The Kwagga Smith fairytale is sadly over

The fairlytale is over for Kwagga Smith’s Shizuoka BlueRevs after they were felled 35-20 by Kobelco Kobe Steelers in the opening quarter final of Japan Rugby League One.

The competition’s Cinderella story, the BlueRevs won 14 games in qualifying to finish the regular season fourth, but the tone was set for yesterday’s elimination contest from the kick off when Kobe forced a turnover by denying Shizuoka the opportunity to clear the ball from a maul.

The error ultimately led to the first points when Bryn Gatland goaled a penalty, and the former Chiefs flyhalf had a major influence on proceedings, setting up two of his side’s four tries.

A perfectly timed pass enabled fullback Seungsin Lee to pierce the Shizuoka defence shortly after halftime, while a composed cross-field kick created the opportunity for the 100-kilogram Inoke Burua to regather and score Kobe’s match-sealing try.

The kick isolated the Blue Revs’ 74-kilogram fullback Futo Yamaguchi, whom Burua simply ran over to extend the Steelers’ lead to nine points with seven minutes remaining.

Earlier, two of the ‘finds’ of the BlueRevs season had kept them in touch, with winger Valynce Te Whare scoring following a midfield break by inside centre Viliami Tahitua, while scrumhalf Shuntaro Kitamura bagged the 15th try of his stunning rookie season, running the right midfield lines in support of a sideline bust by winger Malo Tuitama.

Te Whare had the misfortune to ‘sin’ nine minutes after scoring the eighth try of his maiden Japanese season, conceding a penalty try and a yellow card after he hit Kazuma Ueda high as the Kobe winger arrowed towards the corner.

The win has earned Dave Rennie’s men a shot at defending champions Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo in Saturday’s opening semi-final, while Kubota Spears Funabashi Tokyo-Bay will play Saitama Panasonic Wild Knights a day later after they secured a nail-biting 20-15 win over Tokyo Suntory Sungoliath today.

Both sides scored two tries, with Suntory’s stars, ex-All Black skipper Sam Cane and Springbok winger Cheslin Kolbe both crossing, but Sungoliath paid dearly for ill-discipline and high error rate, conceding the match-winning try when South African second rower Ruan Botha forced his way over from a tap penalty.

Kubota had earlier profited from a needless forward pass by Suntory inside their 22 metres, with winger Komasa Nezuka beating three defenders after being worked to the edge from the scrum.

Cane’s try came after Suntory caught their rivals out from a cleverly worked short lineout, while Kolbe won a 40-metre race to the goal-line following a perfect kick through by veteran Brave Blossoms fullback Kotaro Matsushima, but he was unable to convert from wide out.

It was the first of the Springbok’s three misses off the goal kicking tee which, alongside the concession of a 14-9 penalty count, help precipitate Suntory’s exit from the competition.