RiJ Vol.6 No.44

December 1, 2009

Contact Ian McDonnell at ianmcdo@apost.plala.or.jp

 

 


 

Contents:

¡       Canada Tour to Japan 2009

s     Complete Wrap-up

¡       Japan Rugby Top League 2009-10

s     Round 8

¡       2009-10 Top League Team Profiles

s     (14) Honda (Final)

¡       The Grubber Kick:

s     IRB Ranking: 13 (70.59, 30 November 2009)

s      Backchat:

 

RiJ brings the reader a complete wrap-up of the two-test Canada tour to Japan in November. Then, Top League is back for Round 8 after a month long break with the teams starting to sort themselves out in the run down to the finals series in the New Year. RiJ also finishes off the Top League team profiles for 2009-10 with the fourteenth and final instalment being Honda Heat. Enjoy the read.

 

 

Canada Tour to Japan 2009

 

Tour Test Results

First Test: Japan 46 d Canada 8

 

Japan 46 – Tries: Michael Leitch, Takashi Kikutani, Go Aruga, Alisi Tupuailei, Hirotoki Onozawa, Shota Horie ; Conversions: Shaun Webb 4, James Arlidge ; Penalties: Webb 2 d.

Canada 8 – Try: Nathan Hirayama; Penalty: James Pritchard.

 

Date: Sunday, 15 November 2009.

Venue: Yurtec Stadium, Sendai.

Japan Test Number: 250.

Kick-off: 2:00 PM (local Japan time).

Referee: Keith Brown (NZ).

Conditions: Fine, gusty wind, 17°C. Ground firm and fast.

Attendance: 6,164.

Halftime: Japan 25 – Canada 3.

 

 

Second Test: Japan 27 d Canada 6

 

Japan 27 – Tries: Go Aruga, Kensuke Hatakeyama, Michael Leitch, Ayumu Goromaru; Conversions: Ryan Nicholas, Shaun Webb, ; Penalty: Webb d.

Canada 6 – Penalties: James Pritchard, Ander Monro.

 

Date: Saturday, 21 November 2009.

Venue: Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Ground, Tokyo.

Japan Test Number: 251.

Kick-off: 2:00 PM (local Japan time).

Referee: Vinnie Munro (NZ).

Conditions: Fine, Still, 15°C. Firm, fast ground.

Attendance: 10, 175.

Halftime: Japan 12 – Canada 3.

 

 

Head-to-head

Japan and Canada or British Columbia have met on 26 occasions with Japan winning 13, Canada/British Columbia 10 and there have been three draws.

 

Japan 27 d Canada 6, 21 November 2009, Chichibu, Tokyo, (Test No.251)

Japan 46 d Canada 8, 15 November 2009, Sendai, (Test No.250)

Japan 12 drew with Canada 12, Tuesday, 25 September 2007, Bordeaux, 6th RWC. (Test No.230)

Canada 15 d Japan 10, 29 May 2005, Chichibu, Tokyo, Super Cup final. (Test No.205)

Japan 34 d Canada 21, 30 May 2004, Chichibu, Tokyo, Super Powers Cup final. (Test No.195)

Japan 39 d Canada 7, 8 July 2001, Chichibu, Tokyo, 6th PRC, play-off for 3rd. (Test No.174)

Canada 62 d Japan 18, 15 July 2000, Toronto, 5th PRC. (Test No.167)

Japan 23 d Canada 21, 1 May 1999, Chichibu, Tokyo, 4th PRC. (Test No.153)

Canada 34 d Japan 25, 20 June 1998, Vancouver, 3rd PRC. (Test No.147)

Canada 30 d Japan 22, 3 May 1998, Chichibu, Tokyo, 3rd PRC. (Test No.142)

Canada 42 d Japan 18, 14 June 1997, Vancouver, 2nd PRC. (Test No.140)

Japan 32 d Canada 31, 18 May 1997, Chichibu, Tokyo, 2nd PRC. (Test No.137)

Canada 51 d Japan 30, 13 July 1996, Vancouver, 1st PRC. (Test No.134)

Canada 45 d Japan 18, 9 June 1996, Chichibu, Tokyo, 1st Pacific Rim Championship (PRC). (Test No.131)

Canada 49 d Japan 26, 11 May 1991, Vancouver. (Test No.110)

Japan 26 d Canada 21, 7 June 1986, Vancouver. (Test No.89)

Japan 16 d Canada 6, 18 April 1982, Chichibu, Tokyo. (Test No.72)

Japan 24 d Canada 18, 11 April 1982, Hanazono, Osaka. (Test No.71)

