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Kolbe and Cane among missing for injury ravaged Sungoliath
Injuries to their international stars may have been a major factor in their season, but it hasn’t stopped Tokyo Suntory Sungoliath, who will qualify for the Japan Rugby League One semi-finals should they beat Shizuoka Blue Revs tomorrow night.
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Star Springbok Cheslin Kolbe has twice been sidelined by injury and is missing at the moment due to a leg injury, while the All Blacks’ Rugby World Cup captain Sam Cane hasn’t appeared since January due to a back problem.
The third of the club’s test trio, Wales international Gareth Anscombe, didn’t even make it to the starting line due to injury, which saw Los Pumas’ veteran Nicolas Sanchez called in, although he has barely been sighted since arriving.
Yet five wins in the last six – with the only defeat coming after they astonishingly blew a 25-point halftime lead against Yokohama Canon Eagles – has positioned last season’s semi-finalists within a win of another appearance in the playoffs.
The finish line might be within touching distance for the back-to-back finalists from the final Top League and maiden Japan Rugby League One, but it could get complicated should Sungoliath not continue a remarkable run against their round 14 opponents, whom they have beaten in each of the last 13 meetings.
Friday’s match will be followed by the highly charged Fuchu derby against Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo, while a last round date with Kubota Spears Funabashi Tokyo Bay won’t be easy either, with the outgoing champions eager to sign off from a disappointing title defence with a win against an opponent they beat three-times during last season’s title run.
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Sagamihara Dynaboars won’t feature in the playoffs, but the ninth ranked outfit could still be a major player in the makeup of the top four when they meet fourth-placed Yokohama Canon Eagles on Saturday.
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A win for the Dynaboars would open the door for the chasing pack, most notably fifth-placed Kobelco Kobe Steelers.
Conversely a win by the Eagles combined with defeats for each of Kobe and Toyota Verblitz, would see the semi-final picture sorted two weeks out from the playoffs.
The Eagles have been boosted by the return of Springbok centre Jesse Kriel, who has been named on the bench for his first appearance since breaking his thumb in mid-January.
Both Kobe and Toyota have difficult assignments, with the Steelers facing the Spears, who have won on the last five occasions the two have met.
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Freed from the shackles of the title defence should Yokohama have prevailed the day before, the Spears will be aiming to finish on a high note, especially given they have dropped points in the last play of each of their last two matches.
Toyota’s task is even greater as they host a Saitama Panasonic Wild Knights side just three wins away from their third unbeaten regular season in four since rugby resumed in Japan post Covid.
While Toyota has been the centre of some big off-field news this week, with the signings of former All Black coach Ian Foster, and league star Joseph Manu, there will be no shortage of heat in the rivalry on Saturday, starting with the head coaches, Toyota’s Steve Hansen, and Saitama’s Robbie Deans.
The pair were once partners coaching in Christchurch before opposing each other some years later, firstly when Deans was on the staff as the All Blacks beat Hansen’s Wales three times, and later in Bledisloe Cup tests.
Although Hansen had the better of the Bledisloe rivalry, as part of a two-time Rugby World Cup-winning outfit, he has yet to get the better of Deans – who has won five titles in Japan – since he took over Toyota after the 2019 tournament.
Comments on RugbyPass
No question they were the better team. But that is the beauty of sport isn’t it!
94 Go to commentsEveryone is into Hurling in Ireland according to Porter, but only 11 of Ireland's 32 counties enter a team into the national competition. Same old blarney.
1 Go to commentsLet’s be honest. The draw and scheduling in the World Cup was a joke but South Africa found a way after having to go the hard (nearly impossible) way to the Cup Final via France and England. NZ had a hard game against France (lost) and had 5 weeks to prepare for the Quarter, 3 weeks knowing it was Ireland. NZ theerfore had to win one big game against an Irish team who played SA and then Scotland 7 days before. They won and it was de facto a semi final because they were playing a relatively weak Argentina team and it was a walk over. In the final a very rested NZ team was playing a very tired SA team and still lost. They couldn’t score more than 11 points. Put another way SA had to find a way to win while tired and they achieved that. NZ should thank their lucky stars that they fixed the scheduling in 2015 otherwise they would be dealing with a Bok treble.
