RiJ Vol.6 No.46

December 15, 2009

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

 


 

 

Contents:

ˇ       Japan Rugby Top League 2009-10

s     Round 10

ˇ       The Grubber Kick:

s     IRB Ranking: 13 (70.59, 7 December 2009)

s      Backchat: The Panasonic Wild Knights?

 

RiJ brings the reader all the action of round ten of Top League.

 

 

 

TOP LEAGUE

 

2009-10 Round 10

 

Round 10

Date

K/0

Teams

Score

Teams

Venue

Sat, 12 Dec 2009

14:00

Suntory (5Ts)

38-22

Ricoh (3Ts)

Yamanashi

 

14:00

Toshiba (6Ts)

37-19

Kubota (1T)

Chichibu, Tokyo

 

12:00

Yamaha (3Ts)

22-29

Sanix (4Ts)

Hanazono, Osaka

 

14:00

Kintetsu (2Ts)

15-14

Honda (2Ts)

Hanazono, Osaka

Sun, 13 Dec 2009

13:00

NEC (1T)

5-22

Sanyo (3Ts)

Mito, Ibaraki

 

13:00

Kobe (3Ts)

17-23

Toyota (3Ts)

Homes Stadium, Kobe

 

13:00

Coca-Cola (5Ts)

35-24

Kyuden (3Ts)

Saga

 

 

Round Ten Preview

In one of four Saturday games in Round 10, Suntory Sungoliath take on the Ricoh Black Rams at the Kose Sports Park in Kofu city in Yamanashi prefecture. Although Suntory have had the one draw they are still as yet to taste defeat after nine rounds of the 2009-10 Top League season and they will be looking for their ninth win of the year against Ricoh. Undefeated Suntory have had eight 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 NEC will be high motivation. Ricoh have had four wins and five losses after nine rounds after regaining their place in Top League this season, but victory over Suntory will be a difficult proposition for the ninth placed Rams.

 

Toshiba Brave Lupus play Kubota Spears at the Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Ground in Tokyo on Saturday afternoon. Toshiba as the defending Top League champion are one of the front runners again this year and they have a lot of firepower to call on to aim at Kubota. The Brave Lupus sit in third place and they will be aiming for their eighth win of the season to guarantee they finish high on the table. After a fine start to their season Kubota have now lost their last three games in a row and this has pushed them down to a mid position on the table. There is a lot at stake for the Spears in this tough game against Toshiba but if they can find their early season form they should be able to push the Brave Lupus all the way.

 

Yamaha Jubilo play Fukuoka Sanix Blues in the first game of a double header at the Kintetsu Hanazono Rugby Ground in Osaka. After a slow start to their season that included two draws and two losses in the first five rounds Yamaha have lifted their game with four wins on the trot. This has positioned them well for the run down to the end of season games but there is no room for error against the Blues if they are to eventually claim fourth spot on the table. Sanix desperately need the win in order to push further up the table as the Blues have had three wins and six losses from their nine games. The season so far for Sanix has seen a pattern of a win followed by two losses and so if this pattern continues the Blues are heading for a win over Jubilo. However, they will have to work hard to realise a win against a much improved Jubilo.

 

In the second game at Hanazono, Kintetsu Liners are at home for the fourth round in a row to take on Honda Heat. Kintetsu have had two wins, six losses and a draw from their nine games including losses in their last two outings. The Liners have made a habit of trying to run down second half deficits with a spectacular come from behind win over NEC in Round 7, but more often than not it has not paid off. Last week against Kobe was a case in question when Kintetsu were pressing for a last minute try to steal the game but a turnover resulted in a try at the other end leaving the Liners empty handed. Honda are in second last place on the table with just four rounds to play but if they can chalk up their second win of the season they might still be able to leapfrog NEC into twelfth place and thus avoid automatic relegation at the end of the season.