British Columbia 38 d Japan 7, 12 May 1976, Vancouver. (Test No.51)

Japan 32 d British Columbia 3, 22 March 1970, Chichibu, Tokyo. (Test No.31)

Japan 33 d British Columbia 6, 13 April 1963, Vancouver. (Test No.22)

Japan 11 drew with Canada (British Columbia) 11, 22 March 1959, Chichibu, Tokyo. (Test No.19)

Canada (British Columbia) 21 d Japan 17, 15 March 1959, Hanazono, Osaka. (Test No.18)

Japan 38 d Canada 5, 11 February 1932, Meiji Jingu, Tokyo. (Test No.3)

Japan 9 d Canada 8, 31 January 1932, Hanazono, Osaka. (Test No.2)

Japan 3 drew with British Columbia 3, 24 September 1930, Vancouver. (Test No.1)

 

 

Japan Players Used

Canada toured Japan in November 2009 to play two tests against the Japan national side as part of the Lipovitan D Challenge 2009 series. The first test was played in Sendai on Sunday, 15 November with Japan winning 46-8. Japan made a clean sweep of the series with a hard-fought 27-6 win in the second test played in Tokyo on Saturday, 21 November.

 

During this two-test series, 25 players were used from the original extended squad with 5 players making their international debuts for Japan including hookers Shota Horie, and Takeshi Kizu, locks Daniel Quate and Shinya Makabe and centre Alisi Tupuailei. Horie started in both tests in the No.2 jersey while 21-year-old Tokai University student Kizu made his debut from the bench late in the second test. New Zealand born Quate debuted from the bench in the first test while former Japan U19 captain Makabe now in his first year of senior rugby with Suntory ran on for the final 15 minutes of the second test. Tupuailei replaced the injured Koji Taira in the centres at half time in the first test and then started in the second test after Taira failed to recover in time.

 

In this current squad, Hitoshi Ono is the most capped forward with 37 caps while No8 and captain Takashi Kikutani is next with 28 caps. In the backs, veteran left wing Hirotoki Onozawa is the most capped player in the squad with 54 caps while right wing Kosuke Endo is next with 25 caps.

 

Position

Name

Club

Age

Hgt/Wgt

Sendai

Tokyo

Caps

Loose head props

Naoki KAWAMATA

Sanyo

24

184/118

1

1

5

 

Hisateru HIRASHIMA

Kobe

26

180/115

17

17

10

Hookers

Shota HORIE

Sanyo

23

180/104

2

2

2

 

Yoshimitsu YASUE

Kobe

25

175/100

(16)

-

2

 

Takeshi KIZU

Tokai Univ.

21

183/110

-

16

1

Tight head props

Kensuke HATAKEYAMA

Suntory

24

178/122

3

3

10

Locks

Hitoshi ONO

Toshiba

31

192/105

4

4

37

 

Toshizumi KITAGAWA

Toyota

28

195/105

5

5

25

 

Daniel QUATE

Toyota

29

195/111

18

-

1

 

Shinya MAKABE

Suntory

22

192/110

-

18

1

Flankers

Michael LEITCH

Tokai Univ.

21

189/99

6

6

9

 

Phil O’REILLY

Yokogawa

29

190/105

7

7

11

 

Toetu’u TAUFA

Kintetsu

28

183/105

19

19

9

No8

Takashi KUKUTANI

Toyota

28

187/100

8 (c)

8 (c)

28

Halfbacks

Tomoki YOSHIDA

Toshiba

27

171/78

9

9

20

 

Yuki YATOMI

Yamaha

24

176/83

20

(20)

13

Five-eighths

Shaun WEBB

Coca-Cola

27

180/90

10

10

16

 

James ARLIDGE

Newport (Wales)

30

187/93

22

21

16

Centres

Ryan NICHOLAS

Suntory

30

192/100

12

12

17

 

Koji TAIRA

Suntory

26

185/88

13

-

18

 

Alisi TUPUAILEI

Honda

29

187/116

21

13

2

Wings

Hirotoki ONOZAWA

Suntory

31

180/87

11

11

54

 

Kosuke ENDO

Toyota

29

186/92

14

14

25

 

Ayumu GOROMARU

Yamaha

23

185/98

-

22

10

Fullback

Go ARUGA

Suntory

25

175/84

15

15

14

 

Cap counts are as of 25 November 2009 and include both tests in this series.

The Sendai column indicates the first test played on Sunday, 15 November at the Yurtec Stadium in Sendai.

The Tokyo column indicates the second test played on Saturday, 21 November at the Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Ground in Tokyo.

