Brad Weber misses face-off with All Black legend in tough club debut

The absence of Aaron Smith from the Toyota Verblitz line-up may have robbed his side’s clash with BlackRams Tokyo of a head-to-head between the two All Blacks, but another former New Zealand test scrumhalf will make his debut as Japan Rugby League One resumes on Saturday.

Eighteen cap Brad Weber has found his way to Mitsubishi Sagamihara Dynaboars after a two-year stint with Stade Francais, but the long-time Chiefs man has picked a tough one for his introduction, measuring up against champions Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo.

The 34-year-old Napier Boys’ High School product has been named on the bench for Saturday’s game, where the Dynaboars will be aiming for improvement after their 33-3 loss to Saitama Wild Knights at the end of last month.

While it’s still early days, the Dynaboars, along with each of Verblitz and the Black Rams who each have one win, know the perils of falling too far behind the pacesetters.

The Black Rams ended one place shy of the playoffs last time after winning just one of their first seven matches.

Mitsubishi matched their sixth wins in finishing ninth, while 10th-placed Verblitz never recovered after their own false start, winning just four times as they narrowly avoided the relegation series.

After losing just four of 18 matches during the last regular season, Shizuoka BlueRevs have already dropped two this time, with their surprise defeat by Urayasu D-Rocks ominous ahead of a date with the unbeaten Saitama Wild Knights.

The BlueRevs are something akin to kryptonite for the Wild Knights though, who have lost just three regular season matches on the field in the five years since League One began, with two of the defeats inflicted by Kwagga Smith’s men.

Shizuoka were the first side to beat the Wild Knights in the new competition, ending a 47-match winning run that had dated back to the penultimate season of Top League.

They also brought last year’s 10-game unbeaten start to an end, triggering a slide that saw Saitama’s title challenge peter out as they missed the championship game for the first time in the post-Covid era.

With Ardie Savea thriving on his return to Japan, Kobelco Kobe Steelers are in great shape as they line up a bruised Tokyo Sungoliath following the latter’s 59-point drubbing by Kubota Spears.

The game sees ex-Chiefs coach Dave Rennie match wits with his former on-field leader in Hamilton, Sungoliath skipper Sam Cane.

Graham Rowntree’s Urayasu will be looking to build on their two-win start against winless Yokohama Eagles, while the Spears should have too many guns for Pablo Matera’s Mie Honda Heat.