Du Toit inspires 12-man Verblitz to incredible win
JAPAN LEAGUE ONE WRAP: The Wild Knights and Kubota Spears remain unbeaten, but only after both came through in thrillers that headlined the latest round of Japan Rugby League One.
Kubota would have gone to the top of the table had they scored a bonus-point win over the Black Rams.
Instead, they had to rely on a 77th-minute penalty goal and two late missed penalty attempts by Ricoh goal-kickers to win 40-38, with the game having opened up following Kubota’s almost total domination of the opening 30 minutes which led the Spears to a 24-0 lead.
Although the win has kept Kubota hot on the heels of the Wild Knights, they have been joined on 24 points by Suntory Sungoliath after last year’s beaten finalists had a big win today at the Dynaboars’ expense.
Kubota remain second by virtue of having beaten Suntory on the opening weekend.
Of the top four sides entering the weekend, three remain, with the Canon Eagles having dropped to fifth, although they were valiant in defeat after Wild Knights coach Robbie Deans rolled out his big guns to protect the side’s five-season unbeaten record.
Even so, the international-laden home side required another late show to see off the Eagles.
Saitama snatched the win when Japan’s test prop Asaeli Ai Valu ploughed through a goal-line ruck in the 81st minute; the second occasion in six matches this season that the two-time defending champions had scored the winner after the clock entered added time.
It would have been of scant consolation to Yokohama that the Blue Revs, who suffered the same fate in round two, know how they feel.
The win extended the Wild Knights’ remarkable unbeaten sequence to 38 games, which includes a draw against the Kobe Steelers during the final season of the Top League.
While Saitama were celebrating their good fortune, Steve Hansen’s Verblitz achieved the result of the round, snapping a four-game losing streak while, at one point, playing with only 12 men, as they beat Kobe 38-21.
Stand-in captain Pieter-Steph du Toit had demanded more passion and commitment from Verblitz and they gave one of the performances of the season.
The Springbok loose forward’s side at one point defended their line with 12 men, after three players were sin-binned - one of whom was Springbok fullback Willie le Roux - in the space of six minutes late in the game.
While Kobe cracked Verblitz once during that period, to suggest a comeback was possible at 21-33, an 80th-minute try by Australian-born flank William Tupou, just after his side had been restored to 14 men, finished the home side off.
Kobe appeared on their way when a first try of the season for last year’s joint top competition try-scorer, wing Rakuhei Yamashita, helped to set up a 14-9 halftime lead.
Having been kept in the game by the boot of New Zealand flyhalf Tiaan Falcon, Toyota took command after the break, and while Yamashita scored again while the visitors were down to 13 men, he could not prevent the Steelers falling to a third straight defeat.
Both sides would have started the season with semi-final aspirations, but now find themselves 10 points off the semifinal positions as the competition heads into its third month.
Having bullied Verblitz to the tune of 63 points last week, Brave Lupus put 60 on the Kintetsu Liners to climb into the top four at Yokohama’s expense, while the Shizuoka Blue Revs gained an overdue first win of the season, blanking the NEC Green Rockets in the process.
After starting off with a narrow win over Kintetsu, Michael Cheika’s team is now in freefall, having lost its last five, while only managing 19 points from its last 240 minutes of play.
NEC now has only Kintetsu below it on the competition ladder, having been leap-frogged by Shizuoka after Sunday’s defeat.
Meanwhile, Toyota Industries Corporation Shuttles Aichi got back on track in Division Two, posting their third win of the
season when they outclassed the Kamaishi Seawaves 64-14.
While still third on the point’s table, the win closed the gap to second-placed Honda Heat to just one point.
The sole match in Division Three provided an upset when the Wycliff Palu-coached Kurita Water Gush Akishima edged out the previously unbeaten NTT Docomo Red Hurricanes 37-32, with former Melbourne Rebel Tom English scoring two tries as the home side overturned a 20-5 halftime deficit to secure their second victory of the season.
Although they surrendered their unbeaten record, an 80th-minute try allowed the Red Hurricanes to secure a bonus point, returning the Osaka-based outfit to the top of the table on point difference.
ROUND SIX RESULTS:
BRAVE LUPUS 60 KINTETSU LINERS 14
WILD KNIGHTS 21 EAGLES 19
VERBLITZ 38 STEELERS 12
BLUE REVS 21 GREEN ROCKETS 0
SUNTORY SUNGOLIATH 51 DYNABOARS 13
KUBOTA SPEARS 40 BLACK RAMS 38