Forgotten Wallabies fullback turns up the Heat to clinch Japan rugby thriller

Two tries by Wallabies fullback Tom Banks helped Mie Heat come from behind to beat Sagamihara Dynaboars 38-37 in a  Japan Rugby League One thriller.

The Dynaboars had scored 34 unanswered points in Suzuka on Sunday to turn a 12-0 deficit into a 34-12 lead, before the 30-year-old Queenslander transformed the game, dotting down twice in 10 minutes.

Heat completed their stunning comeback when back-rower Ryota Kobayashi claimed the match-winning try in the 80th minute.

The result lifted Mie to eighth place on the league standings, although they are 20 points behind Saitama Wild Knights, after the competition leaders continued a remarkable sequence that has seen them beat Yokohama Eagles on 17 consecutive occasions since 2013.

Gold Coast-schooled Dylan Riley scored twice in the second half for the Wild Knights, who extended a one-point halftime advantage to an emphatic 51-36 win.

Former Wallabies boss Dave Rennie cut a frustrated figure on Saturday  after his Kobe Steelers surrendered a 17-point halftime lead in their 25-20 loss to Spears Funabashi Tokyo-Bay.

The visitors were held scoreless in the second half as Wallaby Bernard Foley’s Spears overhauled the deficit to retain third spot in the competition.

Despite losing their past two games, Kobe remain in the playoff places, clinging to sixth spot thanks to seventh-placed Tokyo Sungoliath’s 43-33 loss to Brave Lupus Tokyo in another high-scoring Fuchu Derby.

Brave Lupus have won five of the eight meetings between the west Tokyo rivals since League One began, with the latest edition continuing the trend of points aplenty as the teams shared 11 tries and 76 points.

The derby has averaged 62 points per game in the past four years.

Verblitz continues to slide, despite another try from Joseph Manu, with the ex-State of Origin star’s fifth of his rugby union career going unrewarded in a 33-23 loss to Shizuoka Blue Revs.

Australian flyhalf Sam Greene picked up man-of-the-match for the Blue Revs after slicing through early for a try after just two minutes.

Steve Hansen’s men have lost their past four games and  dropped to 10th, just one above the relegation places.

Wallabies midfielder Samu Kerevi scored a try but was also yellow-carded for a no-arms tackle as bottom-placed Urayasu D-Rocks fell to their seventh defeat after a 44-22 loss to Black Rams Tokyo.

Former Australian under-20 centre Semisi Tupou scored two tries for the winners, while All Black TJ Perenara was also a try-scorer.