Japan
27 December 2011
Round 8
|
Date |
Team |
Score |
Team |
K/O |
Venue |
|
Sat, 24 Dec 2011 |
Yamaha
(6Ts) |
49-41 |
NTT Docomo (6Ts) |
12:00 |
Mizuho
Stadium, Aichi |
|
Coca-Cola
(3Ts) |
17-41 |
Honda
(5Ts) |
12:00 |
Level 5, Fukuoka |
|
|
NEC
(5Ts) |
31-18 |
NTT
Com (2Ts) |
13:00 |
Fukuda Denshi Arena, Chiba |
|
|
Toyota
(2Ts) |
15-45 |
Suntory
(5Ts) |
14:00 |
Mizuho
Stadium, Aichi |
|
|
Sanix (1T) |
5-12 |
Kintetsu (2Ts) |
14:00 |
Level 5, Fukuoka |
|
|
Sun,
25 Dec 2011 |
Panasonic
(4Ts) |
32-10 |
Ricoh
(1T) |
13:00 |
Ota, Gunma |
|
Kobe
(4Ts) |
22-19 |
Toshiba
(3Ts) |
13:00 |
Home’s Stadium, Kobe |
Round Eight Preview
In the first game
of a double-header at the Mizuho Rugby Stadium in Nagoya on Saturday afternoon,
Yamaha Jubilo face
NTT Docomo Red Hurricanes. Yamaha headed the
table after the first two rounds but then went down to Kintetsu
and Suntory before rediscovering their rhythm to dispose of Sanix
in Fukuoka and then beat Coca-Cola in Saga before losing 21-8 to Toshiba at
home last Sunday. Yamaha area in a good position mid table with 20 points but
they cannot afford to slip up against NTT Docomo. NTT
Docomo started life in Top League on a positive note
with a draw against Honda in the opening round but were brought back to earth
losing to top guns Suntory, Toshiba, Toyota and Panasonic over the next four
rounds. However, the Red Hurricanes came from behind to claim a dramatic win
over Kobe but then fell to NTT Com 34-14 last round.
In the first game
of another double-header at the Level Five Stadium in Fukuoka on Saturday
afternoon, Coca-Cola West Red Sparks play Honda Heat. Coca-Cola
sit on the bottom of the table on two points from seven straight losses with
the last in that series against Toshiba last round when they went down 87-35 in
the highest scoring game of the season to date. Honda are second to last on the
table and they drew with NTT Docomo in the opening
round but after that suffered losses at the hands of Toyota, Ricoh, Panasonic,
Suntory, Kintetsu and then lost 50-21 to NEC last
round. This game is between the only two sides in the league that have not
chalked up a win so far this season and so this clash could very well be a
battle for survival with the bottom two teams facing automatic relegation at
the end of the season.
Also on Saturday,
in a Chiba derby at the Fukuda Denshi Arena in Chiba prefecture, NEC Green
Rockets play NTT Communications Shining Arcs. NEC were having a slow
start to the season with losses to Kobe and Panasonic in the first two weeks
but backed up with solid wins over Toyota, Sanix,
Ricoh, Toshiba and then Honda last round to climb to fourth place on the table
after seven rounds. NTT Com lost to Yamaha in their first game, bounced back to
beat Sanix, then went down to Suntory, beat Kobe and
then lost to Toshiba and Panasonic before beating NTT Docomo
34-24 last round. It has been a roller-coaster season for NTT Com but it will
be a challenge against NEC to land their fourth win of the season against a
side that is just getting better week by week.
In the second game
in Nagoya, Toyota Verblitz play
Suntory Sungoliath. Toyota are not having the
season they would like as after going down to Toshiba in the opening round, the
Verblitz had a win over Honda, lost to NEC, then beat
NTT Docomo and Kintetsu but
came unstuck against Sanix and then Kobe over the
last two rounds to find themselves in ninth place with three wins and four
losses. The situation could not be any different for Suntory as they are having
a season to dream about. As things stand after seven completed rounds, Suntory
are on top of the table on 32 points as the only team left undefeated after
wins over Panasonic, NTT Docomo, NTT Com, Yamaha,
Honda, Ricoh and Coca-Cola and they will be looking to add the Verblitz to that list.
In the second game
in Fukuoka, Fukuoka Sanix Blues play
Kintetsu Liners. Sanix
have been struggling to find their rhythm with five straight losses to open
their season before an impressive away win over Toyota only to lose heavily
78-17 to Panasonic last round. Kintetsu played three
home games in a row making it work in their favour with three wins on the trot
but lost to Toshiba in Yokohama, lost to Toyota in Nagoya then beat Honda in Suzuka before losing 43-22 to Ricoh last round. Kintetsu have four wins for three losses from their first
seven games and so should be expected to take this game but the Blues are
playing in their home city and they will be hoping it works for them.
In one of two
Christmas Day Sunday games, Panasonic Wild Knights play Ricoh Black
Rams in Ota city in Gunma prefecture. Panasonic as the defending Top League
champions went down to Suntory in the opening round but since then have had
wins over NEC, Coca-Cola, Honda, NTT Docomo, NTT Com
and Sanix to position themselves in third place on
the table behind top team Suntory and Toshiba in second place. Ricoh played at
Chichibu for three weeks in a row notching up wins over Sanix
and Honda while losing to Yamaha and then beat Coca-Cola before losing to NEC
and then Suntory before beating Kintetsu 43-22 last
round. Ricoh are playing with a lot more confidence this year but Panasonic in their own back yard are going to be very tough. In the
equivalent game last season Sanyo, as Panasonic were then called won 74-17.
In the final game
of the round, Kobe Steelers host Toshiba
Brave Lupus at the Home’s Stadium in Kobe in what is one of the games of
the round. Kobe are on 22 competition points from four
wins and three losses and they are coming off the back of a 21-10 win over
Toyota last round. However, it is a critical part of the season for the Steelers as they cannot afford a further loss if they are
to push for a spot in the final four at the end of the rounds. The Brave Lupus stood
alone on top of the table with five bonus point wins after five rounds but that
record came to a halt against a gritty NEC in round six when they lost 24-19.
However, Toshiba regrouped and beat Yamaha 21-8 last round at the Yamaha
Stadium and should be ready for the away challenge to Kobe this week.
Round Eight Wrap-up
After the eighth
round of the 2011-12 Japan Rugby Top League season played over the weekend of
24-25 December 2011, Suntory Sungoliath stay
in top position on 37 points as the only remaining unbeaten team two points
clear of Panasonic Wild Knights on 35. The loss to Kobe this round sees
Toshiba Brave Lupus drop to third place on 31 points just ahead of NEC
Green Rockets in fourth place on 30 points to round out the top four. In a
tight mid table bunch, Kobe Steelers are on 27
points in fifth place, followed by Yamaha Jubilo
on 25 points, Kintetsu Liners on 23
points and Ricoh Black Rams on 20 points. Toyota Verblitz
remain in ninth place on 17 points followed by NTT
Communications Shining Arcs in tenth place on 15 points. Fukuoka Sanix Blues and NTT Docomo
Red Hurricanes are both on 9 points from Honda Heat on 8 points and
winless Coca-Cola West Red Sparks on two points in last place.
In the first game
of a double-header at the Mizuho Rugby Stadium in Nagoya on Saturday afternoon,
Yamaha Jubilo defeated NTT Docomo Red Hurricanes 49-41. In a high-scoring game
that saw the lead change several times, both sides scored six tries apiece with
the goal kicking of Yamaha fullback Ayumu Goromaru proving the difference in the end. Yamaha led
15-7 at one point in the first half before NTT Docomo
stormed back over the final ten minutes of the half with tries to flanker Steven
Setephano and wing Yoshimi Watanabe and
two conversions and a penalty to five-eighth Hamish Gard
taking the Red Hurricanes to a 25-15 at halftime. A further seven tries were
scored in the second period with the scores locked at 29-all and then 39-all
before a Gard conversion then edge NTT in front
41-39. Yamaha finished the stronger over the closing stages though with a try
to replacement Tane Tuipulotu
and a conversion and a penalty to Goromaru ultimately
ensuring the win for Jubilo.
In the first game
of another double-header at the Level Five Stadium in Fukuoka on Saturday afternoon,
Coca-Cola West Red Sparks went down to Honda Heat 41-17. This
game was between the only two sides in the league that had not chalked up a win
so far this season and the loss leaves Coca-Cola sitting on the bottom of the
table on two points from eight straight losses now as the only side yet to
record a win. Honda controlled the flow of the game throughout and after
leading 20-5 at halftime added an additional three tries in the second half to
run out comfortable winners in the end. Japan utility back Bryce Robins
scored two tries for Honda while fullback Joe Gardener had a flawless
day with the boot converting all five tries while he also kicked two penalties
from two attempts.
Also on Saturday,
in a Chiba derby at the Fukuda Denshi Arena in Chiba prefecture, NEC Green
Rockets beat NTT Communications Shining Arcs 31-18. NEC were having
a slow start to the season with losses to Kobe and Panasonic in the first two
weeks but backed up with solid wins over Toyota, Sanix,
Ricoh, Toshiba, Honda and now NTT Com to hold onto fourth place on the table
after eight rounds. Flanker and captain Nili Latu got the
ball rolling with a try in the 16th minute of the opening half that
helped the Green Rockets get out to a 12-6 lead by halftime. Three second half
tries pushed out the lead to 31-11 before a late
converted try to former Waratahs wing Sosene
Anesi closed the final scoreline
to 31-18.
In the second game
in Nagoya, Toyota Verblitz lost to Suntory Sungoliath 45-15. Traditionally strong Toyota are not
having the season they would like as they now find themselves well down the
table with three wins and five losses. However, the situation could not be any
different for Suntory as they are having a season to dream about because as
things stand after eight completed rounds, the Sungoliath
are on top of the standings on 37 points as the only team left undefeated.
Toyota were still in touch at halftime when they were only behind 16-10 but
Suntory gradually exerted their dominance as the second half progressed with
veteran wing Hirotoki Onozawa
running in three of the four team tries scored in the half to claim his second
man-of-the-match award for the season.
In the second game
in Fukuoka, Fukuoka Sanix Blues were
defeated by Kintetsu Liners 12-5 in a hard
fought low scoring game. Sanix have been struggling
to find their rhythm with one win and seven losses over the first half of their
season leaving them near the bottom of the table. On the other hand, Kintetsu sit in a comfortable position mid table from five
wins and three losses. Kintetsu centre Jeffrey Ierome posted first points in the match with a try in
only the second minute of play with five-eighth Yasumasa
Shigemitsu landing the conversion to open an early 7-0 lead. This was
extended to 12-0 when fullback Tadanobu Ko crossed for the second Kintetsu
try in the 13th minute before tighthead prop Shin Dong-Won
got the Blues on the board with a try late in the half to narrow the difference
to 12-5, the eventual halftime score. As things would have it, the second half
remained scoreless with Kintetsu taking the victory
and four competition points with them back to Osaka.
In one of two
Christmas Day Sunday games, Panasonic Wild Knights beat Ricoh Black
Rams 32-10 in Ota city in Gunma prefecture. Panasonic as the defending Top
League champions went down to Suntory in the opening round but since then have
had wins over NEC, Coca-Cola, Honda, NTT Docomo, NTT
Com, Sanix and now Ricoh to position themselves in
second place on the table behind top team Suntory following the loss by Toshiba
this round. Ricoh are playing with a lot more confidence this year but
Panasonic in their own back yard was always going to
be very tough. Ricoh managed to stay relatively close to Panasonic on the
scoreboard throughout most of the match but two late converted tries to open
side flanker Tadasuke Nishihara and
South African centre Jaque Fourie secured the bonus point win for the home side.
In the final game
of the round, Kobe Steelers inflicted the
second loss of the season on Toshiba Brave Lupus when they claimed a
22-19 win at the Home’s Stadium in Kobe in what was one of the games of the
round. Kobe are now on 27 competition points from five
wins and three losses and they enhanced their push for a spot in the final four
at the end of the rounds with this inspiring win. The Brave Lupus stood alone
on top of the table with five bonus point wins after five rounds but two losses
in the last three rounds have seen Toshiba drop back to third. Tries to
tighthead prop Hiroshi Yamashita and flanker Josh Blackie enabled
Kobe to take a 10-0 lead into the break but when flanker Michael Leitch
scored early in the second half and David Hill added the extras to bring
Toshiba back to 10-7 it was game back on. Nevertheless, Kobe kept their
composure under pressure to add two more tries through wing Yoshikazu Ohashi and halfback Takashi Sato to open up a
22-7 lead by the hour mark. Toshiba scored a converted try at the death to
ensure a losing bonus point but victory on the day evaded them.
Japan Rugby Top League 2011-12
|
Team |
P |
W |
D |
L |
F |
A |
Diff |
BP1 |
BP2 |
Pts |
|
|
1 |
Suntory |
8 |
8 |
0 |
0 |
323 |
152 |
171 |
5 |
0 |
37 |
|
2 |
Panasonic |
8 |
7 |
0 |
1 |
345 |
170 |
175 |
6 |
1 |
35 |
|
3 |
Toshiba |
8 |
6 |
0 |
2 |
273 |
99 |
174 |
5 |
2 |
31 |
|
4 |
NEC |
8 |
6 |
0 |
2 |
232 |
183 |
49 |
6 |
0 |
30 |
|
5 |
Kobe |
8 |
5 |
0 |
3 |
199 |
157 |
42 |
5 |
2 |
27 |
|
6 |
Yamaha |
8 |
5 |
0 |
3 |
303 |
183 |
120 |
5 |
0 |
25 |
|
7 |
Kintetsu |
8 |
5 |
0 |
3 |
185 |
163 |
22 |
2 |
1 |
23 |
|
8 |
Ricoh |
8 |
4 |
0 |
4 |
218 |
194 |
24 |
3 |
1 |
20 |
|
9 |
Toyota |
8 |
3 |
0 |
5 |
222 |
201 |
21 |
3 |
2 |
17 |
|
10 |
NTT Com |
8 |
3 |
0 |
5 |
153 |
244 |
-91 |
2 |
1 |
15 |
|
11 |
Sanix |
8 |
1 |
0 |
7 |
127 |
298 |
-171 |
3 |
2 |
9 |
|
12 |
NTT Docomo |
8 |
1 |
1 |
6 |
180 |
369 |
-189 |
3 |
0 |
9 |
|
13 |
Honda |
8 |
1 |
1 |
6 |
132 |
282 |
-150 |
1 |
1 |
8 |
|
14 |
Coca-Cola |
8 |
0 |
0 |
8 |
156 |
353 |
-197 |
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).