The numbers one through 22 in the Sendai and Tokyo columns indicate the jersey numbers worn by the respective players. Numbers in brackets indicate an unused reserve.

No8 Takashi Kikutani was captain of Japan for the first time in the equivalent series against the USA last November and he has now led Japan in the past 12 tests.

Head Coach John Kirwan has now been in charge of Japan in 33 tests after his initial appointment on 1 January 2007. His record as coach is 17 wins, a draw and 15 losses.

 

 

Japan 2009 Test Results

Canada Tour to Japan

Japan 27 - 6 Canada, Saturday, 21 November 2009, Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Ground, Tokyo. (Test No. 251)

Japan 46 - 8 Canada, Sunday, 15 November 2009, Yurtec Stadium, Sendai. (Test No. 250)

 

2009 ANZ Pacific Nations Cup

Fiji 40 - Japan 39, Friday, 3 July 2009, National Stadium, Suva, Fiji. (Test No. 249)

Japan 21 - Tonga 19, Saturday, 27 June 2009, Churchill Park, Lautoka, Fiji. (Test No. 248)

Junior All Blacks 52 - Japan 21, Tuesday, 23 June 2009, Churchill Park, Lautoka, Fiji. (Test No. 247)

Samoa 34 - Japan 15, Thursday, 18 June 2009, Lawaqa Park, Sigatoka, Fiji. (Test No. 246)

 

Queensland Reds 24 - Japan XV 17, Wednesday,10 June 2009, Ballymore Stadium, Brisbane. (Non-test)

 

HSBC Asian Five Nations 2009

Singapore 15 - Japan 45, Sunday, 23 May 2009, Singapore. (Test No. 245)

Japan 80 - Korea 9, Sunday, 16 May 2009, Hanazono, Osaka. (Test No. 244)

Hong Kong 6 - Japan 59, Sunday, 2 May 2009, Hong Kong. (Test No. 243)

Japan 87 - Kazakhstan 10, Sunday, 25 April 2009, Hanazono, Osaka. (Test No. 242)

 

 

Japan Point Scorers in 2009

Below is a list of the point scorers for Japan in the ten tests played in 2009.

 

Five-eight or fullback Shaun Webb was the leading point scorer over the year with 73 points from 6 tries, 17 conversions and 3 penalties. Inside centre Ryan Nicholas was next on 60 points from 2 tries, 22 conversions and 2 penalties. Fullback/wing Jack Tarrant, wing Hirotoki Onozawa and backrower Takashi Kikutani were the leading try scorers with seven 5-pointers each.

 

Name

T

C

P

Total

Shaun WEBB

6

17

3

73

Ryan NICHOLAS

2

22

2

60

Jack TARRANT

7

-

-

35

Hirotoki ONOZAWA

7

-

-

35

Takashi KIKUTANI

7

-

-

35

Ayumu GOROMARU

4

2

-

24

Yuta IMAMURA

4

-

-

20

James ARLIDGE

-

3

4

18

Hiroki YOSHIDA

1

5

-

15

Hitoshi ONO

3

-

-

15

Kensuke HATAKEYAMA

3

-

-

15

Michael LEITCH

3

-

-

15

Yusuke AOKI

2

 

-

10

Koji TAIRA

2

-

-

10

Go ARUGA

2

-

-

10

Yoshitaka NAKAMURA

1

-

-

5

Naoki KAWAMATA

1

-

-

5

Yuki YATOMI

1

-

-

5

Luke THOMPSON

1

-

-

5

Bryce ROBINS

1

-

-

5

Fumiaki TANAKA

1

-

-

5

Masakazu TOYOTA

1

-

-

5

Toetu’u TAUFA

1

-

-

5

Alisi TUPUAILEI

1

-

-

5

Shota HORIE

1

-

-

5

 

 

 

 

TOP LEAGUE

 

2009-10 Round 8

 

Round 8

Date

Teams

Score

Teams

K/0

Venue

Sat, 28 Nov 2009

Sanyo (7Ts)

50-5

Kobe (1T)

14:00

Chichibu, Tokyo

Sun, 29 Nov 2009

NEC (2Ts)

15-41

Suntory (6Ts)

13:00

Kashiwanoha, Chiba

 

Toyota (4Ts)

26-0

Kubota

12:00

Hanazono, Osaka

 

Kintetsu (3Ts)

19-25

Ricoh (3Ts)

14:00

Hanazono, Osaka

 

Yamaha (4Ts)

32-13

Coca-Cola (1T)

13:00

Okayama

 

Sanix (3Ts)

22-33

Toshiba (5Ts)