 

On Sunday, NEC Green Rockets and Sanyo Wild Knights travel to Mito city in Ibaraki prefecture to play out this round ten clash. Although Mito is not too far for either side to travel there is no real home ground advantage for either side. NEC are struggling for form this season as they sit in twelfth place on the table with just the one win after the first nine rounds and it is not going to get any easier against Sanyo. In contrast, Sanyo have won all nine of their games and sit two points clear of Suntory on top of the table on 43 points and they will be wanting to retain their top spot at the expense of NEC. This encounter thus pits first against twelfth and on paper at least it should be a comfortable wins to the Knights. However, luck just has not been with NEC in a number of games and five bonus points for losing by less than seven points is testament to this. If their luck changes this round they will throw down the gauntlet to Sanyo.

 

Kobe Steelers play Toyota Verblitz on home territory at the Homes Stadium in Kobe for this important clash. Kobe, Toyota and Yamaha look to be fighting it out between them for the fourth spot on the final table and thus qualification to the Microsoft Cup and automatic entry to the National Championship. With Kobe trailing the other two by three competition points going into this round a win against Toyota is going to be essential if they are to repeat their fourth placed finish from last season. The home ground and strong local support might just get them across the line, but Toyota are not going to be easy to beat as they too know what is at stake.

 

Coca-Cola West Red Sparks are at Saga to face Kyushu rivals Kyuden Voltex. Coca-Cola have five wins and four losses after nine rounds and sit on 21 points on the table. On the other hand, Kyuden have struggled throughout the 2009-10 season losing all nine games and they currently sit in last place on the table, so they will have to come up with a win against Coca-Cola if they are to possibly avoid automatic relegation at the end of the season.

 

 

Round 10 Wrap-up

After ten rounds of the 2009-10 Top League season only Sanyo have collected ten wins. They sit on top of the table on 47 points followed by undefeated Suntory in second place on 46 points from nine wins and a draw. The top three positions remaining unchanged this week with Toshiba on 42 points in third place. These three sides have opened up a gap over the rest of the field with Toyota claiming outright fourth on 33 points after their win over Kobe. Yamaha are in fifth on 30 points while Kobe are close behind in sixth place on 27 points while Coca-Cola are seventh on 26 points. Four losses in a row have all but dashed the semi-final hopes of Kubota who are joined on 21 points by Sanix. They are followed by Kintetsu in tenth place on 19 points, Ricoh in eleventh place on 18 points while NEC stay in twelfth place on ten points after their loss to Sanyo. Honda are in thirteenth place on 7 points and Kyuden sit alone at the bottom off the table on 3 competition points.

 

In one of four Saturday games in Round 10, Suntory Sungoliath took on the Ricoh Black Rams at the Kose Sports Park in Kofu city in Yamanashi prefecture. Suntory have had the one draw and are still as yet to taste defeat after ten rounds of the 2009-10 Top League season as they chalked up their ninth win of the year when they beat Ricoh 38-22. On the other hand, Ricoh have had four wins and six losses from their ten games after regaining their place in Top League this season. In a game that had former Brumbies and Wallabies team mates George Gregan and Stephen Larkham playing on opposite sides for once with Gregan the Suntory halfback and Larkham the Ricoh five-eighth, it was the Sungoliath that proved too strong on the day. Ricoh played with great resolve scoring the first try of the match in the opening minute with No8 Rocky Havili burrowing through from a ruck and then staying with their more fancied opponents to only trail 18-17 at the break. However, the class of Suntory came to the fore in the second half with three further tries to close out the match 38-22. Wing Hirotoki Onozawa and flanker Takamichi Sasaki were among the try scorers for Suntory.

 

Toshiba Brave Lupus beat Kubota Spears 37-19 at the Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Ground in Tokyo on Saturday afternoon. Toshiba as the defending Top League champion are one of the front runners again this year and they had a lot of firepower to call on to aim at Kubota. The Brave Lupus sit in third place and they took out their eighth win of the season to guarantee they finish high on the table. After a fine start to their season Kubota have now lost their last four games in a row and this has pushed them down to a mid position on the table. Toshiba scored six tries to one but trailed 16-5 at halftime after Kubota five-eighth Shane Drahm came up with a first half ‘full house’ to keep the Spears in front. Drahm scored a try, kicked the conversion, landed a penalty and potted two drop goals but unfortunately Kubota could not contain Toshiba in the second period as the Brave Lupus ran in five tries including doubles to wing Toshiaki Hirose and flanker Steven Bates.