Top four
finishers qualify for Play-off Series, the finals series for Top League.
In addition, the top six finishers qualify for the National Championship.
Bottom two
finishers are automatically relegated.
Teams that
finish 11th and 12th go through promotion and
relegation play-offs against regional challengers.
Leading Point Scorers
At the completion
of round eight, Yamaha fullback Ayumu Goromaru tops the point scorers list with 123 points.
|
Name |
Team |
T |
G |
PG |
Pts |
|
|
1 |
Ayumu Goromaru |
Yamaha |
2 |
31 |
17 |
123 |
|
2 |
Yoshimitsu Kawano |
Ricoh |
5 |
24 |
9 |
100 |
|
3 |
David Hill |
Toshiba |
6 |
31 |
2 |
98 |
|
4 |
Ryan Nicholas |
Suntory |
4 |
23 |
10 |
96 |
|
5 |
Atsushi Tanabe |
Panasonic |
1 |
27 |
9 |
86 |
|
6 |
Yasumasa Shigemitsu |
Kintetsu |
1 |
12 |
16 |
77 |
|
7 |
Nemani Nadolo |
NEC |
12 |
2 |
0 |
64 |
|
8 |
Hamish Gard |
NTT Docomo |
2 |
13 |
7 |
57 |
|
9 |
Joe Gardener |
Honda |
2 |
10 |
8 |
54 |
|
10 |
Shaun Webb |
Coca-Cola |
1 |
12 |
7 |
50 |
|
11 |
Peter Grant |
Kobe |
2 |
12 |
5 |
49 |
|
12 |
Peter Hewat |
Suntory |
3 |
9 |
5 |
48 |
|
13 |
Orene Ai’i |
Toyota |
2 |
7 |
6 |
42 |
|
14 |
Mike Delany |
Panasonic |
2 |
12 |
2 |
40 |
|
14 |
Shuetsu Narita |
Suntory |
8 |
0 |
0 |
40 |
|
14 |
Toru Kurihara |
NTT Com |
1 |
7 |
7 |
40 |
Leading Try Scorers
At the completion
of round eighth, NEC wing Nemani Nadolo tops the try scorers list with 12 tries.
|
Name |
Team |
Tries |
|
|
1 |
Nemani Nadolo |
NEC |
12 |
|
2 |
Shuetsu Narita |
Suntory |
8 |
|
2 |
So Kil-Ryong |
Yamaha |
8 |
|
4 |
Tomoki Kitagawa |
Panasonic |
7 |
|
5 |
David Hill |
Toshiba |
6 |
|
5 |
Hirotoki Onozawa |
Suntory |
6 |
|
7 |
Yusuke Kobuki |
Ricoh |
5 |
|
7 |
Yoshimitsu Kawano |
Ricoh |
5 |
|
7 |
Hendrix Tui |
Panasonic |
5 |
|
7 |
Jonny Fa’amatuainu |
Coca-Cola |
5 |
|
7 |
Male Sau |
Yamaha |
5 |
|
7 |
Mose Tuiali’i |
Yamaha |
5 |
|
13 |
Daniel Heenan |
Panasonic |
4 |
|
13 |
Tatsuya Kusumi |
Toyota |
4 |
|
13 |
Ryuta Ueno |
Toyota |
4 |
|
13 |
Tatsuya Kusumi |
Toyota |
4 |
Round 8 Man-of-the-match Awards
|
Date |
Teams |
Score |
Teams |
Ground |
MOTM |
|
Sat. 24 Dec. 11 |
Yamaha |
49-41 |
NTT Docomo |
Mizuho Stadium, Aichi |
Male Sau,
(2) Centre |
|
Coca-Cola |
17-41 |
Honda |
Level 5, Fukuoka |
Joe Gardener, Fullback |
|
|
NEC |
31-18 |
NTT Com |
Fukuda Denshi Arena, Chiba |
Tomohiro Sakurai, Halfback |
|
|
Toyota |
15-45 |
Suntory |
Mizuho Stadium, Aichi |
Hirotoki Onozawa, (2) Wing |
|
|
Sanix |
5-12 |
Kintetsu |
Level 5, Fukuoka |
Tadanobu Ko,
Fullback |
|
|
Sun. 25 Dec. 11 |
Panasonic |
32-10 |
Ricoh |
Ota, Gunma |
Tadasuke Nishihara, Five-eighth |
|
Kobe |
22-19 |
Toshiba |
Home’s Stadium, Kobe |
Takashi Sato, Halfback |
20 December 2011
Round 7
|
Date |
Team |
Score |
Team |
K/O |
Venue |
|
Sat, 17 Dec 2011 |
NTT
Com (5Ts) |
34-24 |
NTT Docomo (3Ts) |
12:00 |
Chichibu,
Tokyo |
|
Kobe
(2Ts) |
21-10 |
Toyota
(1T) |
13:00 |
Otsu, Shiga |
|
|
Suntory
(13Ts) |
87-35 |
Coca-Cola
(5Ts) |
14:00 |
Chichibu,
Tokyo |
|
|
Sun,
18 Dec 2011 |
NEC
(8Ts) |
50-21 |
Honda
(3Ts) |
13:00 |
Mito, Ibaraki |
|
Yamaha
(1T) |
8-21 |
Toshiba
(3Ts) |
13:00 |
Yamaha Stadium, Shizuoka |
|
|
Kintetsu (3Ts) |
22-43 |
Ricoh
(6Ts) |
13:00 |
Nishikyogoku, Kyoto |
|
|
Sanix 2Ts) |
17-78 |
Panasonic
(11Ts) |
13:00 |
Miyazaki, Miyazaki |
Round Seven Preview
In the first game
of a double-header at the Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Ground in Tokyo on
Saturday afternoon, NTT Communications Shining Arcs play NTT Docomo Red Hurricanes. NTT Com lost to Yamaha in their
first game, bounced back to beat Sanix, then went
down to Suntory, beat Kobe and then lost to Toshiba and Panasonic. On the other
hand, NTT Docomo started life in Top League on a
positive note with a draw against Honda in the opening round but were brought
back to earth losing to top guns Suntory, Toshiba, Toyota and Panasonic over
the next four rounds. However, the Red Hurricanes came from behind to claim a
32-29 win over Kobe last round after a late try to former All Blacks fullback Mils
Muliaina secured the first ever win for the team
in Top League. These two NTT affiliated teams will play each other for the
first time in Top League and it promises to be a tough encounter.
At the Ojiyama Stadium in Otsu city, Shiga prefecture, Kobe Steelers play Toyota Verblitz.
Kobe are on 18 competition points from three wins and
three losses and they are coming off the back of a 32-29 loss to NTT Docomo last round. It is a critical part of the season for
the Steelers as they cannot afford a further loss or
otherwise they may start to lose touch with the top teams. However, the
situation for Toyota is very similar as after going down to Toshiba in the
opening round, the Verblitz had a win over Honda,
lost to NEC, then beat NTT Docomo and Kintetsu but came unstuck against Sanix
last weekend losing 27-20. The loss to Sanix saw
Toyota drop from fourth on the table to eighth and like Kobe they cannot afford
to lose more ground at this stage in the season. Last year, Toyota won the
corresponding fixture 16-7 and this game should be just as close.
In the second game
in Tokyo, Suntory Sungoliath play Coca-Cola West Red Sparks. As things stand after
six completed rounds, Suntory are on top of the table on 27 points as the only
team left undefeated while Coca-Cola sit on the bottom of the table on one
point from six straight losses. Suntory have had wins over Panasonic, NTT Docomo, NTT Com, Yamaha, Honda and Ricoh and they will be
looking to add the Red Sparks to that list. Coca-Cola just cannot take a trick
so far this season and after going down to Yamaha 58-25 last week it is going
to be a very big challenge to travel up to the nation’s capital to face the
form side in the league in Sungoliath.
On Sunday, NEC
Green Rockets play Honda Heat at the K’s Denki Stadium in Mito city
in Ibaraki prefecture. NEC were having a slow start to the season with losses
to Kobe and Panasonic in the first two weeks but backed up with solid wins over
Toyota, Sanix, Ricoh and then Toshiba last round to
sit relatively high on the table after six rounds. Honda drew with NTT Docomo in the opening round but after that suffered losses
at the hands of Toyota, Ricoh, Panasonic, Suntory and
then lost 34-14 to Kintetsu last round. Honda have to
travel this weekend to face NEC and that is not going to help their cause,
however, the Heat will be out to chalk up their first win of the season and
start their more away from the bottom of the table. Nevertheless, the
confidence is running high for the Green Rockets at the moment and they are
going to be very difficult to overcome in this game.
At the Yamaha
Stadium in Iwata city in Shizuoka prefecture Yamaha Jubilo
are at home to face Toshiba Brave Lupus. Yamaha headed the table after
the first two rounds but then went down to Kintetsu
and Suntory before rediscovering their rhythm to dispose of Sanix
in Fukuoka and then beat Coca-Cola 58-25 in Saga last Sunday. The Brave Lupus
stood alone on top of the table with 25 points from five bonus point wins after
five rounds but that record came to a halt against a gritty NEC last Saturday
when they lost 24-19. Toshiba consequently lost top spot on the table to
Suntory and so the second placed Brave Lupus are away to the fourth placed Jubilo in what is building up as the match of the round. If
Yamaha are to be up there at the end of the season they have to make a
statement against Toshiba but on the other hand the Brave Lupus will be in no
mood to entertain a second loss, so all the signs are there for a great game of
rugby.
Kintetsu Liners play Ricoh Black Rams at the Nishikyogoku Athletic Park in Kyoto. Kintetsu
played three home games in a row making it work in their favour with three wins
on the trot but lost to Toshiba in Yokohama, lost to Toyota in Nagoya then beat
Honda 34-14 in Suzuka last round. Ricoh played at
Chichibu for three weeks in a row notching up wins over Sanix
and Honda while losing to Yamaha and then beat Coca-Cola before losing to NEC
and then Suntory last round. However, there is very little separating the
Liners and the Black Rams this season and this is one of those games that is almost impossible to pick. It may just depend on which
side is hungrier on the day as much as the bounce of the ball. All-in-all, it
should guarantee an enthralling match for the people of the ancient capital of
Kyoto.
In the final
Sunday game, Fukuoka Sanix Blues play
Panasonic Wild Knights at the Miyazaki Athletic Park in Miyazaki city in
the prefecture of the same name. Panasonic as the defending Top League
champions went down to Suntory in the opening round but then had wins over NEC,
Coca-Cola, Honda, NTT Docomo and NTT Com to position
themselves in third place on the table behind top team Suntory and Toshiba in
second place. Sanix have been struggling to find
their rhythm over the early rounds with five straight losses keeping them at
the bottom of the table, but all that changed with an impressive four tries to
three 27-20 away win over Toyota last round. The Blues will have to take that
form with them to Miyazaki for this encounter with the Wild Knights if they are
to have any chance of toppling one of the best teams in the league.
Round Seven Wrap-up
After the seventh
round of the 2011-12 Japan Rugby Top League season played over the weekend of
17-18 December 2011, Suntory Sungoliath stay
in top position on 32 points as the only remaining unbeaten team two points
clear of Toshiba Brave Lupus and Panasonic Wild Knights on 30.
Toshiba take second place due to a better differential leaving Panasonic in
third place on the table. NEC Green Rockets move into outright fourth on
25 points after their fifth win in a row on the weekend and they are followed
by Kobe Steelers on 22 points in fifth place. Yamaha
Jubilo and Ricoh Black Rams are on 20
points from four wins and three losses each with the former taking sixth place
on a better for and against pushing Ricoh into seventh. Kintetsu
Liners are in eighth place on 19 points ahead of Toyota Verblitz in ninth place on 17 points followed by NTT
Communications Shining Arcs in tenth place on 15 points. Fukuoka Sanix Blues and NTT Docomo
Red Hurricanes are both on 8 points from Honda Heat on three points
and Coca-Cola West Red Sparks on two points in last place.
In the first game
of a double-header at the Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Ground in Tokyo on
Saturday afternoon, NTT Communications Shining Arcs beat NTT Docomo Red Hurricanes 34-24. The Red Hurricanes came
from behind to claim a 32-29 win over Kobe last round for their first ever win
in Top League but there was to be no repeat this round in Tokyo with the
Shining Arcs scoring five tries to three to take the match. NTT Com tried to
play the game at pace and with a good share of possession and territory turned
this advantage into points taking a 22-3 lead into halftime. The trend
continued in the second half with the Arcs stretching their lead to 34-3 before
the Hurricanes returned fire over the latter stages of the match. For NTT Com,
centre and man-of-the-match JP Nel scored a
hat-trick while left wing and captain Hiraku Tomoigawa
scored the other two tries.
At the Ojiyama Stadium in Otsu city, Shiga prefecture, Kobe Steelers defeated Toyota Verblitz
21-10. The win lifts Kobe to 22 competition points from four wins and three
losses but on the other side of the fence the fourth loss in seven games dealt
a big blow to Toyota as they may start to lose touch with the top teams in the
league. With so much at stake for both teams coming into this game it was not
surprising that it turned into an arm-wrestle. However, Toyota fared the better
on the scoreboard over the first quarter with five-eighth Takaya Monji kicking an early penalty and then converting the
try from wing Kaoru Matsushita to put the Verblitz
in front 10-0. From that point on though, it was Kobe that did all the scoring.
