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Wallabies veterans Foley and Kerevi lead the way in Japan Rugby League One
By Finn Morton
Wallabies veterans Bernard Foley and Samu Kerevi continue to lead the way as some of the best performers in Japan Rugby League One this season. Foley is the competition’s top point-scorer after four rounds, while Kerevi has dominated play in multiple attacking areas.
Foley scored the opening try of the contest as Kubota went on to record their fourth win in as many matches this season, beating Mie Honda Heat 45-21 on Sunday. The Spears have propelled themselves to the top of the first division standings, just ahead of the Saitama Wild Knights.
The 2015 Rugby World Cup finalist finished with 11 points, which followed a 29-point haul in a 79-20 round three victory against Sam Cane and Cheslin Kolbe’s Tokyo Sungoliath. Kubota have also recorded wins against a star-studded Kobelco Kobe Steelers and BlackRams Tokyo.
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While it’s still early days in the Japan Rugby League One season, Foley continues to stand out as statistically one of the competition’s best. Foley has scored more points than anyone else with 68, which is double Rikiya Matsuda’s tally (34) in third place.
Ichigo Nakakusu from BlackRams Tokyo is ranked second with 52 points, after the playmaker recorded 22 points in Saturday’s 37-29 win over Toyota Verblitz. Nakakusu touched down for a try early in the second half, as the BlackRams mounted an impressive comeback.
The BlackRams sit in seventh place after improving their season tally to 2-2, but the team to beat at this stage is the Spears, and Foley is a big reason why. An offload from dual Rugby World Cup winner Malcolm Marx gifted Foley a try against a 14-man Honda Heat side on Sunday.
Foley scored a try in Kubota’s big win over Tokyo before the New Year, which sees the pivot sit in 15th place on the try-scoring charts. NPC winner Tjay Clarke is third with four tries, while Kolbe, Shaun Stevenson and Brodie Retallick have both crossed for three five-pointers.
Along with Foley, another Australian who continues to stand out is 50-Test Wallaby Kerevi. Kerevi was ranked among the first division’s very elite in multiple attacking statistics after three rounds, and the midfielder carried that level of performance into 2026.
Kerevi raced 60 metres to the house to score a decisive try for the Urayasu D-Rocks in their thrilling 28-22 win over the Yokohama Cannon Eagles. That effort helped Kerevi remain in first place for meters carried with 382 in four matches, well ahead of Koga Nezuka (332) in second.
The Wallaby is still in the top 10 for total carries (58), line breaks (6), defenders beaten (32) and offloads (8). Urayasu is up to fifth on the ladder, with Kerevi leading the charge – continuing to chase a Wallabies recall before Men’s Rugby World Cup 2027.
“I want to be there at the next World Cup,” Kerevi said as reported by RugbyJp.com.
“I want to be part of the team in 2026 and 2027, until my legs can’t go anymore. There’s only certain things I can control and that’s my performance here at the D-Rocks for the next couple of years.
“I wanted to be part of [the Wallabies] squad this year but obviously they had the results they had and the team they had, so I’ve just been supporting them from afar.”
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