All Black-themed Japan Rugby League One semi-final as captains collide

Between them, they played 278 games for the Chiefs in Super Rugby, the bulk of them alongside each other, won two titles and amassed a collective 213 All Black test caps.

But the friendship between the rival skippers, Sam Cane and Brodie Retallick, is going to be put aside for 80 minutes on Saturday as they lead Tokyo Sungoliath and Kobelco Kobe Steelers into battle against each other in the opening semi-final of Japan Rugby League One.

Cane, who debuted for the Chiefs a year earlier than his long-time club and test teammate, helped Sungoliath pull off the heist of the season in their quarter-final victory over BlackRams Tokyo.

Sungoliath looked dead and buried as the clock ticked into extra time last weekend, only to jump from the grave and go the length of the field to achieve salvation.

BlackRams fly-half Ichigo Nakakusu will be having nightmares about pushing his 80th minute penalty slightly to the right of the goal posts. Had the kick been successful, or gone beyond the in goal, Cane would probably be back in Mount Maunganui by now putting his feet up.

That it didn’t, allowed Sungoliath to patiently work their way into position to retrieve the game, which will have given the men from Fuchu a huge deposit in the belief bank.

Up until that moment, theirs had been a season of near-misses in major games. Defeats by two, one, two and five against fellow semi-finalists, Kobe, Saitama Wild Knights (twice) and Kubota respectively had the makings of a report card that read: ‘good, but not good enough’.

Now they are 80-minutes away from their first championship game since the league’s maiden year, and with star man Cheslin Kolbe in hot form as the end of his time in Japan nears.

Head-to-Head

Last 5 Meetings

Wins

3

Draws

0

Wins

2

Average Points scored

33

30

First try wins

80%

Home team wins

20%

While their opponents were breaking out of jail, Kobe were enjoying the week off, having achieved direct entry to the semi-finals. The league’s number one seed could be vulnerable, as they will be hitting the pitch for the first time in three weeks.

Boss Dave Rennie has even been out of the country, returning home to oversee arrangements for his next gig with the All Blacks, but the New Zealander’s impending departure is unlikely to have been a distraction for such an experienced group.

As at the Chiefs, the former Wallaby coach inherited a roster in transition when he arrived in Kansai three years ago.
He has built his team around a core of experienced performers such as Retallick, while simultaneously infusing Kobe’s next generation.

The method worked instantly at the Chiefs with a title in his maiden season and two in six years. By Saturday night, we will know whether he’s got a chance of capping off his career in Japan in style as well.