No8 Pasuka Mapakaitolo
got the Steelers on the board on the half hour mark
with a try and that eventually took the sides to the break with Toyota leading
10-5. Halfback Takashi Sato then scored the second try for Kobe early in
the second period and the conversion from Peter Grant put the Steelers in front 12-10. From there Kobe went on with the
match with Grant kicking two penalties and centre Daisuke Yamamoto
adding one more to shut out Toyota.
In the second game
in Tokyo, Suntory Sungoliath overwhelmed
Coca-Cola West Red Sparks 87-35. In the highest scoring game of the season
in which a total of 18 tries and 122 points were
scored Suntory just proved far too good for Coca-Cola. As things stand after
seven completed rounds, Suntory are on top of the table on 32 points as the
only team left undefeated while Coca-Cola sit on the bottom of the table on two
points from seven straight losses. The difference in their respective positions
on the table was reflected on the field with the Sungoliath
dominating every facet of the game. Right wing Shuetsu
Narita was named man-of-the-match for his effort in scoring four tries, a
try scoring feat he also achieved against NTT Docomo
back in round two. Meanwhile, fullback Peter Hewat
was also amongst the scorers with three tries and three conversions while
centre Ryan Nicholas scored a try and kicked eight conversions. The
consolation for Coca-Cola was the fact they picked up a bonus point after
scoring five tries.
On Sunday, NEC
Green Rockets put down Honda Heat 50-21 at the K’s Denki Stadium in
Mito city in Ibaraki prefecture. NEC were having a slow start to the season
with losses to Kobe and Panasonic in the first two weeks but backed up with
solid wins over Toyota, Sanix, Ricoh, Toshiba and now
Honda to move into fourth place on the table after seven rounds. NEC outscored
their opposition eight tries to three but one of the points to come out of the
match was the fact that giant Fijian left wing Nemani
Nadolo scored six of the tries scored for the
Green Rockets. This was the first time in the history of Top League that one
player had scored six tries in one match and this brought his season total to
eleven tries, three clear of his nearest rival on the try scorers list. At
195cm and 129kg the 23-year-old flyer is proving almost impossible to stop in
his first year playing in Japan.
At the Yamaha
Stadium in Iwata city in Shizuoka prefecture Yamaha Jubilo
were at home to face Toshiba Brave Lupus with Toshiba coming away 21-8
winners. Leading into this match, Toshiba lost top spot on the table to Suntory
after they lost to NEC last round and so the second placed Brave Lupus played
the fourth placed Jubilo in what amounted to the
match of the round. If Yamaha are to be up there at the end of the season they
had to make a statement against Toshiba but on the other hand the Brave Lupus were in no mood to entertain a second loss. Yamaha fullback
and captain Ayumu Goromaru opened the scoring in the third minute with a
penalty but it was Toshiba that scored the first try of the match when
five-eighth David Hill dotted down in the 26th minute. He converted
his own try to make it 7-3, the eventual halftime score. Centre Ryohei Yoshida scored immediately after the
resumption of play to extend the lead and then flanker Steven Bates
extended that lead even further when he crossed for the third Toshiba try in
the 26th minute. Hill converted both tries to have Toshiba 21-3 up
and even though wing So Kil-Ryong crossed for
Yamaha on the hour to make it 21-8 that ended up being the final score. This
match also marked the one hundredth Top League appearance for lock Hitoshi
Ono who joined team mate Tomoaki Nakai in the Top League centurion club.
Kintetsu Liners played Ricoh Black Rams at the Nishikyogoku Athletic Park in Kyoto with Ricoh winning
43-22. There is very little separating the Liners and the Black Rams this
season and this was one of those games that was almost
impossible to pick. After being behind 17-7 at the break, Kintetsu
managed to grab the lead 22-17 by the tenth minute of the second half following
tries from lock Luke Thompson and fullback Tadanobu Ko but after that the scoring
was all done by Ricoh. The Black Rams piled on four more tries over the
remaining 30 minutes through wings Roy Kinikinilau
and Daisuke Komatsu, centre Ma’a Nonu and five-eighth Yoshimitsu
Kawano. Kawano scored two tries and kicked five conversions and a penalty
in his contribution to the win.
In the final
Sunday game, Fukuoka Sanix Blues went
down to Panasonic Wild Knights 78-17 at the Miyazaki Athletic Park in
Miyazaki city in the prefecture of the same name. Panasonic as the defending
Top League champions went down to Suntory in the opening round but since then
have had wins over NEC, Coca-Cola, Honda, NTT Docomo
NTT Com, and Sanix to position themselves in third
place on the table behind top team Suntory and Toshiba in second place on
percentages from the Knights. Sanix have been
struggling to find their rhythm over the first half of the season with six
losses and one win keeping them near the bottom of the table. Panasonic scored
five tries to one in the first half to lead 38-10 at halftime and then went on
with the job scoring six tries to one in the second stanza to run out
comfortable winners. Panasonic right wing Tomoki Kitagawa crossed for a
total of five tries in the match.
Japan Rugby Top League 2011-12
|
Team |
P |
W |
D |
L |
F |
A |
Diff |
BP1 |
BP2 |
Pts |
|
|
1 |
Suntory |
7 |
7 |
0 |
0 |
278 |
137 |
141 |
4 |
0 |
32 |
|
2 |
Toshiba |
7 |
6 |
0 |
1 |
254 |
77 |
177 |
5 |
1 |
30 |
|
3 |
Panasonic |
7 |
6 |
0 |
1 |
313 |
160 |
153 |
5 |
1 |
30 |
|
4 |
NEC |
7 |
5 |
0 |
2 |
201 |
165 |
36 |
5 |
0 |
25 |
|
5 |
Kobe |
7 |
4 |
0 |
3 |
177 |
138 |
39 |
4 |
2 |
22 |
|
6 |
Yamaha |
7 |
4 |
0 |
3 |
254 |
142 |
112 |
4 |
0 |
20 |
|
7 |
Ricoh |
7 |
4 |
0 |
3 |
208 |
162 |
46 |
3 |
1 |
20 |
|
8 |
Kintetsu |
7 |
4 |
0 |
3 |
173 |
158 |
15 |
2 |
1 |
19 |
|
9 |
Toyota |
7 |
3 |
0 |
4 |
207 |
156 |
51 |
3 |
2 |
17 |
|
10 |
NTT Com |
7 |
3 |
0 |
4 |
135 |
213 |
-78 |
2 |
1 |
15 |
|
11 |
Sanix |
7 |
1 |
0 |
6 |
122 |
286 |
-164 |
3 |
1 |
8 |
|
12 |
NTT Docomo |
7 |
1 |
1 |
5 |
139 |
320 |
-181 |
2 |
0 |
8 |
|
13 |
Honda |
7 |
0 |
1 |
6 |
91 |
265 |
-174 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
|
14 |
Coca-Cola |
7 |
0 |
0 |
7 |
139 |
312 |
-173 |
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).
Top four
finishers qualify for Play-off Series, the finals series for Top League.
In addition, the top six finishers qualify for the National Championship.
Bottom two
finishers are automatically relegated.
Teams that
finish 11th and 12th go through promotion and
relegation play-offs against regional challengers.
Leading Point Scorers
At the completion
of round seven, Yamaha fullback Ayumu Goromaru tops the point scorers list with 99 points.
|
Name |
Team |
T |
G |
PG |
Pts |
|
|
1 |
Ayumu Goromaru |
Yamaha |
1 |
26 |
14 |
99 |
|
2 |
Yoshimitsu Kawano |
Ricoh |
5 |
23 |
8 |
95 |
|
3 |
David Hill |
Toshiba |
6 |
29 |
2 |
94 |
|
4 |
Ryan Nicholas |
Suntory |
4 |
20 |
6 |
78 |
|
5 |
Yasumasa Shigemitsu |
Kintetsu |
1 |
11 |
16 |
75 |
|
6 |
Atsushi Tanabe |
Panasonic |
1 |
24 |
7 |
74 |
|
7 |
Nemani Nadolo |
NEC |
11 |
1 |
0 |
57 |
|
8 |
Peter Grant |
Kobe |
2 |
12 |
5 |
49 |
|
9 |
Peter Hewat |
Suntory |
3 |
9 |
5 |
48 |
|
10 |
Hamish Gard |
NTT Docomo |
2 |
9 |
6 |
46 |
|
11 |
Shaun Webb |
Coca-Cola |
0 |
11 |
7 |
43 |
|
12 |
Orene Ai’i |
Toyota |
2 |
7 |
6 |
42 |
|
13 |
Mike Delany |
Panasonic |
2 |
12 |
2 |
40 |
|
13 |
Shuetsu Narita |
Suntory |
8 |
0 |
0 |
40 |
|
13 |
Toru Kurihara |
NTT Com |
1 |
7 |
7 |
40 |
Leading Try Scorers
At the completion
of round seven, NEC wing Nemani Nadolo tops the try scorers list with 11 tries.
|
Name |
Team |
Tries |
|
|
1 |
Nemani Nadolo |
NEC |
11 |
|
2 |
Shuetsu Narita |
Suntory |
8 |
|
3 |
So Kil-Ryong |
Yamaha |
7 |
|
3 |
Tomoki Kitagawa |
Panasonic |
7 |
|
5 |
David Hill |
Toshiba |
6 |
|
6 |
Yusuke Kobuki |
Ricoh |
5 |
|
6 |
Yoshimitsu Kawano |
Ricoh |
5 |
|
6 |
Hendrix Tui |
Panasonic |
5 |
|
6 |
Jonny Fa’amatuainu |
Coca-Cola |
5 |
|
10 |
Daniel Heenan |
Panasonic |
4 |
|
10 |
Tatsuya Kusumi |
Toyota |
4 |
|
10 |
Ryuta Ueno |
Toyota |
4 |
|
10 |
Tatsuya Kusumi |
Toyota |
4 |
Round 7 Man-of-the-match Awards
|
Date |
Teams |
Score |
Teams |
Ground |
MOTM |
|
Sat. 17 Dec. 11 |
NTT Com |
34-24 |
NTT Docomo |
Chichibu, Tokyo |
JP Nel,
Centre |
|
Kobe |
21-10 |
Toyota |
Otsu, Shiga |
Kenji Shomen,
(2) Fullback |
|
|
Suntory |
87-35 |
Coca-Cola |
Chichibu, Tokyo |
Shuetsu Narita, Wing |
|
|
Sun. 18 Dec. 11 |
NEC |
50-21 |
Honda |
Mito, Ibaraki |
Nemani Nadolo, (2) Wing |
|
Yamaha |
8-21 |
Toshiba |
Yamaha Stadium, Shizuoka |
Yuta Mochizuki, Lock |
|
|
Kintetsu |
22-43 |
Ricoh |
Nishikyogoku, Kyoto |
Yoshimitsu Kawano, (2) Five-eighth |
|
|
Sanix |
17-78 |
Panasonic |
Miyazaki, Miyazaki |
Tomoki Kitagawa, Wing |
13 December 2011
Round 6
|
Date |
Team |
Score |
Team |
K/O |
Venue |
|
Sat, 10 Dec 2011 |
Panasonic
(7Ts) |
52-21 |
NTT
Com (3Ts) |
12:00 |
Chichibu,
Tokyo |
|
Toyota
(3Ts) |
20-27 |
Sanix (4Ts) |
13:00 |
Mizuho, Aichi |
|
|
Toshiba
(3Ts) |
19-24 |
NEC
(4Ts) |
14:00 |
Chichibu,
Tokyo |
|
|
Sun,
11 Dec 2011 |
Suntory
(4Ts) |
26-24 |
Ricoh
(3Ts) |
13:00 |
Kofu, Yamanashi |
|
Honda
(1T) |
14-34 |
Kintetsu (5Ts) |
13:00 |
Suzuka, Mie |
|
|
Kobe
(4Ts) |
29-32 |
NTT Docomo (4Ts) |
13:00 |
Okayama, Okayama |
|
|
Coca-Cola
(3Ts) |
25-58 |
Yamaha
(8Ts) |
13:00 |
Tosu, Saga |
Round Six Preview
In the first game
of a double-header at the Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Ground in Tokyo on
Saturday afternoon, Panasonic Wild Knights play NTT Communications
Shining Arcs. Panasonic as the defending Top League champions went down to
Suntory in the opening round but then had wins over NEC, Coca-Cola, Honda and
NTT Docomo to position themselves in third place on
the table behind unbeaten Toshiba and Suntory. NTT Com lost to Yamaha in their
first game, bounced back to beat Sanix, then went
down to Suntory, beat Kobe and then lost 45-6 Toshiba last round. If the
win-loss trend continues for NTT Com they should be in for a win over Panasonic
but that will be far easier said than done. In the equivalent game last season,
Sanyo, as Panasonic were then known beat NTT Com 50-10.
At the Mizuho Park
Rugby Ground in Nagoya, Toyota Verblitz play Fukuoka Sanix
Blues. After going down to Toshiba in the opening round, Toyota had a win
over Honda, lost to NEC and then beat NTT Docomo and Kintetsu. Toyota currently sit in
fourth place on the table on differential and they will need to win against Sanix if they are to hang onto that position at the
completion of round six. Sanix are struggling to find
their rhythm over the early rounds with losses to Ricoh, NTT Com, Kobe, NEC and
Yamaha from their first five games and this has kept them at the bottom end of
the table. It is still too early in the season to be talking about relegation,
but for their confidence the Blues have to come up with some wins over the next
few rounds or otherwise they might find themselves in an awkward position later
in the season.
In the second game
in Tokyo, Toshiba Brave Lupus play NEC Green
Rockets. The Brave Lupus stand alone on top of the table with 25 points
from five bonus point wins after five rounds for a perfect start to their
season and they will be out to maintain that record against NEC. On the other
hand, NEC were having a slow start to the new season with losses to Kobe and
Panasonic in the first two weeks but backed up with solid wins over Toyota, Sanix and then Ricoh to sit mid-table after five rounds.
Toshiba are going to be a tough proposition for NEC but they have found some
good form over recent weeks and they will have to bring that to Tokyo on the
weekend for this vital clash with the Top League pace-setters.