12:00

Kagoshima

 

Kyuden (4Ts)

25-39

Honda (6Ts)

14:00

Kagoshima

 

 

Round Eight Preview

In the only Saturday game of Round 8, Sanyo Wild Knights are at the Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Ground in Tokyo to take on the challenge of Kobe Steelers. Sanyo have won all seven of their opening games and sit two points clear of Suntory on top of the table on 33 points and they will be wanting to retain their top spot at the expense of Kobe. On the other hand, Kobe are precariously clinging on to fourth place on 21 points ahead of a group of three teams on 20 points. The Steelers will have to hit the ground running after the break over November if they are to pull off a surprise win over the Knights and keep their place in the top four.

 

On Sunday, NEC Green Rockets are on home territory at the Kashiwanoha Stadium in Chiba for this important clash with Suntory Sungoliath. For NEC, the Rockets will have to turn over a new page for the second half of the season as they sit in twelfth place on the table with just the one win after the first seven rounds. Suntory have the best attack and defence in the league and so the combined efforts of the NEC squad will be called upon if they are to come away with a win. Suntory have had six wins and a draw so far and with only two points separating them and Sanyo on the top of the table the possibility of heading the table should Sanyo falter against Kobe will be high motivation.

 

Toyota Verblitz play Kubota Spears in the first game of a double header at the Kintetsu Hanazono Rugby Ground in Osaka. Toyota and Kubota are locked on 20 competition points each leading into this round and a win will be essential for both these sides if they are to maintain pace with the front runners. This game promises to be close and for Toyota a lot will depend on how locks Toshizumi Kitagawa and Daniel Quate, No8 Takashi Kikutani and wing Kosuke Endo pull up after being involved in the two tests against Canada earlier this month. Endo in particular left the field in the first half of the second test with a strained knee and his condition will be of concern to Toyota over the second half of the domestic season. On the other hand, Kubota should be fresh and raring to go as they had no players involved in the tests.

 

In the second game at Hanazono, Kintetsu Liners are at home to take on Ricoh Black Rams. Kintetsu and Ricoh are close on the points table but both sides will be wanting to come away with a win from this encounter in order to push above the promotion and relegation zone that comes with the bottom four finishers at the end of the season. Last season, Kintetsu finished ninth in Top League after playing the previous three seasons in the Kansai regional league. The Liners are currently in tenth place but they will be looking to improve on that with a win over Ricoh. The Black Rams too know what relegation is like as they spent last season playing in the Kanto based Top East league before winning promotion back into the major division this year. Ricoh are a revitalised side in 2009-10 but against Kintetsu on their home ground the Liners will also be going all out for the win.

 

In Okayama on Sunday afternoon, Yamaha Jubilo play Coca-Cola West Red Sparks. Jubilo recently announced that they will not be offering professional contracts next season and so the Shizuoka based side will be hoping to maximise their resources over the second half of this season. Yamaha are in fifth place on a crowded mid table prior to this round and a final four finish is not beyond them if they play to their full potential over the final six rounds. However, Coca-Cola can leapfrog Yamaha on the table if they can come up with their fifth win of the season. The prospects of a close tussle in this encounter should ensure a good crowd shows up at the Momotaro Stadium in Okayama city in the prefecture of the same name.

 

Fukuoka Sanix Blues play Toshiba Brave Lupus in the first game of a double header at the Kamoike Stadium in Kagoshima in southern Kyushu. Sanix need the win in order to push them further up the table as the Blues have had three wins and four losses from the opening seven rounds. They may feel they deserve to be better placed but Toshiba are going to be very tough opponents to overcome. The Brave Lupus have had five wins and two losses but they have picked up an extra seven bonus points and consequently they sit in third place on the table.

 

In the second game at Kagoshima, Kyuden Voltex do battle with Honda Heat. Both these sides are winless after seven rounds and so one of these teams will come away with a win for the first time this season. Kyuden have struggled in the opening rounds of the 2009-10 season losing all seven games and they currently sit in last place on the table. Although there is still a long way to go in the season, another loss will start to bring the prospect of relegation to the fore and this should be enough motivation for the Voltex to break the drought and chalk up their first win of the year. The same can also be said for Honda, a team that won promotion to Top League for the very first time this season and so this should set up a closely fought contest.

