CONGRATULATIONS RIJ newsletter celebrates it’s 10th anniversary
Please note: I have not included No.6 in this issue as it repeats much of No.5 except for a full programme of the 2013 Pacific Nations Cup which is included in No.7.
RiJ reports on the second round of the 50th National Championship. All too predictably, results went according to plan in two games that never really reached any great heights. Coca-Cola stayed with Kobe over the first half and then were ground down over the latter half with the Steelers winning comfortably in the end 45-29. In the other game, Teikyo never stood a chance against Panasonic in a miss-match affair in which the Panasonic B side won 54-21. Now, once again, the top four Top League sides will fight out the semi-finals a few short weeks after the same sides contested the Top League Play-offs. As the reader can gather, RiJ is critic of the National Championship in this format and a keen advocate of its scrapping.
Enjoy the read.
Ian McDonnell lives and works in Japan. He can be contacted at ianmcdo@apost.plala.or.jp
CONTENTS
- The 50th National Championship 2013 Round 2
- Final Top League Promotion-Relegation Playoffs
- IRB Pacific Nations Cup
- 2013 Wales tour to Japan
- IRB Junior World Rugby Trophy, Chile 2013
THE 50TH NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP 2013
Round Two
Date: Sunday, 10 February 2013
Kobelco Steel Kobe Steelers (Top League) 45 d Coca-Cola West Red Sparks (Top Challenger) 29
Venue: Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Ground, Tokyo
Kick-off: 12:00
Referee: Takashi Harada
Attendance: 6,469
Preview
In the opening round of the 50th National Championship last Saturday, Kobelco Steel Kobe Steelers beat Toyota Verblitz 20-5 in Osaka to progress to the second round. Kobe finished fourth on the final Top League table for a place in the Play-off Series as well as automatic qualification to the National Championship and with the confidence back from a good win over Toyota the Steelers will be in good form to match the challenge from Coca-Cola. Coca-Cola were relegated from Top League at the end of the 2011-12 season but have successfully regrouped and won promotion back to the top flight for the 2013-14 season. Coca-Cola won all three games in the recent Top Challenge Series to top the table and qualify for the Championship as the Top Challenger. In the opening round of the Championship, Coca-Cola easily accounted for Tsukuba University 47-15 on this ground to set up this second round clash with Kobe, but this will be by far and away the toughest opposition they have had to face this season.
Wrap-up
Coca-Cola wasted no time with their challenge posting first points with a try to right wing Masahiro Tsuiki in the second minute with the successful conversion giving the Red Sparks a 7-0 lead. Kobe responded with hooker Takeshi Kizu dotting down from a 5-metre lineout to close the gap to 7-5, but Coca-Cola five-eighth Tetsuya Fukuda extended the lead to 10-5 with a penalty a few minutes later. Fullback Kenji Shomen then evened things up creeping inside the defence off a dummy pass allowing five-eighth Kyohei Morita an easy conversion to put the Steelers in front 12-10. In the 15th minute Kobe stretched the lead to 19-10 with halfback Takashi Sato sneaking over from close out and Morita adding the extras before Shomen crossed for his second from dropped Coca-Cola ball with Morita pushing out the lead to 26-10. Centre Jaque Fourie crossed for the fifth Kobe try in the 25th minute and with Coca-Cola now trailing 33-10 the pressure to stay in the game was building. The Red Sparks kept their head and picked up the pace with their wide game producing three tries to take the sides to the break with Kobe leading 33-29.
Kobe were first to strike in the second stanza with left wing Yoshikazu Ohashi touching down in the 7th minute and then No8 Shohei Maekawa from a 5-metre scrum in the 13th minute making it 45-29. The Kobe power game was starting to take its toll on the Coca-Cola stamina with the Steelers more and more dominating possession and territory. Further, the Red Sparks were playing at the wrong end of the field for their high risk open game while the season form and strength of Kobe gradually took a stranglehold on the run of play. Kobe ground down the clock to take the game 45-29.
