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George Kruis' Wild Knights on top in Japan rugby
Former Australian Under-20 centre Dylan Riley scored three tries as the Panasonic Wild Knights crushed Yamaha Jubilo 55-19 to win the white conference of Japan’s Top League.
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Riley’s hat-trick helped Panasonic to complete the preliminary program unbeaten at the weekend, earning top seeding from the section, and home advantage for their first game of the league’s elimination series in two weeks.
That engagement could see Panasonic coach Robbie Deans matched against two of his former Wallabies charges, with the Wild Knights drawn to host the winner of next weekend’s game between the Munakata Sanix Blues and the Kintetsu Liners.
Kintetsu, who earned their place by finishing second in the Top League challenger tournament, feature former Wallabies Quade Cooper and Will Genia, who were both given their Test debuts during Deans’ five-and-a-half-year tenure coaching Australia.
The five-time Super Rugby-winning former Crusaders coach, who has been associated with three Top League titles at Panasonic, has so far presided over a campaign that has seen the Wild Knights surpass 45 points in five of their seven outings.
Although held to a draw by a Kobelco Steelers side that featured three All Blacks, four Japanese internationals and eight players with Super Rugby experience, Panasonic finished two points above the defending champions on the conference standings.
REPORT: A concerning development for the PRO14 and SA Rugby. #RainbowCup ??https://t.co/XNUjRDL27j
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That allows them to avoid red conference champions Suntory Sungoliath until the May 23 final should both conference champions successfully negotiate their first three elimination matches.
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Suntory wrapped up the red section unbeaten by despatching the NTT Comm Shining Arcs 94-31 in a remarkable game that featured 18 tries, three of which were scored by All Blacks star Beauden Barrett in just 18 minutes on the field.
The most significant result on that side of the draw saw Wallaby captain Michael Hooper get the better of former teammate Bernard Foley, as Toyota Verblitz beat the Kubota Spears in a thriller 25-24, scoring the winning try in the 82nd minute.
Lions picks… @chrisrobshaw selects his Lions XV for the first Test https://t.co/328EmbNkxk
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) April 11, 2021
Former Wallaby prop Paddy Ryan’s Sanix lost 14-49 to the Toshiba Brave Lupus, while the Mitsubishi Dynaboars must also brave the first weekend of sudden death after they crashed to a 55-7 loss against the Honda Heat.
An 83rd minute try saw Kobe edge the NTT Docomo Red Hurricanes 31-29 to remain unbeaten, while Damien Hill’s Ricoh Black Rams trounced the Hino Red Dolphins 41-19 to finish fourth in the white section.
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The loss condemned Hino to an early entrance to sudden death play next weekend, where they will be joined by the NEC Green Rockets, who finished the white conference winless after a 71-24 loss to the Canon Eagles.
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 …
30 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!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 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.
30 Go to comments