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No CEO, no head coach, but the All Blacks can fire pot shots at Australia
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All hope is pinned on TJ Perenara for one of the toughest tasks in Japan
And so it goes on.
When the Saitama Wild Knights edged out Tokyo Sungoliath by a point in the latest round of Japan Rugby League One two weeks ago, Springbok midfielder Damian de Allende and his colleagues were registering their 65th win from 72 regular season matches since the competition inaugurated five seasons ago.
The success has not necessarily translated into titles, with the Wild Knights the bridesmaids twice since they won in the first year, and not even making the final last term, but theirs is still one of the most formidable records in the professional club game.
Next to try their luck will be TJ Perenara’s BlackRams Tokyo, who won’t sneak under the radar even though they have lost 20 of their last 21 games against the Wild Knights and are 16 points and seven places below the unbeaten league leaders.
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The BlackRams’ inspirational scrum-half and skipper scored two tries as his side gave Saitama a fright when the teams last met, with an injury time penalty goal getting the Wild Knights home 27-21 after three points had separated the protagonists for the last 15 minutes of regular time.
Perenara’s men have won three of their last four although such is the logjam mid-table, they are the bottom of a group of four sides who each have three wins.
One of those is Kwagga Smith’s Shizuoka BlueRevs who travel to Hyogo seeking revenge after Dave Rennie’s men ended their last campaign in the quarterfinals.
The defeat came after the BlueRevs had gathered 14 wins from 18 outings in the regular season, twice accounting for Kobelco Kobe Steelers, as they finished fourth on the standings.
Kobe trail second-placed Kubota Spears by one point on the ladder, with Wallaby Bernard Foley’s side looking to bounce back from their four-point defeat by Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo last time.
The Spears play Urayasu D-Rocks at Spears Edoriku field where they have never lost.
Mie Honda Heat broke their duck against D-Rocks but face a daunting tasking hosting a Brave Lupus outfit who have won five-in-a-row since their opening day defeat by Saitama.
Honda’s win left Steve Hansen’s Toyota Verblitz and Yokohama occupying the bottom two positions which will add an extra edge to their meeting at Nagoya where the Eagles’ new coach Leon MacDonald will go head-to-head with his former Crusaders and All Black coach for the first time.
There will also be tension for Mitsubishi Sagamihara Dynaboars against fifth-placed Sungoliath, with Glenn Delaney’s men having won just once in their last eight outings, although they did beat Sunday’s opponents 34-22 when they last met.
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