On Sunday, Suntory
Sungoliath take on Ricoh
Black Rams at the Yamanashi Chugin Stadium in
Kofu city in Yamanashi prefecture. The J-League soccer team Ventforet
Kofu use this 17,000 seat stadium as their home ground and so this will in
reality be an away game for both these two Tokyo based Top League sides.
However, two seasons ago these two teams played at this same ground with
Suntory winning 38-22. Suntory have a very stable look and feel about them in
the early games of the season with straight wins over Panasonic, NTT Docomo, NTT Com, Yamaha and Honda to be one of only two
teams along with Toshiba remaining undefeated after five rounds. Ricoh played
at Chichibu for three weeks in a row notching up wins over Sanix
and Honda while losing to Yamaha and then beat Coca-Cola before losing 23-8 to
NEC last round. However, the Black Rams are going to have their work cut out
for them to get over the top of the Sungoliath.
Honda Heat play Kintetsu Liners at the Suzuka
Sports Garden in Suzuka city in Mie prefecture. Honda
drew with NTT Docomo in the opening round but after
that suffered losses at the hands of Toyota, Ricoh, Panasonic
and then lost 45-14 to Suntory last round. Kintetsu
played three home games in a row making it work in their favour with three wins
on the trot but lost to Toshiba in Yokohama and then came close to Toyota in
Nagoya last round before eventually going down 29-26. Honda are playing in
their home town this round and this should be an advantage against the higher
placed Liners as the Heat seek out their first win of the season.
Kobe Steelers
play NTT Docomo Red Hurricanes at the Kanko
Stadium in Okayama city in the prefecture of the same name. Kobe are on 16
competition points from three wins and two losses and they are coming off the
back of beating Coca-Cola 31-12 last round when they scored four tries to two
to notch up their third four-try bonus point of the season with the win putting
them in a good position near the top of the table. NTT Docomo
started life in Top League on a positive note with a draw against Honda in the
opening round but have been brought back to earth losing to top guns Suntory,
Toshiba, Toyota and Panasonic over the last four rounds. There are no easy
games for the Red Hurricanes who are playing in Top League for the first time
this season and Kobe are again going to be very stiff opposition to face.
In the final Sunday
game, Coca-Cola West Red Sparks play Yamaha Jubilo
at the Best Amenity Stadium in Tosu city in Saga
prefecture. This game is close to home for the Kyushu based Coca-Cola who have
now suffered five losses from five starts and languish in the cellar of the
table and they will have to turn the situation around over the ensuing weeks
starting with Yamaha this Sunday. Yamaha headed the table after the first two
rounds following impressive wins over NTT Com and Ricoh but then went down to Kintetsu and Suntory to find themselves back in the crowded
mid-table. However, they rediscovered their rhythm last round to dispose of Sanix 59-0 in Fukuoka and they will be looking for more of
the same this week as they play in Kyushu for the second week in a row.
Round Six Wrap-up
After the sixth
round of the 2011-12 Japan Rugby Top League season played over the weekend of
10-11 December 2011, Suntory Sungoliath move
into top position on 27 points as the only remaining unbeaten team followed by Toshiba
Brave Lupus in second place with 26 points from Panasonic Wild Knights
on 25 points in third place. Yamaha Jubilo are
in fourth place on differential with 20 points while NEC Green Rockets
on the same 20 points claim fifth spot from Kintetsu
Liners in sixth place on 19 points with Kobe Steelers
on 18 points ahead of Toyota Verblitz on 17
points. Ricoh Black Rams are on 15 points from three wins and three
losses followed by NTT Communications Shining Arcs on 10 points from
Fukuoka Sanix Blues and NTT Docomo Red Hurricanes both on 8 points. Honda Heat
are on three points and Coca-Cola West Red Sparks
are on one point with both these sides still winless.
In the first game
of a double-header at the Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Ground in Tokyo on
Saturday afternoon, Panasonic Wild Knights beat NTT Communications
Shining Arcs 52-21. Panasonic as the defending Top League champions went
down to Suntory in the opening round but have now had wins over NEC, Coca-Cola,
Honda, NTT Docomo and NTT Com to position themselves
in third place on the table behind Toshiba and Suntory. The Wild Knights
dominated the game getting out to a 31-7 lead by halftime with tries to centre Yuya Noguchi, wing Tomoki Kitagawa,
five-eighth Mike Delany and No8 Sione
Vatuvei bringing up the bonus point by the completion
of the first half. Panasonic pushed on in the second half with South African Jaque Fourie
scoring two of the three Knights tries while left wing Hiraku
Tomoigawa crossed twice for NTT Com in the second
half but at the end of the day it was not enough and Panasonic went on to
record a comfortable win.
At the Mizuho Park
Rugby Ground in Nagoya, Toyota Verblitz lost
to Fukuoka Sanix Blues 27-20.
Toyota were in fourth place on the table on differential leading into this game
and they needed to win against Sanix if they were to
hang onto that position, but Sanix spoiled the party
coming up with their first win of the season. Sanix
have been struggling to find their rhythm over the early rounds with five
straight losses keeping them at the bottom of the table, but all that changed
with this impressive four tries to three away win over Toyota. Sanix led 22-10 at halftime but Toyota narrowed the
difference to 27-20 inside the final ten minutes of the game to give themselves a chance of snatching victory. However, there was
to be no addition to the scores and the Blues held on for a confidence boosting
win. Wing Shusaku Hamazato
and replacement Karne Hesketh
were among the try scorers for the Blues while wing Kaoru Matsushita was
one of three try scorers for Toyota.
In the second game
in Tokyo, Toshiba Brave Lupus went down to NEC Green Rockets
24-19. The Brave Lupus stood alone on top of the table with 25 points from five
bonus point wins after five rounds before this game but that record came to a
halt against a gritty NEC. The Green Rockets were having a slow start to the
season with losses to Kobe and Panasonic in the first two weeks but have backed
up to win their last four games. Toshiba were always going to be a tough proposition
for NEC but they have found some good form over recent weeks and they brought
that to Tokyo for this vital clash with the Top League pace-setters. With NEC
holding onto a 24-19 lead by the hour mark and with Toshiba throwing everything
at them in attack it only looked like a matter of time before the NEC defence
would have to crack. However, NEC held fast where it mattered and logged one of
their most memorable wins in seasons. Toshiba were out to a 19-0 lead after a
quarter of the game and it seemed it was going to be a long afternoon for NEC
but to their credit they fought back to take maximum points.
On Sunday, Suntory
Sungoliath took on Ricoh Black Rams at the
Yamanashi Chugin Stadium in Kofu city in Yamanashi
prefecture and came away with a close fought 26-24 win. With Toshiba losing to
NEC on Saturday, this bonus-point win pushes Suntory to the top of the table as
they now become the only team left undefeated after six rounds. However, there
were some scary moments for the Sungoliath in this one
with lock Emosi Kauhenga
and centre Tamati Ellison scoring late
tries for Ricoh with the two successful conversions from five-eighth Yoshimitsu Kawano meaning there were only two
points separating the sides with a few minutes left on the clock. Unfortunately
though, there was to be no fairytale ending for the
Black Rams with Suntory holding on for the win. Flanker Takamichi
Sasaki scored two tries for Suntory, one in either half, to contribute to
the win with a man-of-the-match performance.
Honda Heat played Kintetsu
Liners at the Suzuka Sports Garden in Suzuka city in Mie prefecture with the Liners winning
34-14. Honda drew with NTT Docomo in the opening
round but after that have now suffered losses at the
hands of Toyota, Ricoh, Panasonic, Suntory and Kintetsu.
Kintetsu played three home games in a row making it
work in their favour with three wins on the trot but then lost to Toshiba and
Toyota before this win over Honda. Honda were playing in their home town this
round and this should have been an advantage against the higher placed Liners
but in the end even that was not enough. Kintetsu
scored five tries to one and with a 12-9 lead at the break went on with the job
in the second half to pull away on the scoreboard over the closing stages of
the game. Fullback and captain Tadanobu Ko and wing Yusuke Tanaka were among the try
scorers for Kintetsu while replacement Fa’atonu Fili also
chipped in at the end with a drop goal.
Kobe Steelers
played NTT Docomo Red Hurricanes at the Kanko
Stadium in Okayama city in the prefecture of the same name and in one of a
number of upsets over the round the Red Hurricanes came from behind to claim
victory after a late try to former All Black fullback Mils Muliaina secured the win. Kobe were
out to a 15-3 lead at halftime which they extended to 22-3 early in the second
half before NTT Docomo started their fight back. The
experienced players in the team stepped up with former Japan representatives
five-eighth Hiroaki Ito and No8 Takuro
Miuchi scoring three tries between them to help
the side edge in front 25-22. In the thirty-second minute Kobe five-eighth Peter
Grant scored a try and added the extras to put the Steelers
back in front 29-25 before Muliaina snatched back the
lead for the Hurricanes with replacement back Hamish Gard
putting the icing on the cake in what was their first ever win in Top League.
In the final
Sunday game, Coca-Cola West Red Sparks lost to Yamaha Jubilo 58-25 at the Best Amenity Stadium in Tosu city in Saga prefecture. This game was close to home for
the Kyushu based Coca-Cola but that did not seem to help as they have now
suffered six losses from six starts and languish in the cellar of the table.
Yamaha headed the table after the first two rounds but then went down to Kintetsu and Suntory before rediscovering their rhythm last
round to dispose of Sanix in Fukuoka and carried on
with more of the same this week as they played in Kyushu for the second week in
a row. Yamaha scored eight tries, four in each half, with left wing and
man-of-the-match So Kil-Ryong getting a double
while former All Black flanker Jerry Collins also came away with a
five-pointer. Fullback Ayumu Goromaru kicked six conversions and two penalties for a
personal tally of 18 points from the match.
Japan Rugby Top League 2011-12
|
Team |
P |
W |
D |
L |
F |
A |
Diff |
BP1 |
BP2 |
Pts |
|
|
1 |
Suntory |
6 |
6 |
0 |
0 |
191 |
102 |
89 |
3 |
0 |
27 |
|
2 |
Toshiba |
6 |
5 |
0 |
1 |
233 |
69 |
164 |
5 |
1 |
26 |
|
3 |
Panasonic |
6 |
5 |
0 |
1 |
235 |
143 |
92 |
4 |
1 |
25 |
|
4 |
Yamaha |
6 |
4 |
0 |
2 |
246 |
121 |
125 |
4 |
0 |
20 |
|
5 |
NEC |
6 |
4 |
0 |
2 |
151 |
144 |
7 |
4 |
0 |
20 |
|
6 |
Kintetsu |
6 |
4 |
0 |
2 |
151 |
115 |
36 |
2 |
1 |
19 |
|
7 |
Kobe |
6 |
3 |
0 |
3 |
156 |
128 |
28 |
4 |
2 |
18 |
|
8 |
Toyota |
6 |
3 |
0 |
3 |
197 |
135 |
62 |
3 |
2 |
17 |
|
9 |
Ricoh |
6 |
3 |
0 |
3 |
165 |
140 |
25 |
2 |
1 |
15 |
|
10 |
NTT Com |
6 |
2 |
0 |
4 |
101 |
189 |
-88 |
1 |
1 |
10 |
|
11 |
Sanix |
6 |
1 |
0 |
5 |
105 |
208 |
-103 |
3 |
1 |
8 |
|
12 |
NTT Docomo |
6 |
1 |
1 |
4 |
115 |
286 |
-171 |
2 |
0 |
8 |
|
13 |
Honda |
6 |
0 |
1 |
5 |
70 |
215 |
-145 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
|
14 |
Coca-Cola |
6 |
0 |
0 |
6 |
104 |
225 |
-121 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
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).
Top four
finishers qualify for Play-off Series, the finals series for Top League.
In addition, the top six finishers qualify for the National Championship.
Bottom two
finishers are automatically relegated.
Teams that
finish 11th and 12th go through promotion and
relegation play-offs against regional challengers.