 

Round 8 Wrap-up

After eight rounds of the 2009-10 Top League season only Sanyo have collected eight wins. They sit on top of the table on 38 points followed by undefeated Suntory in second place on 36 points from seven wins and a draw with the top two positions remaining unchanged this week. Toshiba are on 32 points in third place, while Yamaha and Toyota are both on 25 points as they continue their steady rise through the field. After the loss to Sanyo on Saturday Kobe stay on 21 points but drop from fourth to sixth while Kubota are on 20 points in seventh place. Ricoh are the big improvers this round after beating Kintetsu in Osaka on Sunday and they jump from eleventh to eighth on 17 points ahead of Coca-Cola on differential. Sanix are in tenth place on 16 points followed by Kintetsu in eleventh place on 15 points. NEC stay in twelfth place on nine points after their loss to Suntory while Honda are in clear thirteenth place on 6 points after they beat Kyuden. Kyuden now sit alone at the bottom off the table on 2 competition points.

 

 

In the only Saturday game of Round 8, Sanyo Wild Knights were at the Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Ground in Tokyo where they beat Kobe Steelers 50-5. Sanyo have won all eight of their opening games and sit two points clear of Suntory on top of the table on 38 points and they retained their top spot at the expense of Kobe. On the other hand, Kobe remain on 21 points from four wins, a draw and three losses and drop to sixth place. Sanyo played their open style of running rugby that saw them run in seven tries to one. The Knights led 22-0 at the break after tries to flanker Daishi Wakamatsu, wing Takashi Miyake and hooker Shota Horie. Sanyo carried on with the job in the second half with four more tires with Miyake picking up a double, No8 Koliniasi Ryu Holani crossing twice while right wing Tomoki Kitagawa adding to his season total. Replacement hooker Yoshimitsu Yasue scored the only points for Kobe with a try late in the game.

 

On Sunday, NEC Green Rockets were on home territory at the Kashiwanoha Stadium in Chiba for this important clash with Suntory Sungoliath. However, the home ground advantage was not enough to stop an inform Suntory who took the game 41-15 after leading 17-3 at halftime. For NEC, they will have to turn over a new page for the second half of the season as they sit in twelfth place on the table with just the one win after the first eight rounds. Suntory have the best attack and defence in the league and the attack was well and truly on display in this game with the Sungoliath running in six tries with international wing Hirotoki Onozawa picking up a double. Suntory were leading 41-3 with ten minutes to play but NEC pegged back the score with two late tries.

 

Toyota Verblitz beat Kubota Spears 26-0 in the first game of a double header at the Kintetsu Hanazono Rugby Ground in Osaka. Toyota and Kubota were locked on 20 competition points each leading into this round and a win was essential for both these sides if they are to maintain pace with the front runners. Toyota scored three first half tries through No8 Takashi Kikutani, veteran centre Hideki Namba and flanker Yoshitaka Nakayama with five-eighth Orene Ai’i converting all three tries to help the Verblitz to a 21-0 halftime lead. Wing Steven Yates scored early in the second half to bring up the four try bonus point but that was to be the last points scored in the match as Toyota kept the Spears scoreless to take the game 26-0.

 

In the second game at Hanazono, Kintetsu Liners were at home to take on Ricoh Black Rams but the visitors from Tokyo went on to take the game 25-19. Kintetsu and Ricoh were close on the points table but the win allows Ricoh to leapfrog Kintetsu and the Rams now must be aiming to push above the promotion and relegation zone that comes with the bottom four finishers at the end of the season. Kintetsu took an early 7-0 lead after a try to wing Kazuki Sakamoto converted by five-eighth Shotaro Onishi before Ricoh responded with first half tries to wing Yusuke Kobuki and five-eighth Yoshimitsu Kawano. Kawano missed one of the conversions but he added a penalty as Ricoh went to the break leading 15-7. From that point the Rams were never headed as they stretched the lead to 22-7 early in the second half before Kintetsu scrambled back into the game. The Liners have cut down big second half deficits several times this season and although they scored two tries to get within 25-19 with four minutes remaining on the clock, today was not another fairytale ending as Ricoh held on to take the points.

 

In Okayama on Sunday afternoon, Yamaha Jubilo beat Coca-Cola West Red Sparks 32-13. Jubilo recently announced that they will not be offering professional contracts next season and so the Shizuoka based side will be hoping to maximise their resources over the second half of this season. Yamaha were in fifth place on a crowded mid table prior to this round and a final four finish is not beyond them if they play to their full potential over the final rounds. Yamaha scored four tries to pick up a valuable bonus point in what was their fourth win of the season. Fullback Ayumu Goromaru, fresh back from international duty against Canada, kept the scoreboard ticking over with three conversions and two penalties. Yamaha led 25-6 early in the second half before Coca-Cola got back to 25-13. However, wing Shinji Nakazono put the result beyond down when he touched down for the bonus point try on the hour mark.