Panasonic Wild Knights (Top League) 54 d Teikyo University (University 1) 21
Venue: Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Ground, Tokyo
Kick-off: 14:00
Referee: Kimitoshi Shiozaki
Attendance: 7,702
Preview
Panasonic Wild Knights finished third on the final Top League table this season for a place in the Play-off Series as well as automatic qualification to the National Championship. Last Saturday, in their opening game Panasonic were too good for Yamaha Jubilo winning 56-14 in Osaka to make it through to the next round. Panasonic and Sanyo as they were previously known have played in the past five Championship finals winning three but this time round they started their campaign from the opening round. Teikyo won an unprecedented fourth National University Championship title in a row when they beat Tsukuba at the National Stadium in Tokyo last month setting up yet another match at the opening stage in the Championship against Club Champion, Rokko Fighting Bull last Saturday. The pace and fitness of the students totally overwhelmed the club side to the tune of 115-5 to move into the second round for the fourth year in a row. However, making it to this point in the Championship then pits the university champions against one of the elite Top League sides and this always turns out to be a daunting prospect. Teikyo were knocked out at this stage by Toshiba the last two years and NEC before that and Panasonic are going to prove to be a very big mountain to conquer if they want to be the first university to make it to the semi-finals since Waseda in 2006.
Wrap-up
Teikyo kept the pressure on Panasonic over the opening exchanges, but it was the Wild Knights that got on the scoreboard first with right wing Tomoki Kitagawa scoring from turnover ball. Fullback Atsushi Tanabe converted the try for a 7-0 lead. Kitagawa got his second touchdown in the 16th minute from a deft cross kick and although Tanabe could not add the extras Panasonic were starting to exert their dominance with a 12-0 lead. Centre Yasuki Hayashi was next to cross the Teikyo whitewash and with a quarter of the game gone the Knights were already out to a 19-0 lead. Teikyo were next to score with centre Motoki Arai winning the chase to the ball on a kick through to slim the difference to 19-7. Arai was over again in the 32nd minute from an intercept and with the scoreboard now reading 19-14 the students were well in the game. Neither side could add to their scores with the teams going to halftime with Panasonic leading Teikyo to the tune of 19-14.
As in the first half, Teikyo held out the Panasonic assault in the early stages of the latter half until the forwards mauled the ball over the students’ try line in the 8th minute for hooker Tetsuya Shitara to score the opening try. Halfback Nicholas Ealey widened the gap with a further try soon after and with the scoreboard now reading 33-14 the pressure was again back on Teikyo to be next to score. Flanker Sione Vatuvei used his strength to bulldoze his way over the line on the hour mark and Tanabe slotted the conversion to stretch the lead to 40-14. With the back of the Teikyo resistance broken further tries followed over the final quarter with Panasonic running out comfortable 54-21 winners.
Round One
Date: Saturday, 02 February 2013
Kobelco Steel Kobe Steelers (Top League) 20 d Toyota Verblitz (Top League Wildcard) 5
Coca-Cola West Red Sparks (Top Challenger) 47 d Tsukuba University (University 2) 15
Teikyo University (University 1) 115 d Rokko Fighting Bull (Club Champion) 5
Panasonic Wild Knights (Top League) 56 d Yamaha Jubilo (Top League Wildcard) 14
Final Top League Promotion and Relegation Play-offs
NTT Docomo and Toyota Industries Complete Top League Teams for 2013-14
At the completion of all thirteen rounds of the Japan Rugby Top League 2012-13 season, NTT Docomo Red Hurricanes finished thirteenth and Fukuoka Sanix Blues finished in fourteenth and last place on the table. To retain their places in the expanded sixteen-team Top League competition for the 2013-14 season NTT Docomo and Sanix had to play a one-off promotion and relegation play-off against Mitsubishi Sagamihara Dynaboars, the teams that finish fourth and Toyota Industries Shuttles, the team that finished third respectively in the Top Challenge One Series.
