Ex-All Blacks coach produces ‘worst losing sequence’ in a decade, World Cup-winners struggle while Springbok and Wallaby continue rampage
Leon MacDonald, Jasper Wiese and Sir Steve Hansen
It’s been a tough start to the Japan Rugby League One season for former All Blacks coaches Leon MacDonald, Sir Steve Hansen and Ian Foster.
MacDonald took charge of Canon Eagles at the start of the campaign and has overseen the club’s worst losing sequence for a decade, losing their opening four games of the 2025/26 season.
That has taken their current losing streak to eight games, including four from the end of the last term. The fourth loss of the season came to the high-flying Urayasu D-Rocks, who sealed their third victory from four matches under English coach Graham Rowntree. Adding to the Eagles’ woes is the injury to Faf de Klerk, who is set to miss the majority of their regular season.
The Eagles prop up the Japan Rugby League One standings, having collected just two points to date, just two less than fellow strugglers Toyota Verblitz, who are coached by fellow ex-All Blacks coaches Hansen and Foster. Verblitz were edged 29-37 by the BlackRams Tokyo at the weekend.
While the former All Blacks coaches continue to struggle, ex-Crusaders boss Todd Blackadder has not, as the Toshiba Brave Lupus notched up their third straight victory, banishing the memory of their 46-0 opening day defeat to the Wild Knights.
Canon Eagles fail to take flight
Rowntree has enjoyed a strong start to life as the D-Rocks boss, having already matched the win tally that the club produced throughout the entirety of last season as they finished bottom of the pile.
The former Munster head coach’s men defeated the Eagles 28-22 on Saturday with Springboks star Jasper Wiese and former Wallabies centre Samu Kerevi leading the charge.
Kerevi scored one of his side’s three tries and bossed the gainline, making a match-high of 97 running metres and beat nine defenders – which included a 60-metre try in a man of the match performance. Wiese was not far off making 78 metres, beating three defenders and made a game-high of 23 tackles and made two turnovers.
Caleb Cavubati and Tana Tuhakaraina also claimed tries for the D-Rocks in the closely fought encounter, which steered the side to victory despite scores from Eagles’ captain Jesse Kriel – who also assisted a try -, winger Kippei Ishida, and lock Liakai Moli.
Ultimately, the difference between the two sides was the boot of Hikaru Tamura, who knocked over two first-half penalties and a conversion as the Eagles suffered their eighth straight defeat, equalling their worst run since they dropped the same tally in the 2014/15 season.
Brave Lupus power to another win
After a hammering defeat to the Wild Knights in round one, defending champions, the Toshiba Brave, have collected three wins from three, completing the hat-trick this weekend, beating the Mitsubishi Sagamihara DynaBoars 47-22.
This despite yellow cards for Tjay Clarke, Richie Mo’unga and Vea Taumoefolau. It was a card-filled match with Springbok centre Lukhanyo Am also visiting the sin-bin.
Though he spent time in the sin bin, 23-year-old winger Clarke scored a hat-trick of tries for his new club, with Rob Thompson adding a brace along with scores for Hiroki Yamamoto and Rinpei Sasaki.
Seunghyuk Lee and Matt Vaega grabbed tries for Glenn Delaney’s side, who were also awarded a penalty try but ultimately offered little resistance to the title holders.
Verblitz’s poor start to the season
Yellow cards were also a feature of BlackRams Tokyo’s 29-37 come-from-behind win over Toyota Verblitz, who have now suffered back-to-back defeats.
Hansen and Foster’s charges led 29-10 at half-time but failed to trouble the scorers in the final 40 minutes. Josh Dickson, Taichi Takahashi, and a brace from Mark Telea put Toyota on track for a bonus point victory, with Shinya Komura adding three conversions and a penalty.
The BlackRams opened the scoring in the opening minutes through Taira Main, but were largely outplayed in the first half. The second 40 was a different story entirely.
Ichigo Nakakusu inspired the comeback with a try, two penalties and added the extras to Liam Gill and Yuki Ikeda’s five pointers. It was quite the comeback for the Rams, who had Josh Goodhue and Main being yellow-carded in the second, with Shin Ouchi also visiting the bin in the 11th minute.
Verblitz sit third from bottom in the league after winning just one from four.
Libbok steers Liners to victory from full-back
Finally, in Division Two, the Hanazono Kintetsu Liners continued their unbeaten start in the season courtesy of a 47-34 victory over the Hino Red Dolphins on Saturday.
Former All Blacks centre Peter Umaga-Jensen crossed for two tries in the win, with Springbok Manie Libbok converting both scores while adding four further conversions and a penalty.
The Liners now top the table after three rounds of action with the Shimizu Corporation Koto Blue Sharks one point adrift, having also won their opening games.
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