 

Fukuoka Sanix Blues went down to Toshiba Brave Lupus 33-22 in the first game of a double header at the Kamoike Stadium in Kagoshima in southern Kyushu after leading 15-14 at halftime. Sanix needed the win in order to push further up the table as the Blues have had three wins and four losses from the opening seven rounds. However, Toshiba were always going to be very tough opponents to overcome and that proved to be the case as the Brave Lupus scored three second half tries to be ahead 33-15 at one stage. Sanix rallied at the end with replacement back Pila Fifita dotting down near the end of the game but it was too little too late. Wings Nataniela Oto and captain Toshiaki Hirose were among the try scorers for Toshiba.

 

In the second game at Kagoshima, Kyuden Voltex went down to Honda Heat 39-25. Both these sides were winless after seven rounds and so Kyuden remain the only side not to chalk up a win so far this season. Kyuden are struggling in the 2009-10 season and they have now lost all eight games and consequently sit in last place on the table. Although there is still a long way to go, the prospect of relegation must be coming to the fore at Voltex. The same can also be said for Honda, a team that won promotion to Top League for the very first time this season but the bonus point win edges them closer to NEC in twelfth place. In a high scoring game in which ten tries were scored, Honda came from 10-3 down midway through the first half to take a 15-10 lead into halftime. Although Kyuden evened up the scores early in the second half when wing Katsuya Yoshida scored his second try of the afternoon, Honda responded with two tries of their own to pull away 29-15. The tit-for-tat was not finished there as Kyuden then added two unconverted tries to narrow the difference to 29-25 with five minutes to play. Honda made the most of the remaining time with further tries to captain Masahiko Kimura and lock Atsushi Tsukamoto as the Heat claimed their first win in Top League.

 

 

2009-10 Japan Rugby Top League Round Eight

 

Team

P

W

L

D

F

A

Diff

BP1

BP2

Pts

1

Sanyo

8

8

0

0

358

103

255

6

-

38

2

Suntory

8

7

0

1

361

106

255

6

-

36

3

Toshiba

8

6

2

0

247

134

113

6

2

32

4

Yamaha

8

4

2

2

223

157

66

3

1

25

5

Toyota

8

5

2

1

211

164

47

3

-

25

6

Kobe

8

4

2

1

170

184

-14

2

1

21

7

Kubota

8

4

4

0

184

180

4

2

2

20

8

Ricoh

8

4

4

0

177

236

-59

1

-

17

9

Coca-Cola

8

4

4

0

161

245

-84

1

-

17

10

Sanix

8

3

5

0

164

232

-68

2

2

16

11

Kintetsu

8

2

5

1

142

205

-63

3

2

15

12

NEC

8

1

7

0

127

204

-77

1

4

9

13

Honda

8

1

7

0

143

306

-163

1

1

6

14

Kyuden

8

0

8

0

106

318

-212

1

1

2

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.

 

 

Leading Point Scorers

After round eight, Sanyo fullback Atsushi Tanabe holds onto the top spot on the point scorers list with 122 points.

 

Name

Team

T

G

PG

DG

Pts

1

Atsushi Tanabe

Sanyo

2

35

14

-

122

2

Ryan Nicholas

Suntory

2

30

9

-

97

3

Shane Drahm

Kubota

-

15

13

5

84

4

Ayumu Goromaru

Yamaha

-

19

15

-

83

5

Shaun Webb

Coca-Cola

3

11

15

-

82

5

Yoshimitsu Kawano

Ricoh

1

16

13

2

82

7

David Hill

Toshiba

2

23

7

-

77

8

Tadanobu Ko

Kintetsu

3

8

7

-

52

9

Thinus Delport

Kobe

3

11

4

-

49

10

Tomoki Kitagawa

Sanyo

9

-

-

-

45

10

Hirotoki Onozawa

Suntory

9

-

-

-

45

 

Leading Try Scorers

After round eight, Sanyo wing Tomoki Kitagawa and Suntory wing Hirotoki Onozawa are the leading try scorers with nine tries each.

 

Name

Team

Tries

1

Tomoki Kitagawa

Sanyo

9

1

Hirotoki Onozawa

Suntory

9

3

Yasunori Nagatomo

Suntory

8

4

Shinji Nakazono

Yamaha

7

4

Toshiaki Hirose

Toshiba

7

6

Go Aruga

Suntory

6

6

Yasuhiro Negishi

Kubota

6

6

Takashi Miyake

Sanyo

6

 

 

 

 

Top League Profiles 2009-10: (14) Honda Heat

http://www.honda-heat.jp/

 

Established: Honda rugby was formed in 1961 and is based in Suzuka city in Mie prefecture. The full name for the team is Honda Heat with the heat referring to the heat and passion of all concerned with Honda rugby both on and off the field. The team slogan for 2009-10 is: “ALL FOR WIN”.