Toyota Industries Shuttles (third in Top Challenge One) 34 d Fukuoka Sanix Blues (Top League 14) 28
Date: Sunday, 03 February 2013
Venue: Level Five Stadium, Fukuoka
Kick-off: 13:00
Toyota Industries Shuttles became the first team ever to win promotion to Top League through the Promotion and Relegation Play-offs when they beat Fukuoka Sanix Blues 34-28 at the Level Five Stadium in Fukuoka on Sunday, 03 February 2013. The Shuttles played the one season in Top League in 2010-11 but were automatically relegated when they finished last on the final table. The result capped off a poor season for Sanix who finished last on the table this season. Under normal circumstances, Sanix would have been automatically relegated but with Top League expanding to sixteen teams next year there was no automatic relegation for the bottom two finishers. However, Sanix still had to fight through the Promotion and Relegation Play-offs to retain their place in Top League for the 2013-14 season and the loss to the Shuttles sees them relegated back to the Kyushu regional league. Sanix played the last eight seasons in Top League with their best finish seventh in 2009-10. However, the Blues also finished last in 2005-6 season and in a similar scenario were saved from automatic relegation when Top League was expanded from twelve to fourteen teams but managed to stay up by winning their promotion and relegation clash. Nevertheless, this is not the first relegation experience for Sanix as they were demoted at the end of the inaugural 2003-4 season when they also finished last on the table.
NTT Docomo Red Hurricanes (Top League 13) 24 d Mitsubishi Sagamihara Dynaboars (fourth in Top Challenge One) 21
Date: Saturday, 09 February 2013
Venue: Kintetsu Hanazono Rugby Ground, Osaka
Kick-off: 13:00
A late try from Hamish Gard saved the day for NTT Docomo Red Hurricanes as they snuck home 24-21 over Mitsubishi Sagamihara Dynaboars to retain their place in Top League for next season. In a tight first half both sides scored two tries apiece with Mitsubishi holding a slender 14-12 lead at halftime. The trend continued in the second half with a try from captain Takeshi Hirase putting the Red Hurricanes in front only to see Welsh international Shane Williams restore the lead for Mitsubishi with a try around the hour mark. The Dynaboars clung desperately to a 21-19 lead going into the closing stages of the match until Gard struck with the decisive try close to the end of play. From there NTT Docomo held on to take the result.
IRB Pacific Nations Cup 2013 Schedule
| Date | Team | Score | Team | Kick-off | Venue | Referee |
| Saturday 25 May 2013 | Japan | - | Tonga |
| Nippa Stadium, Kanagawa, Japan |
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| Canada | - | USA |
| Canada |
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| Saturday 01 June 2013 | Fiji | - | Japan |
| Fiji |
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| Wednesday 05 June 2013 | Canada | - | Fiji |
| Canada |
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| Saturday 08 June 2013 | Canada | - | Tonga |
| Canada |
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| Saturday 15 June 2013 | USA | - | Tonga |
| USA |
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| Wednesday 19 June 2013 | Japan | - | Canada |
| Mizuho Stadium, Aichi, Japan |
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| Fiji | - | USA |
| Mizuho Stadium, Aichi, Japan |
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| Sunday 23 June 2013 | Japan | - | USA |
| Chichibu, Tokyo, Japan |
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| Tonga | - | Fiji |
| Chichibu, Tokyo, Japan |
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Wales Tour to Japan 2013
Wales will tour Japan in June 2013 with tests at the Kintetsu Hanazono Rugby Ground in Osaka on Saturday 8 June and the Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Ground in Tokyo on Saturday 15 June.
Japan v Wales
Date: Saturday 8 June 2013
Venue: Kintetsu Hanazono Rugby Ground, Osaka
Kick-off:
Japan v Wales
Date: Saturday 15 June 2013
Venue: Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Ground, Tokyo
Kick-off:
IRB Junior World Rugby Trophy, Chile 2013
Pools and Match Schedule
All matches at Circuito Deportivo Ciudad de Antofagasta
| Pool A | Pool B |
| Italy | Japan |
| Portugal | Tonga |
| Chile | Canada |
| Namibia | Uruguay |
Day 1: Tuesday 28 May 2013
Italy v Namibia
Japan v Uruguay
Tonga v Canada
Chile v Portugal
Day 2: Saturday 01 June 2013
Portugal v Namibia
Japan v Canada
Tonga v Uruguay
Chile v Italy
Day 3: Wednesday 05 June 2013
Canada v Uruguay
Italy v Portugal
Japan v Tonga
Chile v Namibia
Day 4: Sunday 09 June 2013
4th Pool A v 4th Pool B
3rd Pool A v 3rd Pool B
2nd Pool A v 2nd Pool B
Final: 1st Pool A v 1st Pool B
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