Leading Point Scorers
At the completion
of round six, Yamaha fullback Ayumu Goromaru tops the point scorers list with 96 points.
|
Name |
Team |
T |
G |
PG |
Pts |
|
|
1 |
Ayumu Goromaru |
Yamaha |
1 |
26 |
13 |
96 |
|
2 |
David Hill |
Toshiba |
5 |
26 |
2 |
83 |
|
3 |
Yoshimitsu Kawano |
Ricoh |
3 |
19 |
7 |
72 |
|
4 |
Yasumasa Shigemitsu |
Kintetsu |
1 |
9 |
15 |
68 |
|
5 |
Ryan Nicholas |
Suntory |
3 |
12 |
6 |
57 |
|
6 |
Atsushi Tanabe |
Panasonic |
1 |
16 |
6 |
55 |
|
7 |
Orene Ai’i |
Toyota |
2 |
7 |
6 |
42 |
|
8 |
Peter Grant |
Kobe |
2 |
11 |
3 |
41 |
|
9 |
Mike Delany |
Panasonic |
2 |
12 |
2 |
40 |
|
10 |
Hamish Gard |
NTT Docomo |
1 |
6 |
6 |
35 |
|
11 |
Shaun Webb |
Coca-Cola |
0 |
6 |
7 |
33 |
|
12 |
Toru Kurihara |
NTT Com |
1 |
4 |
6 |
31 |
Leading Try Scorers
At the completion
of round six, Yamaha wing So Kil-Ryong tops
the try scorers list with 6 tries.
|
Name |
Team |
Tries |
|
|
So Kil-Ryong |
Yamaha |
6 |
|
|
David Hill |
Toshiba |
5 |
|
|
Nemani Nadolo |
NEC |
5 |
|
|
Yusuke Kobuki |
Ricoh |
5 |
|
|
Daniel Heenan |
Panasonic |
4 |
|
|
Tatsuya Kusumi |
Toyota |
4 |
|
|
Shuetsu Narita |
Suntory |
4 |
|
|
Hendrix Tui |
Panasonic |
4 |
|
|
Ryuta Ueno |
Toyota |
4 |
|
|
Tatsuya Kusumi |
Toyota |
4 |
Round 6 Man-of-the-match Awards
|
Date |
Teams |
Score |
Teams |
Ground |
MOTM |
|
Sat. 10 Dec. 11 |
Panasonic |
52-21 |
NTT Com |
Chichibu, Tokyo |
Atsushi Tanabe, Fullback |
|
Toyota |
20-27 |
Sanix |
Mizuho, Aichi |
Tafai Ioasa, Centre |
|
|
Toshiba |
19-24 |
NEC |
Chichibu, Tokyo |
Nemani Nadolo, Wing |
|
|
Sun. 11 Dec. 11 |
Suntory |
26-24 |
Ricoh |
Kofu, Yamanashi |
Takamichi Sasaki, (2) Flanker |
|
Honda |
14-34 |
Kintetsu |
Suzuka, Mie |
Kim Chul-Won,
Halfback |
|
|
Kobe |
29-32 |
NTT Docomo |
Okayama, Okayama |
Mils Muliaina,
Fullback |
|
|
Coca-Cola |
25-58 |
Yamaha |
Tosu, Saga |
So Kil-Ryong,
Wing |
6 December 2011
Round 5
|
Date |
Team |
Score |
Team |
K/O |
Venue |
|
Sat, 03 Dec 2011 |
Ricoh
(1T) |
8-23 |
NEC (2Ts) |
12:00 |
Chichibu,
Tokyo |
|
Toyota (4Ts) |
29-26 |
Kintetsu (3Ts) |
13:00 |
Mizuho, Aichi |
|
|
NTT
Com |
6-45 |
Toshiba (7Ts) |
14:00 |
Chichibu,
Tokyo |
|
|
Sun,
04 Dec 2011 |
Honda
(2Ts) |
14-45 |
Suntory (6Ts) |
13:00 |
KK Wing, Kumamoto |
|
NTT
Docomo (4Ts) |
32-57 |
Panasonic (8Ts) |
13:00 |
Hanazono, Osaka |
|
|
Coca-Cola
(2Ts) |
12-31 |
Kobe (4Ts) |
13:00 |
Matsuyama, Ehime |
|
|
Sanix |
0-59 |
Yamaha (9Ts) |
13:00 |
Global, Fukuoka |
Round Five Preview
In the first game
of a double-header at the Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Ground in Tokyo on
Saturday afternoon, Ricoh Black Rams
play NEC Green Rockets. Ricoh
played at Chichibu for three weeks in a row notching up wins over Sanix and Honda while losing to Yamaha and then beat
Coca-Cola in Fukuoka last round to currently sit in outright fourth spot of the
table. On the other hand, NEC were having a slow start to the new season with
losses to Kobe and Panasonic in the first two weeks but backed up with solid
wins over Toyota and then Sanix. Last season, NEC won
this corresponding game 22-17, but in what can be expected to be another close
one Ricoh will be looking to turn the tables on the Green Rockets.
At the Mizuho Park
Rugby Ground in Nagoya, Toyota Verblitz play Kintetsu Liners. After going down to Toshiba
in the opening round, Toyota had a win over Honda before experiencing their
second loss against NEC. The rollercoaster start to their season then continued
with an emphatic 62-10 win over NTT Docomo in
Hiroshima last round. Kintetsu played three home
games in a row making it work in their favour with three wins on the trot but
lost 26-3 to Toshiba in Yokohama last round for their first loss of the season.
Toyota cannot afford another loss so early in the season but Kintetsu will be out to make a statement by beating their
more fancied opponents with a repeat of the 21-17 win they enjoyed over the Verblitz last season.
In the second game
in Tokyo, NTT Communications Shining
Arcs play Toshiba Brave Lupus.
NTT Com lost to Yamaha in their first game, bounced back to beat Sanix in round two then pushed Suntory in round three
before going down 17-10. The Arcs pulled off a surprise 19-10 win over Kobe on
this ground last round and they will be hoping to bring that form back to the
capital to face Toshiba. The Brave Lupus stand alone on top of the table with
20 points from four bonus point wins after four rounds for a perfect start to
their season and they will be gearing up to continue the trend against NTT.
On Sunday, Honda Heat take
on Suntory Sungoliath
at the KK Wing Stadium in Kumamoto prefecture. Honda drew with NTT Docomo in the opening round but after that suffered heavy
losses at the hands of Toyota, Ricoh and then Panasonic and things just do not
get any easier against Suntory this round. Suntory have a very stable look and
feel about them in the early games of the season with straight wins over Panasonic,
NTT Docomo, NTT Com and Yamaha to be one of only two
teams along with Toshiba remaining undefeated and the Sungoliath
will be in no mood for defeat against the Heat this round.
NTT Docomo Red Hurricanes and
Panasonic Wild Knights play at the Kintetsu Hanazono Rugby Ground in Osaka on Sunday afternoon. NTT Docomo started life in Top League on a positive note with a
draw against Honda in the opening round but have been brought back to earth
losing to top guns Suntory, Toshiba and now Toyota over the last three rounds.
Panasonic went down to Suntory in the opening round but then had wins over NEC,
Coca-Cola and Honda to position themselves in third
place on the table. The Osaka based Hurricanes will be hoping for inspiration
by playing in the their home town at the Hanazono
ground but the Wild Knights as the defending Top League champions are going to
be a tough nut to crack.
Coca-Cola West Red Sparks
play Kobe Steelers
at the Ninjinia Stadium in Matsuyama city in Ehime
prefecture in their round five clash. Coca-Cola have
now suffered four losses from four starts and languish in the cellar of the
table after they lost to Ricoh 27-20 last round and they will be desperate to
turn the situation around against Kobe. Kobe were well placed near the top of
the table after the early rounds and it was important for their season that
they kept winning, but a 19-10 loss to NTT Com in Tokyo last round pushed them
back to a bunched mid-table position. The Steelers
narrowly won 18-15 in their encounter last season and this game should be just
as evenly contested.
In the final
Sunday game, Fukuoka Sanix Blues play Yamaha Jubilo at their home base, the Sanix Global Arena Stadium in Munakata
city, Fukuoka prefecture. Sanix are struggling to
find their rhythm over the early rounds with losses to Ricoh, NTT Com, Kobe and then NEC from their first four games and this has
kept them at the bottom end of the table. Yamaha headed the table after the
first two rounds following impressive wins over NTT Com and Ricoh but then went
down to Kintetsu and Suntory to find themselves back
in the crowded mid-table. It is a crunch game for both sides as Sanix must produce their first win of the season but Yamaha
also have to win or they will start to lose contact with the top of the table.
Round Five Wrap-up
After the fifth round of the 2011-12 Japan Rugby Top League season played
over the weekend of 3-4 December 2011, Toshiba
Brave Lupus stand alone on top of the table with 25 points from five
bonus point wins. Suntory Sungoliath
are next on 22 points as the only other unbeaten team
while Panasonic Wild Knights are
on 20 points in third place. Toyota Verblitz and Kobe
Steelers are both on 16 points ahead of Yamaha Jubilo
and NEC Green Rockets on 15
points followed by Ricoh Black Rams
and Kintetsu Liners on 14 points. NTT Communications Shining Arcs on 10
points from two wins and three losses have opened up a gap over the remaining
four winless teams with Fukuoka Sanix Blues, Honda
Heat and NTT Docomo
Red Hurricanes on three points with Coca-Cola West Red Sparks on one point.
In the first game
of a double-header at the Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Ground in Tokyo on
Saturday afternoon, Ricoh Black Rams
lost to NEC Green Rockets 23-8.
NEC got out to a 10-0 lead midway through the first period on the back of a Nili Latu try
and a penalty and conversion to five-eighth Cameron McIntyre before Ricoh responded with a try to flanker Gen Kakurai
and penalty to five-eighth Yoshimitsu Kawano
got the Rams to 13-8 by the break. However, Ricoh were kept scoreless in the
second half as the Rockets gradually pulled away on the scoreboard with
McIntyre adding an early penalty while lock Tsuyoshi Murata crossed the
whitewash for the second NEC try late in the game for McIntyre to convert and
close out the game 23-8. Ricoh were in outright fourth spot of the table coming
into this game but the loss knocks them down the table a number of places.
At the Mizuho Park
Rugby Ground in Nagoya, Toyota Verblitz beat Kintetsu Liners 29-26. As this see-sawing
game was drawing to a close with the scores locked at 26-all it looked as
though the inevitable result would be a draw after five-eighth Yasumasa Shigemitsu failed to convert a late Kintetsu try that would have given the Liners the lead.
However, two minutes into injury time Toyota five-eighth Orene
Ai’i stepped up to land a penalty that handed the
win to the home side. Shigemitsu got Kintetsu off to
a good start in the game with an early penalty and then a conversion of a Luke
Thompson try to have the Liners 10-0 up within the first ten minutes but
Toyota played themselves back into the game with first half tires to wing Kosuke Endo, hooker Ryuta
Ueno and replacement back Steven Yates helped the Verblitz to an 18-10 lead at halftime. In a tight second
half, the scores were locked at 18-all at one point and then at 26-all at the
death before Ai’i kicked Toyota home with the third Verblitz penalty of the afternoon.
In the second game
in Tokyo, NTT Communications Shining Arcs were beaten by Toshiba Brave
Lupus 45-6. The win means the Brave Lupus stand alone on top of the table
with 25 points from five bonus point wins after five rounds for a perfect start
to their season. NTT Com stayed with Toshiba throughout the first half to only
trail 12-6 at the break, but the second forty minutes was all Toshiba. The
Brave Lupus added a further five tries to go with the two they scored in the
first half to storm home to an emphatic win. Wing Shin Ito picked up a
try scoring double while five eighth David Hill was once again among the
points with a try and five conversions keeping him at the top of the Top League
point scorers list for another week.
On Sunday, Honda
Heat took on Suntory Sungoliath at the KK
Wing Stadium in Kumamoto prefecture with the latter winning 45-14. Honda drew
with NTT Docomo in the opening round but after that
suffered heavy losses at the hands of Toyota, Ricoh and then Panasonic and
things just did not get any easier against Suntory this round with the Sungoliath outscoring the Heat six tries to two after
leading 17-7 at halftime. Suntory have a very stable look and feel about them
in the early games of the season with straight wins over Panasonic, NTT Docomo, NTT Com, Yamaha and Honda to be one of only two
teams along with Toshiba remaining undefeated after five rounds. Wing Hirotoki Onozawa
scored the final try of the match to cap off a memorable game in which he
became one of the first players to chalk up one hundred Top
League round games while centre Ryan Nicholas kept the scoreboard ticking
over with a try, a penalty and five conversions.
NTT Docomo Red Hurricanes and Panasonic Wild Knights played at the Kintetsu
Hanazono Rugby Ground in Osaka on Sunday afternoon
with Panasonic winning a high scoring game 57-32. NTT Docomo
started life in Top League on a positive note with a draw against Honda in the
opening round but have been brought back to earth losing to top guns Suntory,
Toshiba, Toyota and now Panasonic over the last four rounds. Panasonic went
down to Suntory in the opening round but then had wins over NEC, Coca-Cola,
Honda and NTT Docomo to maintain third place on the
table. Panasonic scored eight tries to four with backrowers
Hendrix Tui and Sione Vatuvei both scoring doubles while the Hurricanes also earned
a four-try bonus point for the first time with centre Takeshi Nakaya among the scorers.
Coca-Cola West
Red Sparks went down to
Kobe Steelers 31-12 at the Ninjinia
Stadium in Matsuyama city in Ehime prefecture in their round five clash. Coca-Cola have now suffered
five losses from five starts and languish in the cellar of the table and they
will have to turn the situation around over the ensuing weeks. Kobe scored four
tries to two to notch up their third four-try bonus point of the season with
the win putting them in a good position near the top of the table. The first
half was all Kobe with the Steelers scoring 24
unanswered points to all but guarantee the win by halftime. Coca-Cola fought
back bravely in the second half to narrow the difference to 24-12 by the hour
mark, however, that was to be as close as they would get with fullback and
man-of-the-match Kenji Shomen scoring the
fourth Kobe try late in proceedings to complete the win for the Steelers.
In the final
Sunday game, Fukuoka Sanix Blues
were overwhelmed by Yamaha Jubilo 59-0 at
their home base, the Sanix Global Arena Stadium in Munakata city, Fukuoka prefecture. Sanix
are struggling to find their rhythm over the early rounds with losses to Ricoh,
NTT Com, Kobe, NEC and now Yamaha from their first
five games and this has kept them at the bottom end of the table. Yamaha headed
the table after the first two rounds following impressive wins over NTT Com and
Ricoh but then went down to Kintetsu and Suntory to
find themselves back in the crowded mid-table. However, in their biggest win of
the season Yamaha romped in nine tries over Sanix to
well and truly stay in touch with the top teams. Flanker Yuhimaru
Mimura and wing So Kil-Ryong ran in two
tries each while fullback Ayumu Goromaru landed seven from nine conversions.
Japan Rugby Top League 2011-12
|
Team |
P |
W |
D |
L |
F |
A |
Diff |
BP1 |
BP2 |
Pts |
|
|
1 |
Toshiba |
5 |
5 |
0 |
0 |
214 |
45 |
169 |
5 |
0 |
25 |
|
2 |
Suntory |
5 |
5 |
0 |
0 |
165 |
78 |
87 |
2 |
0 |
22 |
|
3 |
Panasonic |
5 |
4 |
0 |
1 |
183 |
122 |
61 |
3 |
1 |
20 |
|
4 |
Toyota |
5 |
3 |
0 |
2 |
177 |
108 |
69 |
3 |
1 |
16 |
|
5 |
Kobe |
5 |
3 |
0 |
2 |
127 |
96 |
31 |
3 |
1 |
16 |
|
6 |
Yamaha |
5 |
3 |
0 |
2 |
188 |
96 |
92 |
3 |
0 |
15 |
|
7 |
NEC |
5 |
3 |
0 |
2 |
127 |
125 |
2 |
3 |
0 |
15 |
|
8 |
Ricoh |
5 |
3 |
0 |
2 |
141 |
114 |
27 |
2 |
0 |
14 |
|
9 |
Kintetsu |
5 |
3 |
0 |
2 |
117 |
101 |
16 |
1 |
1 |
14 |
|
10 |
NTT Com |
5 |
2 |
0 |
3 |
80 |
137 |
-57 |
1 |
1 |
10 |
|
11 |
Sanix |
5 |
0 |
0 |
5 |
78 |
188 |
-110 |
2 |
1 |
3 |
|
12 |
Honda |
5 |
0 |
1 |
4 |
56 |
181 |
-125 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
|
13 |
NTT Docomo |
5 |
0 |
1 |
4 |
83 |
257 |
-174 |
1 |
0 |
3 |
|
14 |
Coca-Cola |
5 |
0 |
0 |
5 |
79 |
167 |
-88 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
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).