 

Yamaha Jubilo went down to Fukuoka Sanix Blues 29-22 in the first game of a double header at the Kintetsu Hanazono Rugby Ground in Osaka. After a slow start to their season that included two draws and two losses in the first five rounds Yamaha lifted their game with four wins on the trot. However, this run of wins came to a halt as they were out-enthused by a Sanix side that seemed hungrier for the win. Sanix desperately needed the win in order to push further up the table as the Blues had three wins and six losses from their nine games before this round. The season so far for Sanix has seen a pattern of a win followed by two losses and ironically this pattern continued as the Blues had the wood over Jubilo in this encounter. For Sanix, none was better than man-of-the-match in wing Kengo Nagadome who ran in a hat-trick of tries.

 

In the second game at Hanazono, Kintetsu Liners were at home for the fourth round in a row to take on Honda Heat. The Liners had to dig deep in this one to overcome a very determined Honda outfit who held a 14-8 lead going into the final five minutes of the match. The hero for the home side was five-eighth Yasumasa Shigemitsu who scored a desperate try in the 34th minute and then converted his own try to hand the lead to his side 15-14. Kintetsu held on for the remaining few minutes in another come from behind win and the Liners have now had three wins, six losses and a draw from their ten games. Honda remain in second last place on the table with just three rounds to play but if they can chalk up another win this season they might still be able to leapfrog NEC into twelfth place and thus avoid automatic relegation at the end of the season.

 

On Sunday, NEC Green Rockets and Sanyo Wild Knights travelled to Mito city in Ibaraki prefecture to play out this round ten clash. Although Sanyo made hard work of it, they came away 22-5 victors but the celebrations were somewhat muted after the match as they failed to pick up a four try bonus point. The Knights never really got into top gear in this game as a stiff NEC defence thwarted many Sanyo attacking moves. NEC are struggling for form this season and a long injury list is adding to their woes as they sit in twelfth place on the table with just the one win after ten rounds. In contrast, Sanyo have won all ten of their games and sit one point clear of Suntory on top of the table on 47 points. Flanker Nili Latu was one of the best in the losing side while Sanyo hooker Shota Horie scored a try and picked up the man-of-the-match award. Meanwhile, Sanyo fullback Atsushi Tanabe had limited opportunities, but his two conversions and a penalty keep him on top of the Top League point scorers list for another week.

 

Kobe Steelers played Toyota Verblitz on home territory at the Homes Stadium in Kobe for this important clash but it was not enough to guarantee victory as Toyota took the honours 23-17. Kobe, Toyota and Yamaha look to be fighting it out between them for the fourth spot on the final table and thus qualification to the Microsoft Cup and automatic entry to the National Championship. However, with Kobe and Yamaha both losing this round it thus hands the advantage to Toyota as they grab outright fourth place on the table with just three rounds to play. Both sides scored three tries each but it was the boot of Toyota five-eighth Orene Ai’i that proved the difference in the end.

 

Coca-Cola West Red Sparks were in Saga prefecture to face Kyushu rivals Kyuden Voltex with the Red Sparks claiming a convincing five tries to three 35-24 victory. Coca-Cola have six wins and four losses after ten rounds and sit on 26 points on the table with an outside chance of making the final four if they pick up maximum points over the remainder of the season and other results go their way. On the other hand, Kyuden have struggled throughout the 2009-10 season losing all ten games and they currently sit in last place on the table, so the possibly of automatic relegation at the end of the season is starting to loom large for Voltex.

