Springbok star has a ‘mountain to climb’ while All Black legend crosses the try-line again
Springbok star has a 'mountain to climb' while All Black legend crosses the tryline again
The Kubota Spears gained their ninth win of the Japan Rugby League One season at the weekend, beating the Yokohama Canon Eagles 28-10.
A blowout appeared probable after the Spears sped to a 21-0 advantage after 26 minutes at Oita’s Crasus Dome, but Springbok Jesse Kriel’s men provided a game challenge after half-time, with the Yokohama skipper scoring the first of his side’s two second-half tries, which closed the gap to 11 points.
Their challenge was finally put down when the Spears’ South African centre Rikus Pretorius scored his side’s fourth try with two minutes remaining, but their try count was not enough to earn a bonus point, trimming their lead over Kobe on the standings to two points.
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Kwagga Smith’s side has a mountain to climb
Tokyo Sungoliath closed to within 10 points of the top three, with a game in hand, after routing Shizuoka BlueRevs 57-24.
Shizuoka have never beaten Sungoliath, and any chance of changing that narrative was ruthlessly taken away during a dominant first half, which was nearly all one-way traffic as the visitors built up a 38-5 lead.
Although the BlueRevs finished with a late flurry of tries, the 33-point margin was an accurate reflection of the gulf between the two sides, who are ranked fourth and seventh on the standings, respectively.
Fittingly, the final try was scored by the speedy Sungoliath winger Seiya Ozaki, which completed his hat-trick.
The 30-year-old has been plagued by injury in recent seasons after finishing as the league’s top try-scorer three years ago with 18, which he followed by scoring 14 a year later, to wind up second.
Sungoliath’s success at Yamaha Stadium was the BlueRevs’ seventh defeat of the season, leaving Kwagga Smith’s side with a mountain to climb – now nine points astern of the play-off positions – with eight games remaining.
Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo on the ropes
Springbok winger Cheslin Kolbe and his teammates have Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo in their sights as the next round brings the western Tokyo rivals together for the Fuchu derby.
The defending champions are on the ropes after four straight defeats, the latest of which saw a try by All Blacks scrum-half TJ Perenara midway through the second half provide the fatal blow, as Ricoh Black Rams Tokyo eased to a 33-14 win at Kagoshima.
The unerring boot of Black Rams fly-half Ichigo Nakakusu, who last week became just the second player to surpass 100 points for the season, kept his side on the front foot until Perenara’s intervention presented his side with their second try.
While Brave Lupus still had 17 minutes left to overhaul their nine-point deficit, they never looked likely, with Black Rams centre Daisuke Nishikawa scoring the game’s final try to finish off the impressive 19-point win.
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