2nd year. 1994~2007 139 caps for Wallabies, 1996~2007 Brumbies. From Toulon, France.

Wayne van HEERDEN (SA), 30 y/o, lock/backrow, 197/110, 1st year, S14 Cheetahs.

Tusi PISIATA (NZ), 27 y/o, utility back, 183/91, 1st year, S14 Crusaders.

 

Eddie JONES (Aus), 49 y/o, general manager.

Patrick BYRON, 28 y/o, backs coach.

Jeffrey CUTLER, 26 y/o, translator.

Alama IEREMIA (NZ), 38 y/o adviser.

 

The 2009-10 Squad: (44) The list starts with captain and vice-captains and then continues through forwards and backs in order from props to fullbacks.

Takamichi Sasaki (c). Forwards: Akira Ozaki, Yosuke Ikegaya, Takashi Hayashi, Keita Hasegawa, Shinya Ogawa, Tateo Kanai, Kensuke Hatakeyama, Takashi Yamaoka, Akito Iseda, Yusuke Aoki, Takahiro Hayano, Wayne van Heerden, Hale T-Pole, Takahisa Segawa, Taichi Tahara, Koji Shinozuka, Yuta Sago, Shinya Makabe, Shinki Gen, Kota Kamimura, Junji Takatani, Juntaro Takemoto, Tomasi Soqeta. Backs: George Gregan, Kiyonori Tanaka, Kotaro Tahara, Shuetsu Narita, Shin Kanto, Tusi Pisiata, Naoya Nomura, Yoshinori Sogabe, Hiroki Miyamoto, Ryan Nicholas, Daigo Yamashita, Koji Taira, Go Aruga, Reo Kishiwada, Junichi Hojo, Hirotoki Onozawa, Shumpei Ito, Takeshi Fujiwara, Yasunori Nagatomo, Ryuji Oda. Coach: Katsuyuki Kiyomiya (42).

 

 

The Grubber Kick

The Grubber Kick brings the reader weekly news shorts, gossip and general happenings from the world of Rugby in Japan.

 

IRB ranking on 7 September 2009 - Japan was 14 (68.37).

 

Backchat: It seems injured Wallabies captain Stirling Mortlock paid a visit to Kyuden recently. This is not the first time his name has been linked with Japan as RiJ reported in 2008 (Vol.5 No.5 and Vol.5 No.10) that the rumour had it Mortlock was being offered AUD1.25 million for a three-year deal by an unknown Japanese club. He eventually signed a new two-year deal to stay in Australia with the Wallabies and the Brumbies to take him through to the end of 2010, but it seems the Wallabies captain is now starting to explore his options beyond that point.