 

 

2009-10 Japan Rugby Top League Round Ten

 

Team

P

W

D

L

F

A

Diff

BP1

BP2

Pts

1

Sanyo

10

10

0

0

435

136

299

7

-

47

2

Suntory

10

9

1

0

445

145

300

8

-

46

3

Toshiba

10

8

0

2

329

172

157

8

2

42

4

Toyota

10

7

1

2

240

184

56

3

-

33

5

Yamaha

10

5

2

3

266

205

61

3

2

30

6

Kobe

10

5

1

3

213

220

-7

3

2

27

7

Coca-Cola

10

6

0

4

225

291

-66

2

-

26

8

Kubota

10

4

0

6

231

272

-41

3

2

21

9

Sanix

10

4

0

6

210

300

-90

3

2

21

10

Kintetsu

10

3

1

6

170

245

-75

3

2

19

11

Ricoh

10

4

0

6

221

303

-82

1

1

18

12

NEC

10

1

0

9

135

232

-97

1

5

10

13

Honda

10

1

0

9

176

366

-190

1

2

7

14

Kyuden

10

0

0

10

149

374

-225

1

2

3

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 ten, Sanyo fullback Atsushi Tanabe holds onto the top spot on the point scorers list with 139 points. However, the gap has closed with Suntory centre Ryan Nicholas on 131 points and Coca-Cola fullback Shaun Webb on 126 points.

 

Name

Team

T

G

PG

DG

Pts

1

Atsushi Tanabe

Sanyo

2

42

15

-

139

2

Ryan Nicholas

Suntory

4

36

13

-

131

3

Shaun Webb

Coca-Cola

6

18

20

-

126

4

Shane Drahm

Kubota

1

20

15

7

111

5

Ayumu Goromaru

Yamaha

-

24

16

-

96

6

David Hill

Toshiba

2

30

8

-

94

7

Yoshimitsu Kawano

Ricoh

1

18

14

2

89

8

Thinus Delport

Kobe

3

15

4

-

57

9

Tomoki Kitagawa

Sanyo

11

-

-

-

55

9

Hirotoki Onozawa

Suntory

11

-

-

-

55

11

Tadanobu Ko

Kintetsu

3

8

7

-

52

 

 

Leading Try Scorers

After round ten, Sanyo wing Tomoki Kitagawa and Suntory wing Hirotoki Onozawa lead the list with 11 tries.

 

Name

Team

Tries

1

Tomoki Kitagawa

Sanyo

11

1

Hirotoki Onozawa

Suntory

11

3

Toshiaki Hirose

Toshiba

10

4

Go Aruga

Suntory

9

5

Yasunori Nagatomo

Suntory

8

6

Takashi Miyake

Sanyo

7

6

Steven Bates

Toshiba

7

6

Shinji Nakazono

Yamaha

7

6

Neil Brew

Toshiba

7

6

Akihito Yamada

Honda

7

 

 

Round 10 Man-of-the-match Awards

Date

Teams

Score

Teams

Ground

MOTM

Sat. 12 Dec. 09

Suntory

38-22

Ricoh

Yamanashi

Takamichi SASAKI,

Flanker

 

Toshiba

37-19

Kubota

Chichibu, Tokyo

Hitoshi ONO,

Lock

 

Yamaha

22-29

Sanix

Hanazono, Osaka

Kengo NAGADOME,

Wing

 

Kintetsu

15-14

Honda

Hanazono, Osaka

Yasumasa SHIGEMITSU,

Five-eighth

Sun. 13 Dec. 09

NEC

5-22

Sanyo

Mito, Ibaraki

Shota HORIE,

Hooker

 

Kobe

17-23

Toyota

Homes Stadium, Kobe

Orene Ai’i,

Five-eighth

 

Coca-Cola

35-24

Kyuden

Saga

Wataru YOSHIHARA,

Centre

 

 

 

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 December 2009 - Japan were 13 (70.59).

 

Backchat: The Panasonic Wild Knights. Well, not yet at least but Panasonic is set to buy 50.2% of Sanyo for 403.78 billion yen to be settled by 16 December 2009. The Sanyo brand name and listing on the Tokyo Stock Exchange is expected to be retained, but who knows!

 

The Draw

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