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Two star-studded Japan League One matches live on RugbyPass TV
Round 11 of the Japan Rugby League One kicks off on Friday night in Tokyo with a replay of the last Grand Final, while on Saturday a double World Cup winner returns to action after injury.
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You can watch both matches live and on demand, with English commentary, on RugbyPass TV.
Kubota Spears Funabashi Tokyo Bay and Saitama Panasonic Wild Knights met in the grand final last season but so far it’s the Wild Knights that sit top of the table with 10 wins from 10 matches.
The defending champion Spears have been struggling this season, with just 5 wins to date. They’ve struggled without last year’s leading points scorer Bernard Foley, who has been sidelined since round three with injury.
Wales fullback Liam Williams and All Blacks hooker Dane Coles have also been out for the last two weeks. The latter returns against the Wild Knights, but coach Frans Ludeke will be well aware of the fact that his side have lost all four of their home matches this season.
Boasting the likes of Marika Koroibete, Damian de Allende, Lood de Jager and Vince Aso, the Wild Knights have won their last 19 away games with an average winning margin of 25 points, so will be raring to go come kick off on Friday evening.
Watch the match live on RugbyPass TV (9:50am GMT)
(*apart from in Japan, New Zealand, Malaysia, and Africa)
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Saturday’s fixture sees the return of Cheslin Kolbe, who missed the last three matches, as Tokyo Suntory Sungoliath host Yokohama Canon Eagles, who have semi final aspirations of their own.
Currently in fifth position on the table with 29 points, the Eagles are tied with Kobe Steelers, but have begun to run out of steam, losing three of their last five matches, after having won four in a row between rounds two and five.
Missing the likes of Faf de Klerk and Jesse Kriel due to injury, fellow South African SP Marais is having to step up, along with Australian Matthew Phillips.
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The Eagles were unable to beat Sungoliath in regular season matches last time out, going down 32-23 against 14 men, and then being edged out by a late try to lose 11-9 in the return fixture.
With just two losses so far – to the two sides above them on the table – Suntory are having a great season, despite injuries affecting some of their star recruits, Kolbe and All Blacks captain, Sam Cane.
With Kolbe making his return, and the likes of Gareth Anscombe in their ranks, expect to see a lot of excitement from the fans at Prince Chichibu Memorial Stadium come kick-off.
Watch the match live on RugbyPass TV (5:20am GMT)
(*apart from in Japan, New Zealand, Malaysia, and Africa)
All Japan Rugby League One fixtures – Round Eleven
Division One
Friday March 22
Kubota Spears Funabashi Tokyo Bay v Saitama Panasonic Wild Knights
Saturday March 23
Shizuoka Blue Revs v Toyota Verblitz
Tokyo Suntory Sungoliath v Yokohama Canon Eagles
Sunday March 24
Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo v Ricoh Black Rams Tokyo
Mie Honda Heat v Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Sagamihara Dynaboars; at Suzuka
Kobelco Kobe Steelers v Hanazono Kintetsu Liners
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 …
31 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!😭😭😭 !!!
31 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
31 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.
31 Go to comments