Top four
finishers qualify for Play-off Series, the finals series for Top League.
In addition, the top six finishers qualify for the National Championship.
Bottom two
finishers are automatically relegated.
Teams that
finish 11th and 12th go through promotion and
relegation play-offs against regional challengers.
Leading Point Scorers
At the completion
of round five, Toshiba five-eighth David Hill tops the point scorers
list with 79 points.
|
Name |
Team |
T |
G |
PG |
Pts |
|
|
1 |
David Hill |
Toshiba |
5 |
24 |
2 |
79 |
|
2 |
Ayumu Goromaru |
Yamaha |
1 |
20 |
11 |
78 |
|
3 |
Yasumasa Shigemitsu |
Kintetsu |
1 |
7 |
15 |
64 |
|
4 |
Yoshimitsu Kawano |
Ricoh |
3 |
15 |
6 |
63 |
|
5 |
Ryan Nicholas |
Suntory |
3 |
9 |
6 |
51 |
|
6 |
Orene Ai’i |
Toyota |
2 |
6 |
5 |
37 |
|
7 |
Mike Delany |
Panasonic |
1 |
12 |
2 |
35 |
|
8 |
Peter Grant |
Kobe |
1 |
10 |
3 |
34 |
|
9 |
Atsushi Tanabe |
Panasonic |
0 |
9 |
5 |
33 |
|
10 |
Toru Kurihara |
NTT Com |
1 |
4 |
6 |
31 |
Leading Try Scorers
At the completion
of round five, Toshiba five-eighth David Hill tops the try scorers list
with 5 tries.
|
Name |
Team |
Tries |
|
|
David Hill |
Toshiba |
5 |
|
|
Shuetsu Narita |
Suntory |
4 |
|
|
Daniel Heenan |
Panasonic |
4 |
|
|
Yusuke Kobuki |
Ricoh |
4 |
|
|
Tatsuya Kusumi |
Toyota |
4 |
|
|
So Kil-Ryong |
Yamaha |
4 |
|
|
Hendrix Tui |
Panasonic |
4 |
|
|
Ryuta Ueno |
Toyota |
4 |
|
|
Tatsuya Kusumi |
Toyota |
4 |
Round 5 Man-of-the-match Awards
|
Date |
Teams |
Score |
Teams |
Ground |
MOTM |
|
Sat. 03 Dec. 11 |
Ricoh |
8-23 |
NEC |
Chichibu, Tokyo |
Nili Latu, Flanker |
|
Toyota |
29-26 |
Kintetsu |
Mizuho, Aichi |
Koichi Sugimoto, Lock |
|
|
NTT Com |
6-45 |
Toshiba |
Chichibu, Tokyo |
Shin Ito, Wing |
|
|
Sun. 04 Dec. 11 |
Honda |
14-45 |
Suntory |
KK Wing, Hyogo |
Hirotoki Onozawa, Wing |
|
NTT Docomo |
32-57 |
Panasonic |
Hanazono, Osaka |
Shota Horie, Hooker |
|
|
Coca-Cola |
12-31 |
Kobe |
Matsuyama, Ehime |
Kenji Shomen,
Fullback |
|
|
Sanix |
0-59 |
Yamaha |
Global, Fukuoka |
Mose Tuiali’i, No8 |
22 November 2011
Round 4
|
Date |
Team |
Score |
Team |
K/O |
Venue |
|
Sat, 19 Nov 2011 |
NTT
Com (1T) |
19-10 |
Kobe
(1T) |
12:00 |
Chichibu,
Tokyo |
|
Toshiba
(4Ts) |
26-3 |
Kintetsu |
13:00 |
Yokohama, Kanagawa |
|
|
Suntory
(2Ts) |
26-13 |
Yamaha
(1T) |
14:00 |
Chichibu,
Tokyo |
|
|
Sun,
20 Nov 2011 |
Coca-Cola
(2Ts) |
20-27 |
Ricoh
(3Ts) |
12:00 |
Level 5, Fukuoka |
|
Honda
(1T) |
16-19 |
Panasonic
(3Ts) |
13:00 |
Ashikaga, Tochigi |
|
|
Sanix (2Ts) |
15-32 |
NEC
(4Ts) |
14:00 |
Level 5, Fukuoka |
|
|
NTT
Docomo (1T) |
10-62 |
Toyota
(9Ts) |
13:00 |
Hiroshima, Hiroshima |
Round Four Preview
In the first game
of a double-header at the Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Ground in Tokyo on
Saturday afternoon, NTT Communications Shining Arcs play Kobe Steelers. NTT Com lost to Yamaha in their first game,
bounced back to beat Sanix in round two then pushed
Suntory last week before going down 17-10. On the other hand, Kobe got off to a
bright start beating NEC in Osaka in the first round, lost to Kintetsu in round two then beat Sanix
34-27 last weekend. Kobe are well placed near the top of the table after the
early rounds but it is important for their season that they keep winning,
especially as they have to travel to Tokyo for this match. NTT Com will be
targeting this game and if they can bring the form they displayed against
Suntory last week to Chichibu a win is well within the reckoning.
Also on Saturday, Toshiba
Brave Lupus and Kintetsu Liners
travel to Yokohama for their round four clash. Toshiba
stand alone on top of the table with 15 points from three bonus point wins
after three rounds for a perfect start to their season. However, Kintetsu played three home games in a row making it work in
their favour with three wins on the trot so this clash with Toshiba is a battle
between two of the three unbeaten sides in the league. Toshiba have had wins
over Toyota, Coca-Cola and NTT Docomo while Kintetsu have beaten Coca-Cola, Kobe and Yamaha.
In the second game
in Tokyo, Suntory Sungoliath go head to head
with Yamaha Jubilo. With Toshiba and Kintetsu, Suntory are the only other unbeaten side after
wins over Panasonic, NTT Docomo and NTT Com while
Yamaha had their first loss last round going down to 36-16 to Kintetsu in Osaka after heading the table over the first
two rounds. Suntory have a very stable look and feel about them in the early
games of the season and they will be gunning to keep their winning record
intact against Jubilo. Yamaha started their season
with two impressive bonus point wins over NTT Com and Ricoh and they be looking
to regain that form for this vital game against one of the front runners in
Suntory.
In the first game
of a double-header at the Level Five Stadium in Fukuoka on Sunday afternoon,
locally based Coca-Cola West Red Sparks play Ricoh Black Rams.
Coca-Cola have now suffered three losses from three starts and are the only
team in the league without a competition point to show from their efforts and
they will be desperate to turn the situation around against Ricoh. Ricoh played
at Chichibu in Tokyo for three weeks in a row notching up wins over Sanix and Honda while losing to Yamaha and so this will be
their first game outside the capital. Coca-Cola lost to Kintetsu,
Toshiba and then Panasonic in a tough start to the season but they will fancy
their chances at home against the Black Rams this weekend.
Honda Heat take on Panasonic
Wild Knights in Ashikaga in Tochigi prefecture on Sunday. Honda drew with
NTT Docomo in the opening round but after that
suffered heavy losses at the hands of Toyota and then Ricoh and things just do
not get any easier against the defending Top League champions this round.
Panasonic went down to Suntory in the opening round but then had comfortable
wins over NEC and Coca-Cola and they will be setting themselves to take maximum
points from this game. Two seasons ago, Sanyo, as Panasonic were then known
beat Honda 57-7 on this same ground and they will be gearing themselves up for
a repeat performance.
In the second game
in Fukuoka, Fukuoka Sanix Blues
play NEC Green Rockets. Sanix are struggling
to find their rhythm over the early rounds with losses to Ricoh, NTT Com and
the Steelers from their first three games but they
will have to put an end to that against NEC if they are to move away from the
bottom of the table. NEC were having a slow start to the new season with losses
to Kobe and Panasonic in the first two weeks but surprised Toyota last round
winning 29-26 in Tokyo. NEC will have to take that form to Kyushu to face Sanix in their own back yard as the Blues can be expected
to fight to the very end in front of a home crowd.
In the final
Sunday game, NTT Docomo Red Hurricanes and Toyota
Verblitz travel to Hiroshima for their round four
clash. NTT Docomo started
life in Top League on a positive note with a draw against Honda in the opening
round but were brought back to earth losing to top guns Suntory and Toshiba
over the last two rounds. After going down to Toshiba in the opening round,
Toyota backed up with a solid win over Honda before experiencing their second
loss in three games against NEC in Tokyo last round. In their first ever season
in Top League the Red Hurricanes are toughing it out over the early round and
against Toyota who finished a strong third on the table last season the
pressure will continue.
Round Four Wrap-up
After the fourth round of the 2011-12 Japan Rugby Top League season played
over the weekend of 19-20 November 2011, Toshiba Brave Lupus stand alone
on top of the table with 20 points from four bonus point wins. Suntory Sungoliath
are next on 17 points as the only other unbeaten team
while Panasonic Wild Knights on 15 points and Ricoh Black Rams on
14 points round out the top four. Kintetsu
Liners head a congested mid table on 13 points from Toyota Verblitz, Kobe Steelers
and NEC Green Rockets on 11 points followed by Yamaha Jubilo and NTT Communications Shining Arcs on 10
points. Fukuoka Sanix Blues and Honda Heat
are on three points with NTT Docomo Red Hurricanes
on 2 points and Coca-Cola West Red Sparks on one point.
In the first game
of a double-header at the Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Ground in Tokyo on
Saturday afternoon, NTT Communications Shining Arcs pulled off a 19-10
surprise win over Kobe Steelers. Kobe were
well placed near the top of the table after the early rounds and it was
important for their season that they kept winning, but this loss in Tokyo
pushes them back to bunched mid-table position. NTT Com would have been
targeting this game and they brought the form they displayed against Suntory
last week to surprised the more fancied Steelers. Both teams scored one try apiece in the very wet
conditions but it was man-of-the-match in NTT fullback Toru Kurihara that proved the difference with his four
penalties in a match very much affected by the weather.
Also on Saturday, Toshiba
Brave Lupus and Kintetsu Liners
travelled to Yokohama for their round four clash with
Toshiba taking the spoils 26-3. Toshiba stand alone on top of the table with 20
points from four bonus point wins after four rounds for a perfect start to
their season. Kintetsu played three home games in a
row making it work in their favour with three wins on the trot but they could
not match it with Toshiba on the day in a battle between what was two of the
three unbeaten sides in the league. Toshiba picked up their bonus point right
at the end of the game when right wing Toshiaki Hirose crossed for his
second try of the half after Michael Leitch and Nataniela
Oto had touched down in the first half.
In the second game
in Tokyo, Suntory Sungoliath beat Yamaha Jubilo 26-13. With Toshiba and Kintetsu,
Suntory were the only other unbeaten side leading into this round and with Kintetsu losing to Toshiba that leaves only Toshiba and
Suntory as the only remaining sides without a loss. Suntory have a very stable
look and feel about them in the early games of the season but they had to work
hard to keep their winning record intact against Jubilo
after the scores were locked at 13-all early in the second half. The Sungoliath gradually exerted their dominance in the game as
the second half wore on with centre Ryan Nicholas adding two penalties,
a try and a conversion to break the deadlock and put the game beyond doubt.
Nicholas came away from this game with a personal tally of 21 points after
earlier landing a conversion and two other penalties.
In the first game
of a double-header at the Level Five Stadium in Fukuoka on Sunday afternoon,
locally based Coca-Cola West Red Sparks went down to Ricoh Black Rams
27-20. Coca-Cola have now suffered four losses from four starts and languish in
the cellar of the table as they could not turn the situation around against
Ricoh. Ricoh played at Chichibu in Tokyo for three weeks in a row notching up
wins over Sanix and Honda while losing to Yamaha and
so this win sees them rise to fourth place on the table. Ricoh led throughout
this match scoring three tries to two with Yusuke Kobuki
dotting down twice in a man-of-the-match performance.
Honda Heat took on Panasonic Wild Knights in
Ashikaga in Tochigi prefecture on Sunday and came close to a great upset
victory but ended up going down 19-16. Honda drew with NTT Docomo
in the opening round but after that suffered heavy losses at the hands of
Toyota and then Ricoh and although things did not get any easier against the
defending Top League champions they got out to a 13-0 lead early in the second
half before Panasonic started their fight back. Five-eighth Mike Delany
got the Knights on the board with a try in the 14th minute followed
by a double to replacement flanker Hendrix Tui to push Panasonic in
front 19-13. Joe Gardener kicked a further penalty for Honda to narrow
the difference to three points but Panasonic did enough to hold on for the win.
In the second game
in Fukuoka, Fukuoka Sanix Blues
went down to NEC Green Rockets 32-15. Sanix
are struggling to find their rhythm over the early rounds with losses to Ricoh,
NTT Com, Kobe and now NEC from their first four games
and the effort in this game was not enough to move them away from the bottom
end of the table. NEC were having a slow start to the new season with losses to
Kobe and Panasonic in the first two weeks but surprised Toyota last round
winning 29-26 in Tokyo and backed up with this good win away over Sanix. A rock solid defence was the key to success for the
Green Rockets as they continually denied the Sanix
attack time and space in which to operate. However, Sanix
gave themselves a chance when they got to 18-15 behind
around the hour mark but late tries to lock Ryota
Asano and rookie centre Yu Tamura sealed the win for NEC.
