Robbie Deans goes 5-0 up on Steve Hansen

The Saitama Panasonic Wild Knights remain on course for their third straight title in Japan’s League One rugby competition after becoming the first team to qualify for the semi-finals. The Wild Knights, coached by the former Crusaders and Wallaby coach Robbie Deans, extended their unbeaten run to 46 matches as they overcame Steve Hansen’s Toyota Verblitz 19-10 in a willing contest at Aichi.

It was the fifth time Deans has got the better of his former Crusaders assistant during the unbeaten sequence, although the nine-point margin represented a significant improvement for Toyota’s Director of Rugby, whose team had lost by an average of 24 points across the previous four defeats.

The Panasonic club, who featured Aussies Marika Koroibete, Jack Cornelsen and Dylan Riley as well as Springboks Damien de Allende and Lood de Jager, in their starting XV, are bidding for their sixth title since Deans became formally associated with c oaching the team.

They prevailed despite losing two men to the sinbin, including de Jager who experienced a mixed day, receiving a yellow card for interference after earlier having scored Saitama’s only try.

Elsewhere, Todd Blackadder’s Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo remain in the semi-final mix after edging Aussie Peter Hewat’s Ricoh Black Rams Tokyo 12-10 in a thriller on Friday night, with the gap between the fifth-placed Brave Lupus and Yokohama Canon Eagles in fourth, just four log points.

Yokohama hammered Hanazono Kintetsu Liners 64-12 yesterday.

The leagues bottom club were without injured Wallaby pair, Will Genia and Quade Cooper.

Third placed Tokyo Suntory Sungoliath will have pleased club advisor Eddie Jones, after outclassing NEC Green Rockets Tokatsu 32-7, today.

The Green Rockets have now won one but lost four since parting ways with the former Wallaby coach Michael Cheika as their Director of Rugby, and will now almost certainly play in the upcoming promotion/ relegation series.

The remaining winners in Division One on Match Day 13 were Bernard Foley’s Kubota Spears Funabashi Tokyo Bay and Shizuoka Blue Revs.

While he remains absent due to injury, Israel Folau’s Urayasu D-Rocks confirmed their place at the top of the Division Two table by beating Mie Honda Heat 20-10 today.

In a game of mixed fortunes for the Australians, Wallaby fullback Tom Banks was a try-scorer but ended up on the losing side, while ex-Wallaby flanker Liam Gill shared in the win despite picking up a yellow card.

Urayasu, who are in their maiden season as an entity, now play a finalisation round with Heat, and the third-placed Toyota Industries Shuttles Aichi, to determine rankings ahead of the sudden-death promotion playoffs with the bottom three teams from Division One.

This process could throw up the possibility of Folau facing Genia and Cooper across a two-legged tie.