Savea to welcome longstanding All Blacks team-mate in sombre occasion

Kobelco Kobe Steelers might be flying, but the positive vibe will give way to solemnity as Japan Rugby League One remembers the Great Hanshin earthquake.

Saturday, which marks the 31st anniversary of the magnitude 6.9 earthquake, sees Ardie Savea’s Kobe welcome BlackRams Tokyo to Hyogo for the annual Memorial match.

The earthquake, whose epicentre was 20 kilometres from Kobe, struck at 5.46am on January 16 of 1995, claiming 6434 lives while damaging or destroying over 200,000 buildings.

The Memorial match is just one of several activities that will be conducted around the city to mark a
grave moment in the region’s history.

Others include candlelight vigils and the floating of paper lanterns to guide the spirit of the victims, alongside many memorial ceremonies.

Fixture

Japan Rugby League One

Yokohama Canon Eagles

21 - 50

Full-time

Saitama Wild Knights

All Stats and Data

Third-placed Kobe have built up steam after a narrow loss to Kubota Spears on opening day, but in TJ
Perenara’s BlackRams, they face an opponent who have similar momentum, with their belief enhanced by last weekend’s 37-29 win over Toyota Verblitz when they overcame three yellow cards, holding their rivals scoreless in the second period.

Both Verblitz and Yokohama Canon Eagles face big asks, in their appointments with the competition’s co-leaders, Kubota and Saitama Wild Knights respectively.

Toyota, who will be bolstered by the return of Aaron Smith, face Kubota at Edogawa Athletics Field
in eastern Tokyo, where the Spears have not been defeated in 21 matches since League One began.

Similarly, the winless Eagles must overcome the weight of history, having not beaten the Wild Knights since 2013, suffering 17 straight defeats in the time since.

All Black hooker Liam Coltman will debut for Yokohama, having replaced Faf de Klerk on Leon MacDonald’s roster.

Shizuoka, who lost just four regular season matches last term, head into their clash with Mitsubishi
Sagamihara Dynaboars having lost three already this time.

Kwagga Smith’s men showed glimpses of last year’s swagger as they worked to a 15-8 halftime lead against the Wild Knights, but they couldn’t stick with their hosts, eventually submitting 37-22.

The Dynaboars, for whom All Black scrum-half Brad Weber debuted, were better than it looked in their 47-22 defeat by Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo, having trailed by six entering the game’s final quarter.

The reigning champions face Urayasu D-Rocks who, like Brave Lupus, have won three of their four matches.

Mie Honda Heat finished one place above Urayasu on last year’s ladder, but while things are going
swimmingly for Graham Rowntree’s troops, Kieran Crowley’s side have not had much luck, losing narrowly to each of Kobe and the BlackRams.

And it is perhaps not a great time to face Tokyo Sungoliath, who will have been stewing all week after their last gasp 22-20 defeat by Kobe, where skipper Sam Cane received twin yellow cards.