(Author: Azul, March 13th, 2022)
It had been a long time since I had attended a night rugby game.
The venue was the same as usual, Chichibunomiya Rugby Ground in Minato-ku, Tokyo, but the kick-off time was 19:00. Night games started this season, and several games have already been held, but until now, the temperature was too low, so I did not feel like going to the games.
The last time I saw a night game was during the 2019 RWC, so this will be my first night game in three years. Also, the tickets are about $1.000 more expensive than the daytime games. Hence, I was expecting a game that would surely be a lot of fun. In that sense, I was expecting a good game since this game is a direct match between Spears (#1 in Division 1) and Sungoliath (#2).
When I entered the venue, I found that the crowd was quite large. According to the organizer’s announcement, there were 6,572 paid attendees that day. The average number of visitors to the games I have attended this season was about 3,000, which is about double the number of visitors to the games I have attended this season. However, the largest crowd this season was at the opening game, which drew about 10,000.
Both Spears and Sungoliath are popular teams, and the temperature was rather high (about 14 degrees Celsius), so it was a good day for a night game.
League One has reached the ninth round, and here are the standings as of March 11.
This season, the top four teams will advance to the tournament finals, while the bottom three teams will face off against each other in Division 2.
| ranking | team | Win | Lose | Even | WP | GD |
| 1 | Kubota Spears | 7 | 1 | 0 | 34 | |
| 2 | Tokyo Sungoliath | 7 | 1 | 0 | 33 | |
| 3 | Saitama Wildnights | 6 | 2 | 0 | 27 | 114 |
| 4 | Toyota Verblitz | 6 | 2 | 0 | 27 | 23 |
| 5 | Yokohama Eagles | 5 | 3 | 0 | 23 | |
| 6 | Tokyo Brave Lupas | 4 | 4 | 0 | 20 | |
| 7 | Black Rams Tokyo | 3 | 5 | 0 | 16 | |
| 8 | Green Rockets Tokatsu | 2 | 6 | 0 | 12 | |
| 9 | Kobe Steelers | 2 | 6 | 0 | 11 | |
| 10 | Shizuoka Blue Revs | 2 | 6 | 0 | 10 | -82 |
| 11 | Red Hurricanes Osaka | 2 | 6 | 0 | 10 | -117 |
| 12 | Shining Arks Tokyo Bay | 2 | 6 | 0 | 8 |
WP=Winning Point
GD=Goal Difference
Let us introduce the teams competing in today’s matches.
First up is the home team, TOKYO Sungoliath.
The team boasts the strongest attack in League One. The team can score from any position on the front or back line, and out of the 15 starting members, 10 of them have represented the national team. The competition for regular players is fierce because of the depth of the team. Below is this week’s starting lineup.
| No. | Name | height | weight | age | |
| 1 | Shintaro Ishihara | 181cm | 105kg | 31 | Japan 11cap |
| 2 | Kosuke Horikoshi | 175cm | 100kg | 26 | Japan 4cap |
| 3 | Shinnosuke Kakinaga | 180cm | 115kg | 30 | Japan 10cap |
| 4 | Takayasu Tsuji | 190cm | 107kg | 26 | |
| 5 | Wataru Kobayashi | 195cm | 116kg | 27 | |
| 6 | Kanji Shimokawa | 187cm | 106kg | 23 | |
| 7 | Naoki Ozawa | 187cm | 103kg | 33 | Japan 4cap |
| 8 | Sean Mcmahon | 186m | 100kg | 27 | Australia 27cap |
| 9 | Yutaka Nagare | 166cm | 71kg | 29 | Japan 27cap |
| 10 | Hikaru Tamura | 175cm | 85kg | 28 | |
| 11 | Tevita Li | 182cm | 95kg | 26 | |
| 12 | Ryoto Nakamura | 178cm | 92kg | 30 | Japan 30cap |
| 13 | Samu Kerevi | 182cm | 106kg | 28 | Australia 38cap |
| 14 | Seiya Ozaki | 174cm | 84kg | 26 | Japan 3cap |
| 15 | Damian Mckenzie | 177cm | 78kg | 26 | New Zealand 40cap |
Sungoliath is on this day, we were able to assemble almost the best team.
Now, let me introduce visitor team KUBOTA Spears.
Spears is a strong team that made it to the top 4 of the Top League last season. The company’s strength has been improved. This season, they are one of the favorites to win the championship.