In the final
Sunday game, NTT Docomo Red Hurricanes and Toyota
Verblitz travelled to Hiroshima for their round
four clash with Toyota accounting for the Red
Hurricanes 62-10. NTT Docomo started life in Top
League on a positive note with a draw against Honda in the opening round but
have been brought back to earth losing to top guns Suntory, Toshiba and now
Toyota over the last three rounds. Toyota outscored their opponents nine tries
to one and after leading 24-3 at the break piled on six second half tries to
run away with the game. No8 Takashi Kikutani
picked up a hat-trick while fullback Tatsuya Kusumi
and hooker Ryuta Ueno scored doubles in
the emphatic win for the Verblitz.
Japan Rugby Top League 2011-12
|
Team |
P |
W |
D |
L |
F |
A |
Diff |
BP1 |
BP2 |
Pts |
|
|
1 |
Toshiba |
4 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
169 |
39 |
130 |
4 |
0 |
20 |
|
2 |
Suntory |
4 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
120 |
64 |
56 |
1 |
0 |
17 |
|
3 |
Panasonic |
4 |
3 |
0 |
1 |
126 |
90 |
36 |
2 |
1 |
15 |
|
4 |
Ricoh |
4 |
3 |
0 |
1 |
133 |
91 |
42 |
2 |
0 |
14 |
|
5 |
Kintetsu |
4 |
3 |
0 |
1 |
91 |
72 |
19 |
1 |
0 |
13 |
|
6 |
Toyota |
4 |
2 |
0 |
2 |
148 |
82 |
66 |
2 |
1 |
11 |
|
7 |
Kobe |
4 |
2 |
0 |
2 |
96 |
84 |
12 |
2 |
1 |
11 |
|
8 |
NEC |
4 |
2 |
0 |
2 |
104 |
117 |
-13 |
3 |
0 |
11 |
|
9 |
Yamaha |
4 |
2 |
0 |
2 |
129 |
96 |
33 |
2 |
0 |
10 |
|
10 |
NTT Com |
4 |
2 |
0 |
2 |
74 |
92 |
-18 |
1 |
1 |
10 |
|
11 |
Sanix |
4 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
78 |
129 |
-51 |
2 |
1 |
3 |
|
12 |
Honda |
4 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
42 |
136 |
-94 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
|
13 |
NTT Docomo |
4 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
51 |
200 |
-149 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
|
14 |
Coca-Cola |
4 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
67 |
136 |
-69 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
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).
Top four
finishers qualify for Play-off Series, the finals series for Top League.
In addition, the top six finishers qualify for the National Championship.
Bottom two
finishers are automatically relegated.
Teams that
finish 11th and 12th go through promotion and
relegation play-offs against regional challengers.
Leading Point Scorers
At the completion
of round four, Toshiba five-eighth David Hill and Yamaha fullback Ayumu Goromaru top
the point scorers list with 64 points.
|
Name |
Team |
T |
G |
PG |
DG |
Pts |
|
|
1 |
David Hill |
Toshiba |
4 |
19 |
2 |
- |
64 |
|
1 |
Ayumu Goromaru |
Yamaha |
1 |
13 |
11 |
- |
64 |
|
3 |
Yoshimitsu Kawano |
Ricoh |
3 |
15 |
5 |
- |
60 |
|
4 |
Yasumasa Shigemitsu |
Kintetsu |
1 |
6 |
12 |
- |
53 |
|
5 |
Mike Delany |
Panasonic |
1 |
12 |
2 |
- |
35 |
|
6 |
Peter Grant |
Kobe |
1 |
10 |
3 |
- |
34 |
|
7 |
Ryan Nicholas |
Suntory |
2 |
4 |
5 |
- |
33 |
|
8 |
Toru Kurihara |
NTT Com |
1 |
4 |
6 |
- |
31 |
|
8 |
Orene Ai’i |
Toyota |
2 |
6 |
3 |
- |
31 |
|
10 |
Peter Hewat |
Suntory |
- |
6 |
5 |
- |
27 |
Leading Try Scorers
At the completion
of round four, Suntory wing Shuetsu Narita
is one of five players on the try scorers list with 4 tries.
|
Name |
Team |
Tries |
|
|
Shuetsu Narita |
Suntory |
4 |
|
|
Daniel Heenan |
Panasonic |
4 |
|
|
Yusuke Kobuki |
Ricoh |
4 |
|
|
David Hill |
Toshiba |
4 |
|
|
Tatsuya Kusumi |
Toyota |
4 |
|
|
Yoshimitsu Kawano |
Ricoh |
3 |
|
|
Steven Bates |
Toshiba |
3 |
|
|
Mose Tuiali’i |
Yamaha |
3 |
|
|
Takashi Miyake |
Panasonic |
3 |
Round 4 Man-of-the-match Awards
|
Date |
Teams |
Score |
Teams |
Ground |
MOTM |
|
Sat. 19 Nov. 11 |
NTT Com |
19-10 |
Kobe |
Chichibu, Tokyo |
Toru Kurihara,
Fullback |
|
Toshiba |
26-3 |
Kintetsu |
Yokohama, Kanagawa |
Oto Nataniela, Centre |
|
|
Suntory |
26-13 |
Yamaha |
Chichibu, Tokyo |
Tusi Pisi, Five-eighth |
|
|
Sun. 20 Nov. 11 |
Coca-Cola |
20-27 |
Ricoh |
Level 5, Fukuoka |
Daisuke Komatsu, Wing |
|
Honda |
16-19 |
Panasonic |
Ashikaga, Tochigi |
Hendrix Tui, Replacement flanker |
|
|
Sanix |
15-32 |
NEC |
Level 5, Fukuoka |
Yu Tamura, Centre |
|
|
NTT Docomo |
10-62 |
Toyota |
Hiroshima, Hiroshima |
Stephen Brett, Centre |
15 November 2011
Round 3
|
Date |
Team |
Score |
Team |
K/O |
Venue |
|
Sat, 12 Nov 2011 |
Ricoh (7Ts) |
53-0 |
Honda |
12:00 |
Chichibu,
|
|
|
Kintetsu (4Ts) |
35-16 |
Yamaha (1T) |
13:00 |
Hanazono, |
|
|
NEC (4Ts) |
29-26 |
|
14:00 |
Chichibu,
|
|
|
Toshiba (11Ts) |
73-7 |
NTT Docomo (1T) |
14:00 |
|
|
Sun, 13 Nov 2011 |
NTT Com (1T) |
10-17 |
Suntory (2Ts) |
13:00 |
|
|
|
Sanix (4Ts) |
27-34 |
|
13:00 |
|
|
|
Panasonic (6Ts) |
43-17 |
Coca-Cola (3Ts) |
14:00 |
Kumagaya, Saitama |
Round Three Preview
In the first game
of a double-header at the Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Ground in
At the Kintetsu Hanazono Rugby Ground in
In the second game
in
In the final
Saturday game, Toshiba Brave Lupus and NTT Docomo
Red Hurricanes travel north to
On Sunday, NTT
Communications Shining Arcs and Suntory Sungoliath
go head to head at the Yurtec Stadium in
In
In the final game
of round three, Panasonic Wild Knights and Coca-Cola West Red Sparks
play at the Kumagaya Rugby Ground in Kumagaya city in Saitama prefecture. Panasonic as the
defending Top League champions went down to Suntory in the opening round but
then had a comfortable win over NEC in
Round Two Wrap-up
After the third round of the 2011-12 Japan Rugby Top League season played
over the weekend of 12-13 November 2011, Toshiba Brave Lupus stand alone
on top of the table with 15 points from three bonus point wins. Suntory Sungoliath
and Kintetsu Liners are next on 13
points each as the only other unbeaten teams. Kobe Steelers and
Panasonic Wild Knights are both on 11 points from two wins and one loss
followed by Yamaha Jubilo and Ricoh Black
Rams both on 10 points. Toyota Verblitz, NTT
Communications Shining Arcs and NEC Green Rockets are all on six
points. Meanwhile, the remaining four sides are all winless with Fukuoka Sanix Blues on three points, NTT Docomo
Red Hurricanes and Honda Heat on 2 points while Coca-Cola West
Red Sparks are yet to open their account in the new season.
In the first game
of a double-header at the Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Ground in
At the Kintetsu Hanazono Rugby Ground in
In the second game
in
In the final
Saturday game, Toshiba Brave Lupus and NTT Docomo
Red Hurricanes travelled north to
On Sunday, NTT
Communications Shining Arcs and Suntory Sungoliath
went head to head at the Yurtec Stadium in
In
In the final game
of round three, Panasonic Wild Knights beat Coca-Cola West Red Sparks
43-17 at the Kumagaya Rugby Ground in Kumagaya city in Saitama prefecture. Panasonic as the defending
Top League champions went down to Suntory in the opening round but then had a
comfortable win over NEC last Saturday before this latest win. The Knights
scored six tries to three with wing Akihito Yamada and lock Daniel Heenan both scoring doubles while five-eighth Mike
Delany was given the kicking duties in the absence of Atsushi Tanabe
landing five conversions and a penalty. It was another disappointing loss for
Coca-Cola as they have now suffered three losses from three starts and are the only team in the league without a competition point
to show from their efforts.
Japan
|
|
Team |
P |
W |
D |
L |
F |
A |
Diff |
BP1 |
BP2 |
Pts |
|
1 |
Toshiba |
3 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
143 |
36 |
107 |
3 |
0 |
15 |
|
2 |
Suntory |
3 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
94 |
51 |
43 |
1 |
0 |
13 |
|
3 |
Kintetsu |
3 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
88 |
46 |
42 |
1 |
0 |
13 |
|
4 |
Panasonic |
3 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
107 |
74 |
33 |
2 |
1 |
11 |
|
5 |
|
3 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
86 |
65 |
21 |
2 |
1 |
11 |
|
6 |
Yamaha |
3 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
116 |
70 |
46 |
2 |
0 |
10 |
|
7 |
Ricoh |
3 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
106 |
71 |
35 |
2 |
0 |
10 |
|
8 |
|
3 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
86 |
72 |
14 |
1 |
1 |
6 |
|
9 |
NTT Com |
3 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
55 |
82 |
-27 |
1 |
1 |
6 |
|
10 |
NEC |
3 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
72 |
102 |
-30 |
2 |
0 |
6 |
|
11 |
Sanix |
3 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
63 |
97 |
-34 |
2 |
1 |
3 |
|
12 |
Honda |
3 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
26 |
117 |
-91 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
|
13 |
NTT Docomo |
3 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
41 |
138 |
-97 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
|
14 |
Coca-Cola |
3 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
47 |
109 |
-62 |
0 |
0 |
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).
Top four
finishers qualify for Play-off Series, the finals series for Top League.
In addition, the top six finishers qualify for the National Championship.
Bottom two
finishers are automatically relegated.
Teams that
finish 11th and 12th go through promotion and
relegation play-offs against regional challengers.
Leading Point Scorers
At the completion of
round three, Toshiba five-eighth David Hill tops the point scorers list
with 58 points.
|
|
Name |
Team |
T |
G |
PG |
DG |
Pts |
|
1 |
David Hill |
Toshiba |
4 |
16 |
2 |
- |
58 |
|
2 |
Ayumu Goromaru |
Yamaha |
1 |
12 |
9 |
- |
56 |
|
3 |
Yasumasa Shigemitsu |
Kintetsu |
1 |
6 |
11 |
- |
50 |
|
4 |
Yoshimitsu Kawano |
Ricoh |
3 |
12 |
3 |
- |
48 |
|
5 |
Orene Ai’i |
|
2 |
6 |
3 |
- |
31 |
|
6 |
Peter Grant |
|
1 |
9 |
2 |
- |
29 |
|
7 |
Peter Hewat |
Suntory |
- |
6 |
5 |
- |
27 |
|
8 |
Mike Delany |
Panasonic |
- |
10 |
2 |
- |
26 |
|
9 |
Yu Tamura |
NEC |
1 |
7 |
1 |
- |
22 |
|
10 |
Shuetsu Narita |
Suntory |
4 |
- |
- |
- |
20 |
|
10 |
Daniel Heenan |
Panasonic |
4 |
- |
- |
- |
20 |
|
10 |
Yusuke Kobuki |
Ricoh |
4 |
- |
- |
- |
20 |
Leading Try Scorers
At the completion
of round three, Suntory wing Shuetsu Narita
is one of four players on the try scorers list with 4 tries.
|
|
Name |
Team |
Tries |
|
|
Shuetsu Narita |
Suntory |
4 |
|
|
Daniel Heenan |
Panasonic |
4 |
|
|
Yusuke Kobuki |
Ricoh |
4 |
|
|
David Hill |
Toshiba |
4 |
|
|
Yoshimitsu Kawano |
Ricoh |
3 |
|
|
Steven Bates |
Toshiba |
3 |
|
|
Mose Tuiali’i |
Yamaha |
3 |
|
|
Takashi Miyake |
Panasonic |
3 |
|
|
Takahiro Sugiura |
Sanix |
2 |
Round 3 Man-of-the-match Awards
|
Date |
Teams |
Score |
Teams |
Ground |
MOTM |
|
Sat. 12 Nov. 11 |
Ricoh |
53-0 |
Honda |
Chichibu, |
Ayumu Goromaru, Fullback |
|
|
Kintetsu |
35-16 |
Yamaha |
Hanazono, |
|
|
|
NEC |
29-26 |
|
Chichibu, |
|
|
|
Toshiba |
73-7 |
NTT Docomo |
|
|
|
Sun. 13 Nov. 11 |
NTT Com |
10-17 |
Suntory |
|
|
|
|
Sanix |
27-34 |
|
|
|
|
|
Panasonic |
43-17 |
Coca-Cola |
Kumagaya, Saitama |
|
8 November 2011
Round 2
|
Date |
Team |
Score |
Team |
K/O |
Venue |
|
Sat, 05 Nov 2011 |
Ricoh (2Ts) |
17-45 |
Yamaha (5Ts) |
12:00 |
Chichibu,
|
|
|
NTT Docomo (2Ts) |
16-46 |
Suntory (7Ts) |
13:00 |
Hanazono, |
|
|
NEC (4Ts) |
26-38 |
Panasonic (5Ts) |
13:00 |
|
|
|
|
45-7 |
Honda (1T) |
14:00 |
Mizuho Stadium, Aichi |
|
|
Toshiba (5Ts) |
34-14 |
Coca-Cola (2Ts) |
14:00 |
Chichibu,
|
|
|
Kintetsu (2Ts) |
21-14 |
|
14:00 |
Hanazono, |
|
Sun, 06 Nov 2011 |
NTT Com (4Ts) |
27-10 |
Sanix (1T) |
13:00 |
|
Round Two Preview
In the first game
of a double-header at the Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Ground in
In the first game
of a double-header at the Kintetsu Hanazono Rugby Ground in
At the
At the Mizuho
Rugby Stadium in
In the second game
in
In the second game
in
In the only Sunday
game in round two, NTT Communications Shining Arcs and Fukuoka Sanix Blues travel to
Round Two Wrap-up
After the second
round of the 2011-12 Japan Rugby Top League season played over the weekend of 5-6
November 2011, Yamaha Jubilo and Toshiba
Brave Lupus, are on top of the table with 10 points each after they were
again bonus point winners. Suntory Sungoliath are next on 9 points followed by Kintetsu
Liners on 8 points. Kobe Steelers and Panasonic Wild Knights
are both on 6 points from one win and one loss while Toyota Verblitz, Ricoh Black Rams and NTT
Communications Shining Arcs are all on 5 points. NTT Docomo
Red Hurricanes and Honda Heat are on 2 points from their draw in the
opening round while Fukuoka Sanix Blues and
NEC Green Rockets are on one point with Coca-Cola West Red Sparks
yet to open their account in the new season.
