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Ex-All Blacks and Wallabies playmakers to go head-to-head in Japan
A pair of former All Blacks and Wallabies playmakers are set to square off in a star-studded round three clash in Japan Rugby League One this weekend.
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The Kobleco Kobe Steelers host the Kubota Spears Funabashi Tokyo Bay in Kobe on Saturday that will see a raft of current and former test internationals go head-to-head at NOEVIR Stadium.
The biggest head-to-head match-up from both teams sees former All Blacks first-five Aaron Cruden, now playing for Kobelco, pitted against ex-Wallabies pivot Bernard Foley, who makes his first appearance for Kubota this season.
Cruden, who played 50 tests for the All Blacks between 2010 and 2017, was omitted from last week’s Steelers side that was stunned in a 55-21 defeat at the hands of the Yokohama Canon Eagles at Nissan Stadium.
The week beforehand, he started and played the entirety of his side’s season-opener against the Shining Arcs Tokyo-Bay Urayasu, a match he could have won for Kobelco with an injury-time conversion that he missed, resulting in a 24-23 defeat in Kobe.
As such, the Steelers, one of the regular title frontrunners in Japan, remain winless this season and will target this weekend’s clash against Kubota as a must-win fixture.
Cruden will be supported in helping guide the Steelers to victory by the likes of current Japanese internationals Isileli Nakajima, Tim Lafaele and Ryohei Yamanaka, all of whom have been named to start for Kobelco.
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Brave Blossoms duo Koo Ji-won and Naohiro Kotaki have also been named on the bench, while ex-Blues lock Gerard Cowley-Tuioti, Highlanders cult hero Richard Buckman and former Chiefs wing Ataata Moeakiola are listed to start.
Kubota won’t make it easy for Kobelco, though, after the Spears forced their way into a top four spot in the Division 1 standings with a hard-earned 19-9 win over the Shining Arcs last weekend.
That victory came after they were handed five competition points for their cancelled season-opener against the Saitama Wild Knights, who couldn’t field a side due to a Covid-19 outbreak in their squad.
As a result, the Spears linger near the summit of the League One top division table and will look to stay there as Foley, who played 71 tests for the Wallabies between 2013 and 2019, has been included in a Kubota match day side for the first time this year.
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Foley will be supported by former All Blacks midfielder Ryan Crotty at second-five, while journeyman South African outside back Gerhard van den Heever, whose goal-kicking was instrumental in last week’s win, has retained his place at fullback.
Furthermore, Kubota have been bolstered by the addition of World Cup-winning Springboks hooker Malcolm Marx, who has been named on the bench and is primed to make his first League One appearance in 2022.
Kubota will, however, be without current Japan internationals Lappies Labuschagne and Faulua Makisi, as well as captain Harumichi Tatekawa, all of whom have been dropped after facing the Shining Arcs in Tokyo last week.
Elsewhere throughout the league, Israel Folau has been omitted from the Shining Arcs squad to face the Green Rockets Tokatsu in Tokyo.
By contrast, Toyota Verblitz have made minimal changes to their team, keeping the likes of Springboks star Pieter-Steph du Toit, All Blacks lock Patrick Tuipulotu and Brave Blossoms No 8 Kazuki Himeno on board to face the NTT Docomo Red Hurricanes at Toyota Stadium.
In Division 2, Australian greats Will Genia and Quade Cooper will again combine in the halves for the Hanazono Kintetsu Liners against the Mie Honda Heat, who are without former All Blacks fullback Matt Duffie, in Osaka.
The Mitsubishi Sagamihara Dynaboars, meanwhile, have named a strong side, headlined by ex-All Blacks lock Jackson Hemopo, to take on the Mazda Skyactivs Hiroshima in Minami-Ku.
Saturday’s only other scheduled match comes in Division 3, where the Munakata Sanix Blues will host the Chugoku Red Regulions in Fukuoka.
Comments on RugbyPass
Why cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
31 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
4 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
31 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
31 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
31 Go to comments