94 Go to commentsPerhaps if Bongi wasn’t targeted and removed from the game in the first 3 minutes it would have been quite a different game. Maybe if NZ also faced the same competition the Boks faced to their win NZ would have looked quite different. The final score shows who outplayed who.
94 Go to commentsRubbish article! Abuladze played most of Exeters matches when fit. He got injured against Glasgow a while ago and is out for the rest of the season, thats why he hasnt played for Exeter and Georgia recently. Do some proper research next time!
1 Go to commentsGotta love it when kids throw their toys out the pram and can’t hack it with the grown ups debate. Here’s looking at you turlough! 😉🤣
148 Go to commentsThey lost the game period move on
94 Go to commentsSpringboks won! Stop winging. You can change the game however much you and your rugby colonizing IRB want to and the Springboks will win you at that too. Your mind is colonized my friend get a life
94 Go to commentsBen, nobody gets fooled anymore by selective and biased data to support an hypothesis. Games are decided on such small margins these days that you win some and lose some, and dominance is a thing of the rugby past. Look at the RWC circle of fortune…. Ireland beats SA who beat France who beat NZ who beat Ireland. And so it goes on. Match officials help to eliminate real indiscretions. If they had been with us years before, no doubt results would have been different. Remember Andy Haden’s dive from a lineout in 1978 for which a match-wining penalty was awarded? Wales should have beaten the ABs that day. They took the loss like the gentlemen they were.
94 Go to commentsWith all the analysis and how good the all blacks were.The fundamental mistake with the ABs is that this is a test match and not an exhibition.There is no better team(country) in world rugby than the Boks that knows how to win a test match(we are post masters at this).We know our rules, we have the discipline, we tackle like beasts, we take our points and we never give up.I now have educated the ABs supporters(at least say thank you).Please stop “bitching” , accept what the outcome is and move along swiftly.
94 Go to commentsAnd they came from behind to win two big games before the final. No one can say what would have happened. Had the boks gone behind the game plan changes and the result may changes. Ifs and ands are irrelevant. The boks won. Neutral critics enjoyed the games they played. Its not a popularity contest. Get over it and move on.
94 Go to commentsI'm happy for the people of SA to get a second WC. And I mean that. I was very disappointed with this man's “stand on the hand” incident with Josh Van Der Flyer (Ireland). Ireland's downfall in the last WC was they did not rotate their first 15 as the head coach probably should have. That said, I'm happy for SA and genuinely hope it lifts the mood in their country. Ireland did beat them in the first match of the tournament. And before the trolls start trolling ….. please don't bother. Etzbeth said recently that the Irish players said after the match “see you in the final”…..this was actually wishing the SA team the best of luck in the rest, the Irish team were not dismissing the AB’s. This is what Etzbeth was implying. But he was wrong. I no longer live in Ireland. But I hope to see them lift that cup before I pass. Anyway, congratulations SA. 👍
12 Go to commentsMore bloody click bait. Dan Carter has said absolutely nothing. As he should do. Poor journalism again from a site that should know better
9 Go to commentsOh god please help these loosers get over it!!!! You lost. Doesn't matter how many times you dummies are gonna analyse the game, you still lost and we are still Rygby World Champions….get over it, you lost.
94 Go to commentsThe next Willie le Roux. SA are made not to use him.
3 Go to commentsDan has always been as controversial as tea with milk so we were never going to get any definitive answer. So DMac for the win.
9 Go to commentsGoodness. When are the All Blacks and New Zealand commentators going to stop complaining about how they could have won and just try to win next time 😂. In South Africa if you lose you get up and try again. Get over it.
94 Go to commentsHonestly, it doesn’t matter a whole lot. RSA has a ton of experienced talent in its leadership group. I am more interested in who is the new 8 man/8 men and the younger props. The captain may change but the system does not
1 Go to comments“See you in the final” can mean whatever you want it to mean. To me it means that 12 Irish rugby players are a bunch of poeses. See y’all in Pretoria.
148 Go to commentsBen, you are one of the most arrogant and self opionated rugby critics I have ever come across (next to Keohane). I hoped that after SA beating the best ranked teams in the world on their way to the WC (something not done before) that you might have the grace to admit that this is a special team that deserved the accolades coming their way. You have no humility and as has been been already pointed out, merely a troll to attract audience numbers. Count me out in the future.
94 Go to comments