 

The Company: Major manufacturer of cars and motorbikes.

 

Titles:

Top League

2008-9 (14 teams): DNP.

2007-8 (14 teams): DNP.

2006-7 (14 teams): DNP.

2005-6 (12 teams): DNP.

2004-5 (12 teams): DNP.

2003-4 (12 teams): DNP.

 

Microsoft Cup

From 2004 to 2006 the Microsoft Cup (MC) was a separate knock-out tournament for the top 8 finishers in TL. From 2007 the MC has acted as the play-off finals series to determine the overall TL champion with the top four finishers on the TL ladder progressing to the MC.

2009: DNP.

2008: DNP.

2007: DNP.

2006: DNP.

2005: DNP.

2004: DNP.

 

National Championship – none.

2009 (10 teams): DNP.

2008 (8 teams): DNP.

2007 (8 teams): DNP.

2006 (8 teams): DNP.

2005 (8 teams): DNP.

2004 (22 teams): DNP.

 

Corporate Champions –

 

Colours: Black jersey with red flashes through the flanks, black shorts and socks. The second jersey is white with red flashes through the flanks.

 

Style of Play: This is the first time for Honda to play in Top League and so, by-and-large, not a lot is known about the style of play of the team. Honda played in the six team Top West A league in 2008-9 and they won all five of their round games before again beating Toyota Jido Shokki and World in the finals series to take top spot in the league. This qualified them for the three-way promotion play-off as the Top West A representative against Ricoh as the representative from Top East 11 and Mazda as the representative of Top Kyushu A. Honda lost to Ricoh 54-20 but beat Mazda 60-25 to finish second in the play-offs. This was enough as the top two sides were automatically promoted to Top League for the 2009-10 season to replace IBM and Yokogawa who were automatically relegated for finishing in the last two places in the 2008-9 Top League season.

 

It is a huge step up for most of the players in the Honda squad as very few have Top League or representative experience and so the pressure is on from the very beginning to hit the ground running in an effort to avoid relegation at the end of the season. In some ways, Honda are caught between a rock and a hard place as there will be no easy games in Top League for the newcomers. Honda will have to guarantee their set piece is competitive while at the same time defence is going to be another key area of their game against sides that are bigger, stronger, faster and far more skilful than what they came up against in Top West. Scoring points is also going to be an issue, as if their attack is not up to scratch wins are going to be hard to come by.

 

Players to Watch: As noted above, there are very few players in the Honda squad with Top League or representative experience so a lot of weight falls onto the shoulders of the overseas players and those local players who have played in Top League with other clubs and or have some kind of representative experience.

 

In the former category, that is overseas players, five-eighth Gene Fairbanks has Super 14 experience with the Reds and Brumbies while No8 Warren Smith and centre Alisi Tupuailei have NPC backgrounds in New Zealand. Korean halfback Young-Hun Yang has 20 caps for Korea and his experience will also be valuable throughout the season.

 

In the latter category, that is local players, former Sanyo lock Tsuyoshi Sato is now in his third year with Honda and he also has nine caps for Japan, while former Yamaha centre Atsushi Moriya with seven caps for Japan is in his second season with the Heat. Exciting young wing Akihito Yamada decided to throw his name in the ring with Honda when he could have easily joined a far more high profile club. Yamada is now in his second season at Suzuka after gaining prominence at the prestigious Keio University. He has represented Japan at age group levels and also at Sevens and he will be an important go to man in the backs. Wing Yuki Suematsu and centre Alisi Tupuailei have also represented Japan at Sevens.

 

Cap holders for Japan in the current squad: (2)

There were no representatives from Honda in the 2009 Asian Five Nations (A5N) tournament, or the 2009 edition of the Pacific Nations Cup (PNC).

In the two home tests against the USA in November 2008, Honda were not represented.

There were no representatives from Honda in the inaugural Asian Five Nations (A5N) tournament in 2008, or the 2008 edition of the Pacific Nations Cup (PNC).

 

Tsuyoshi SATO 32 y/o, 9 caps at lock.

Atsushi MORIYA 27 y/o, 7 caps at centre.

 

The Coach: Australian John Sherratt (45) was appointed the new head coach for the 2009-10 season after being backs coach last season. He also has Tai McIssac assisting him as forwards coach.