In the first game
of a double-header at the Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Ground in
In the first game
of a double-header at the Kintetsu Hanazono Rugby Ground in
At the
At the Mizuho
Rugby Stadium in
In the second game
in
In the second game
in
In the only Sunday
game in round two, NTT Communications Shining Arcs and Fukuoka Sanix Blues travelled to
Japan
|
|
Team |
P |
W |
D |
L |
F |
A |
Diff |
BP1 |
BP2 |
Pts |
|
1 |
Yamaha |
2 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
100 |
35 |
65 |
2 |
0 |
10 |
|
2 |
Toshiba |
2 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
70 |
29 |
41 |
2 |
0 |
10 |
|
3 |
Suntory |
2 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
77 |
41 |
36 |
1 |
0 |
9 |
|
4 |
Kintetsu |
2 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
53 |
30 |
23 |
0 |
0 |
8 |
|
5 |
|
2 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
52 |
38 |
14 |
1 |
1 |
6 |
|
6 |
Panasonic |
2 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
64 |
57 |
7 |
1 |
1 |
6 |
|
7 |
|
2 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
60 |
43 |
17 |
1 |
0 |
5 |
|
8 |
Ricoh |
2 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
53 |
71 |
-18 |
1 |
0 |
5 |
|
9 |
NTT Com |
2 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
45 |
65 |
-20 |
1 |
0 |
5 |
|
10 |
NTT Docomo |
2 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
34 |
65 |
-31 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
|
11 |
Honda |
2 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
26 |
64 |
-38 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
|
12 |
Sanix |
2 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
36 |
63 |
-27 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
|
13 |
NEC |
2 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
43 |
76 |
-33 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
|
14 |
Coca-Cola |
2 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
30 |
66 |
-36 |
0 |
0 |
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).
Top four
finishers qualify for Play-off Series, the finals series for Top League.
In addition, the top six finishers qualify for the National Championship.
Bottom two
finishers are automatically relegated.
Teams that
finish 11th and 12th go through promotion and
relegation play-offs against regional challengers.
Leading Point Scorers
At the completion
of round two, Yamaha fullback Ayumu Goromaru tops the point scorers list with 45 points.
|
|
Name |
Team |
T |
G |
PG |
DG |
Pts |
|
|
Ayumu Goromaru |
Yamaha |
1 |
11 |
6 |
- |
45 |
|
|
Yasumasa Shigemitsu |
Kintetsu |
- |
3 |
8 |
- |
30 |
|
|
Peter Hewat |
Suntory |
- |
6 |
5 |
- |
27 |
|
|
Yoshimitsu Kawano |
Ricoh |
2 |
6 |
1 |
- |
25 |
|
|
David Hill |
Toshiba |
1 |
7 |
2 |
- |
25 |
|
|
Shuetsu Narita |
Suntory |
4 |
- |
- |
- |
20 |
|
|
Orene Ai’i |
|
2 |
5 |
- |
- |
20 |
|
|
Atsushi Tanabe |
Sanyo |
- |
2 |
4 |
- |
16 |
|
|
Masakazu Shima |
Honda |
- |
2 |
4 |
- |
16 |
|
|
Peter Grant |
|
1 |
5 |
- |
- |
15 |
|
|
Shaun Webb |
Coca-Cola |
- |
2 |
3 |
- |
13 |
Leading Try Scorers
At the completion
of round two, Suntory wing Shuetsu Narita
tops the try scorers list with 4 tries.
|
|
Name |
Team |
Tries |
|
|
Shuetsu Narita |
Suntory |
4 |
|
|
Takahiro Sugiura |
Sanix |
2 |
|
|
Emosi Kauhenga |
Ricoh |
2 |
|
|
Tamati Ellison |
Ricoh |
2 |
|
|
Mose Tuiali’i |
Yamaha |
2 |
|
|
Takehisa Usuzuki |
Toshiba |
2 |
|
|
Yoshimitsu Kawano |
Ricoh |
2 |
|
|
Orene Ai’i |
|
2 |
Round 2 Man-of-the-match Awards
|
Date |
Teams |
Score |
Teams |
Ground |
MOTM |
|
Sat. 05 Nov. 11 |
Ricoh |
17-45 |
Yamaha |
Chichibu, |
Ayumu Goromaru, Fullback |
|
|
NTT Docomo |
16-46 |
Suntory |
Hanazono, |
Kensuke Hatakeyama, Prop |
|
|
NEC |
26-38 |
Panasonic |
|
Mike Delany, Five-eighth |
|
|
|
45-7 |
Honda |
Mizuho Stadium, Aichi |
Hayden Hopgood, Flanker |
|
|
Toshiba |
34-14 |
Coca-Cola |
Chichibu, |
Steven Bates, (2) Flanker |
|
|
Kintetsu |
21-14 |
|
Hanazono, |
Masazumi Tanaka, No8 |
|
Sun. 06 Nov. 11 |
NTT Com |
27-10 |
Sanix |
|
Ryo Tsuruda, Replacement halfback |
1 November 2011
Round 1
|
Date |
Team |
Score |
Team |
K/O |
Venue |
|
Sat, 29 Oct 2011 |
Ricoh (5Ts) |
36-26 |
Sanix (4Ts) |
12:00 |
Chichibu,
|
|
|
Yamaha (7Ts) |
55-18 |
NTT Com (2Ts) |
13:00 |
Yamaha
Stadium, |
|
|
|
38-17 |
NEC (2Ts) |
13:00 |
Kincho Stadium, |
|
|
Panasonic (2Ts) |
26-31 |
Suntory (3Ts) |
14:00 |
Chichibu,
|
|
Sun, 30 Oct 2011 |
Honda (1T) |
19-19 |
NTT Docomo (1T) |
12:00 |
Hanazono, |
|
|
|
15-36 |
Toshiba (5Ts) |
13:00 |
Mizuho Stadium, Aichi |
|
|
Kintetsu (2Ts) |
32-16 |
Coca-Cola (1T) |
14:00 |
Hanazono, |
Round One Preview
In the opening
round of the 2010-11 Japan Rugby Top League season, Ricoh Black Rams
take on Fukuoka Sanix Blues in the
first game of a double-header at the Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Ground in
At the Yamaha
Stadium in Iwata in
Kobe Steelers play NEC Green Rockets at the Kincho Stadium in
In the second game
in
On Sunday, in the
first game of a double-header at the Kintetsu Hanazono Rugby Ground in
At the Mizuho
Rugby Stadium in
In the second game in
Round One Wrap-up
In the opening
round of the 2010-11 Japan Rugby Top League season played over the weekend of
29-30 October 2011, Yamaha Jubilo, Toshiba
Brave Lupus, Kobe Steelers and Ricoh Black Rams were all
bonus point winners. Kintetsu Liners
and Suntory Sungoliath also came away winners
but both failed to pick up a four try bonus point along the way. NTT Docomo Red Hurricanes and Honda Heat played out
a 19-all draw as the two new sides in the league this season and so both teams earned
two competition points each. Panasonic Wild Knights and Fukuoka Sanix Blues both finished with a bonus point in their
losses while Coca-Cola West Red Sparks, Toyota Verblitz,
NEC Green Rockets and NTT Communications Shining Arcs are all yet
to open their accounts in the new season.
In the opening
round of the 2010-11 Japan Rugby Top League season, Ricoh Black Rams
beat Fukuoka Sanix Blues 36-26
in the first game of a double-header at the Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby
Ground in
At the Yamaha
Stadium in Iwata in
Kobe Steelers defeated NEC Green Rockets 38-17 at the
Kincho Stadium in
In the second game
in
On Sunday, in the
first game of a double-header at the Kintetsu Hanazono Rugby Ground in
At the Mizuho
Rugby Stadium in
In the second game in
Japan
|
|
Team |
P |
W |
D |
L |
F |
A |
Diff |
BP1 |
BP2 |
Pts |
|
1 |
Yamaha |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
55 |
18 |
37 |
1 |
0 |
5 |
|
2 |
Toshiba |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
36 |
15 |
21 |
1 |
0 |
5 |
|
3 |
|
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
38 |
17 |
21 |
1 |
0 |
5 |
|
4 |
Ricoh |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
36 |
26 |
10 |
1 |
0 |
5 |
|
5 |
Kintetsu |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
32 |
16 |
16 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
|
6 |
Suntory |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
31 |
26 |
5 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
|
7 |
Honda |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
19 |
19 |
- |
0 |
0 |
2 |
|
8 |
NTT Docomo |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
19 |
19 |
- |
0 |
0 |
2 |
|
9 |
Panasonic |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
26 |
31 |
-5 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
|
10 |
Sanix |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
26 |
36 |
-10 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
|
11 |
Coca-Cola |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
16 |
32 |
-16 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
12 |
|
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
15 |
36 |
-21 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
13 |
NEC |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
17 |
38 |
-21 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
14 |
NTT Com |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
18 |
55 |
-37 |
0 |
0 |
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).
Top four
finishers qualify for Play-off Series, the finals series for Top League.
In addition, the top six finishers qualify for the National Championship.
Bottom two
finishers are automatically relegated.
Teams that
finish 11th and 12th go through promotion and
relegation play-offs against regional challengers.
Leading Point Scorers
At the completion
of round one, Yamaha fullback Ayumu Goromaru tops the point scorers list with 25 points.
|
|
Name |
Team |
T |
G |
PG |
DG |
Pts |
|
|
Ayumu Goromaru |
Yamaha |
1 |
7 |
2 |
- |
25 |
|
|
Yasumasa Shigemitsu |
Kintetsu |
- |
1 |
5 |
- |
17 |
|
|
Peter Hewat |
Suntory |
- |
2 |
4 |
- |
16 |
|
|
Atsushi Tanabe |
Sanyo |
- |
2 |
4 |
- |
16 |
|
|
David Hill |
Toshiba |
1 |
4 |
1 |
- |
16 |
|
|
Peter Grant |
|
1 |
5 |
- |
- |
15 |
|
|
Masakazu Shima |
Honda |
- |
1 |
4 |
- |
14 |
|
|
Yoshimitsu Kawano |
Ricoh |
1 |
4 |
- |
- |
13 |
|
|
Shaun Webb |
Coca-Cola |
- |
1 |
3 |
- |
11 |
|
|
Takahiro Sugiura |
Sanix |
2 |
- |
- |
- |
10 |
|
|
Emosi Kauhenga |
Ricoh |
2 |
- |
- |
- |
10 |
|
|
Tamati Ellison |
Ricoh |
2 |
- |
- |
- |
10 |
|
|
Mose Tuiali’i |
Yamaha |
2 |
- |
- |
- |
10 |
|
|
Takehisa Usuzuki |
Toshiba |
2 |
- |
- |
- |
10 |
|
|
Hiroshi Tashiro |
Sanix |
1 |
2 |
- |
- |
9 |
Leading Try Scorers
At the completion
of round one, five players top the try scorers list with 2 tries.
|
|
Name |
Team |
Tries |
|
|
Takahiro Sugiura |
Sanix |
2 |
|
|
Emosi Kauhenga |
Ricoh |
2 |
|
|
Tamati Ellison |
Ricoh |
2 |
|
|
Mose Tuiali’i |
Yamaha |
2 |
|
|
Takehisa Usuzuki |
Toshiba |
2 |
Round 1 Man-of-the-match Awards
|
Date |
Teams |
Score |
Teams |
Ground |
MOTM |
|
Sat. 29 Oct. 11 |
Ricoh |
36-26 |
Sanix |
Chichibu, |
|
|
|
Yamaha |
55-18 |
NTT Com |
Yamaha Stadium, |
Ayumu GOROMARU, Fullback |
|
|
|
38-17 |
NEC |
Kincho Stadium, |
|
|
|
Panasonic |
26-31 |
Suntory |
Chichibu, |
|
|
Sun. 30 Oct. 11 |
Honda |
19-19 |
NTT Docomo |
Hanazono, |
|
|
|
|
15-36 |
Toshiba |
Mizuho Stadium, Aichi |
|
|
|
Kintetsu |
32-16 |
Coca-Cola |
Hanazono, |
|