Aaron Smith wins battle with fellow All Blacks scrum-half to propel Steve Hansen’s side up table

All Blacks legend Aaron Smith won his individual battle with fellow New Zealand scrum-half Brad Weber as Verblitz backed up last week’s upset win over Brave Lupus with a 31-29 win over Sagamihara at Kyoto.

Japan’s ancient capital witnessed a thrilling game where the lead changed hands nine times, with Brave Blossoms winger Taichi Takahashi scoring a hat-trick for Toyota, before Siosaia Fifita crossed in the 78th minute to tie the scores.

Verblitz utility back Shinya Komura calmy nailed the conversion to get his side over the line.

Steve Hansen boost

The back-to-back league wins have vaulted Steve Hansen‘s side up the table, taking them above each of the Dynaboars, D-Rocks and Heat into eighth place, five points clear of the relegation series positions.

Defeat was tough on the Dynaboars, who outscored Verblitz five tries to four, but were left to rue an off day with the boot from fly-half Shun Miyaki, with the National Provincial Championship-winning ex-Canterbury fly-half missing four of his five shots at goal.

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The Verblitz goalkickers, Komura and Brave Blossoms veteran Rikiya Matsuda, raised the flags with all five of their attempts.

Sagamihara remain under threat of having to retain their Division One status in the end-of-season Replacement Battle, 11th on the championship table, and two points behind D-Rocks, although they do have a game (against Sungoliath) in hand.

Division Two and Three

Toyota Industries Shuttles Aichi kept up the pressure on Manie Libbok’s Hanazono Kintetsu Liners, thumping Kyushu Electric Power Kyuden Voltex 68-28 to move to within a point of the leaders in Division Two.

Shimizu Corporation Koto Blue Sharks consolidated their hold on third, while RedHurricanes Osaka denied Hino Red Dolphins a first win when ex-Munster back-rower Jack O’Sullivan scored with two minutes remaining.

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In Division Three, front-runners SkyActivs and SAYAMA SECOM RUGGUTS both had big wins ahead of next week’s showdown between the pair, with SkyActivs taking the bragging rights in the Hiroshima derby after a comprehensive 48-10 win over Chugoku Electric Power Red Regulions.

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