 

The Captain: The captain for the 2009-10 season is wing, fullback Masahiko Kimura (25). He is in his fourth season with Honda after graduating from Teikyo University. Kimura has been the team’s MVP for the past two seasons and he has also played in every competition game over the past two years. At 166cms and 82kgs he can be considered small on today’s standard of player, even in Japan but he makes up for it with speed, power and toughness. Flanker Tadashi Kitagawa is the vice-captain while lock Naoyuki Sunaga is the forwards leader and five-eighth Daisuke Konishi is the backs leader.

 

Losses: (9)

Losses for Honda include the Australians No8 Cameron Pither and centre Sam Harris.

 

Gains: (9)

Masahiro ODA, 22 y/o, prop, 187/120. From Hosei Univ.

Shu KAMATA, 22 y/o, prop, 170/103. From Hosei Univ.

Goki AMANO, 22 y/o, hooker, 174/109. From Teikyo Univ. He has represented Japan at U19 level.

Atsushi TSUKAMOTO, 22 y/o, lock, 189/109. From Meiji Univ.

Daniel LINDE (Aus) 21 y/o, No8, 193/108, Queensland University.

Gene FAIRBANKS (Aus), 26 y/o, five-eighth, 175/84. S14 Reds & Brumbies.

Kosuke KAWADE 22 y/o, centre, 178/92. From Teikyo Univ.

Tetsuro KAMATA 22 y/o, wing, 184/87. From Teikyo Univ.

Yuki TANIGUCHI 23 y/o, fullback, 180/85. From Teikyo Univ.

 

Overseas Players & Staff: (6 + 2)

Alisi TUPUAILEI (Samoa) 28 y/o, centre, 187/116, 6th year. He has represented Japan at Sevens.

Tupuosi PONGI (Tonga) 27 y/o, No8, 187/107, 4th year.

Young-Hun YANG (Korea), 28 y/o, halfback, 176/80, 3rd year, 20 caps for Korea.

Warren SMITH (NZ) 27 y/o, No8, 195/113, 2nd year, NPC Otago, Bay of Plenty.

Daniel LINDE (Aus) 21 y/o, No8, 193/108, 1st year, Queensland University.

Gene FAIRBANKS (Aus), 26 y/o, five-eighth, 175/84, 1st year. S14 Reds & Brumbies.

 

John SHERRATT (Aus) 45 y/o, head coach.

Tai McISSAC (Aus), 34 y/o, forwards coach.

 

The 2009-10 Squad: (45) the list starts with captain and vice-captains and continues through forwards and backs in order from props to fullbacks. All family names come last.

Masahiko Kimura (c), Tadashi Kitagawa (v-c), Naoyuki Sunaga (forwards leader), Daisuke Konishi (backs leader). Forwards: Takanori Kuboki, Kohei Ohashi, Nozomu Fujita, Tomohiro Nishigaki, Kiminori Moto, Masahiro Oda, Shu Kamata, Shigeru Hijiyama, Takashi Tanaka, Goki Amano, Tsuyoshi Sato, Naoki Fukaya, Takahiro Ito, Yuki Kimura, Atsushi Tsukamoto, Takashi Mukaikubo, Satoshi Hirai, Young-Dae Kim, Manabu Kawazoe, Wataru Nagashima, Toru Hayashi, Warren Smith, Tapuosi Pongi and Daniel Linde. Backs: Tatsuya Yoshida, Young-Hun Yang, Akihiro Yoshimura, Takahiro Furuya, Gene Fairbanks, Masatoshi Ueda, Yosuke Matsui, Alisi Tupuailei, Atsushi Moriya, Kosuke Kawade, Taihei Ueda, Shun Maeda, Yuki Suematsu, Akihito Yamada, Tetsuro Kamata, Masakazu Shima and Yuki Taniguchi. Head Coach: John Sherratt.

 

 

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 30 November 2009 - Japan were 13 (70.59).

 

Backchat:

 

The Draw

The Draw gives the reader future dates for the diary and other great things to look forward to in Rugby in Japan.

 

Sevens

The East Asia Championship is to be held in Hong Kong in December 2009. The IRB is pushing for the abbreviated form of the game to be included in the Summer Olympics programme from 2016 and as part of this there is talk of cancelling the Sevens RWC and moving it into the Olympics with the proviso that players must have the nationality of the country they are representing. The JRFU announced an expanded 40-man Sevens squad on 12 June 2009 under head coach Wataru Murata. There is also the hint of having Sevens as a non-medal demonstration sport at the London Games in 2012 should the sport be officially included for 2016 and beyond.