Wallaby shines, ex-England backrow scores but Eddie Jones gets last laugh

Bernard Foley came out on top in the battle of the Wallaby fly-halves as Funabashi Tokyo Bay beat Matt Toomua’s Sagamihara Dynaboars 60-22 in Tokyo to retain second place in Japan Rugby League One.

Foley contributed 16 points to the win, becoming the first player in the league this season to surpass a century, ending the day with 102 points to his name.

Sunday’s win keeps the Spears hot on the heels of the league-leading Saitama Wild Knights, who extended their remarkable unbeaten on-field streak in the league to 40 games after comfortably disposing of Will Genia’s Hanazono Kintetsu Liners 41-6 at Kumagaya on Saturday.

While Saitama coach Robbie Deans used the opportunity against the league’s bottom side to rest several key players, including the Wallabies’ star winger Marika Koroibete, the Wild Knights still scored six tries in their victory, with former Hurricanes centre Vince Aso and former Chiefs flanker Lachlan Boshier grab bing five-pointers.

Wallaby coach Eddie Jones will have been happy with the team he advises, Tokyo Sungoliath, after it retained third position on the competition ladder with a hard-fought 18-7 win over the Ricoh Black Rams.

Former England No. 8 Nathan Hughes scored his first try for the Black Rams, but the Auckland-educated Fijian’s effort was not enough to bring down Sungoliath, who kept Ricoh pointless in the second half.

After being held scoreless for their last 224 minutes of play across three matches, Michael Cheika’s Green Rockets Tokatsu finally cracked it, when former Crusaders backrow Whetukamokamo Douglas rumbled across for the opening try at Toyota Verblitz, as part of a rolling maul.

The try was one of two the Green Rockets managed against Toyota, but they weren’t enough to knock off Steve Hansen’s men, who came from behind to claim a 21-18 victory.

The Toyota attack was sparked by the clever moving of the regular Springbok fullback Willie le Roux to fly-half, with the South African having a hand in all three Verblitz tries as he relished the opportunity to play in the first receiver role.

It rained tries at Oita on Saturday as Yokohama Eagles and Brave Lupus Tokyo shared 15 between them, with Faf de Klerk’s Eagles winning 59-48.

Yokohama took the points to consolidate their hold on fourth position, five points ahead of fifth-placed Toshiba on the ladder.

There was only one game in the lower divisions this weekend, but it was a memorable occasion for Werribee, Victoria, born Jake Abel.

The former Western Force halfback scored a try eight minutes into his Japan Rugby League One debut to help the previously winless Skyactives Hiroshima hammer the Wycliff Palu-coached Kurita Water Gush Akishima 38-5.