Today’s starting lineup is as follows.
| No. | Name | height | weight | age | |
| 1 | Kengo Kitagawa | 178cm | 110kg | 29 | Japan 3cap |
| 2 | Hiroaki Sugimoto | 181cm | 105kg | 33 | |
| 3 | Opeti Helu | 190cm | 127kg | 23 | |
| 4 | Takenori Matsui | 195cm | 115kg | 25 | |
| 5 | Yuki Aoki | 188cm | 105kg | 29 | |
| 6 | Finau Tupa | 190cm | 115kg | 32 | |
| 7 | Takeo Suenaga | 178cm | 98kg | 27 | |
| 8 | Faulua Maikisi | 187cm | 112kg | 24 | Japan 2cap |
| 9 | Kazuhiro Taniguchi | 164cm | 73kg | 25 | |
| 10 | Bernard Foley | 182cm | 89kg | 32 | Australia 71cap |
| 11 | Koga Nezuka | 173cm | 82kg | 23 | |
| 12 | Harumichi Tatekawa | 180cm | 93kg | 32 | Japan 55cap |
| 13 | Sione Teaupa | 183cm | 97kg | 29 | Japan 3cap |
| 14 | Kim Suryung | 186cm | 90kg | 23 | |
| 15 | Gerhard Van Den Heever | 192cm | 102kg | 32 | Japan |
The team is aiming for the championship this season, and boasts a strong lineup of players that rivals Sungoliath. Especially, FW is strong, and compared to other teams, this season’s FW is bigger in size. However, two of their main players (Malkolm Marx and Peter Labuschagne) will not be able to play this week due to injury. It will be interesting to see how this will affect today’s match.
Let the game begin.
2 minutes into the first half: Immediately after the kickoff, Spears had a scrum on their own ball in front of the opponents’ goal line. Makisi poked in and scored the first try in the right center. With the absence of hooker Marx, the team’s mainstay, the scrum was in jeopardy, but the visitors were able to push on and win the game. The conversion goal after the try was missed. The score was 0-5 in favor of Spears.
6 minutes into the first half: The substitute hooker’s throw-ins were particularly noteworthy in that they were fouled.
Sungoliath won a lineout infringement and won a scrum of their own ball in front of the enemy goal line. From there, Sungoliath expanded and on the third attack, prop Ishihara scored a try under the left goal post. The conversion goal after the goal was also successful, and Sungoliath succeeded in reversing the score to 7-5.
First half 12 minutes: Sungoliath chose to go for the PG after an infringement by their opponents, and FB Mckenzie scored to make the score 10-5.
First half 23 minutes: After a brief exchange of kicks, Spears WTB Nezuka caught the ball near the halfway line and raced down the left side of the field, passing several enemy defenders and making a big gain. From there, the ball was spread out to the right, and near the 22m line, a tight battle ensued. CTB Teaupa took advantage of a gap in the crowd to break through and score a try in the middle on the right. SO Foley scored the conversion goal after the try. The Spears were able to re-take the lead with the score 10-12.
First half 28 minutes: Sungoliath got into the enemy territory and started to attack, and SH Nagare deployed quickly, making it difficult for Spears to block the attack. Finally, SO Tamura rolled in a punt from the middle of the 22m line, and left WTB Li caught it and scored a try at the left end. The conversion goal after the try was also scored. The score was 17-12, Sungoliath leading by 5 points.
First half 35 minutes: Sungoliath dominated the game from the midway point of the first half until this time. SH Nagare led a series of attacks that left Sungoliath with an extra man on the outside. Finally, near the 22-meter line, Sungoliath made a move to the left, and SO Tamura threw a long pass that WTB Li caught and put it on the left edge for his second try was scored. The conversion goal after the try failed. The score was 22-12, Sungoliath leading by 10 points.
First 41 minutes: Spears finally took control of the ball towards the end of the first half. They attacked deep into the enemy territory and repeatedly rushed toward the goal line, mainly through their FWs. After the horn sounded at the end of the first half, a series of attacks led to a rightward expansion and the Spears’ CTB Tatekawa threw a long pass to Sungoliath’s FB Mckenzie flicks it away with one hand and is fouled, Mckenzie is sent off for 10 minutes. Spears was awarded a certified try. The score was 22-19, and Spears finished the first half with a three-point lead.
At the end of the first half, Spears were still without their mainstay hooker Marx and flanker Labuschagne. Nevertheless, Spears was still within 3 points of Sungoliath at the end of the first half, showing the improvement of Spears’ team strength this season. The game was on.
As expected, it was getting a little chilly after 20:00 at night, but today’s hot game was worth the extra 1,000 yen. Until halftime, food and drink were sold at the stadium, and I was glad to see that everyday life had returned to normal.
Sungoliath started the second half with the introduction of a series of impact players, showing the depth of their lineup.
12 minutes into the second half: Sungoliath gradually advanced with each successive attack, with the players who came on in the second half showing their strength. After a concentrated attack on the left side of the field, Sungoliath made a big move to the right side, and finally the ball was passed to right WTB Ozaki, who used his individual skills to get past two men and score a try. The conversion goal after the try was missed. The score was 27-19, Sungoliath leading by 8 points.
20 minutes into the second half. Sungoliath was the score was 30-19 after FB Mckenzie scored a PG after a foul by the opponent in enemy territory. The Spears were able to pull away.
29 minutes into the second half: Today’s game was a game of scoring when both sides got to the goal line and scored there. From a lineout in front of the goal, Spears flanker Finau scored a try in the middle of the right field line after a great sign play, and the conversion goal failed. The score was 30-24 and Spears was within 6 points.
33 minutes into the second half: Sungoliath was in enemy territory and drew a foul from Spears, earning the right to a PG. FB Mckenzie scored on it, making the score 33-24 and giving Sungoliath a 9-point lead.
34 minutes into the second half: Spears took the ball into their own territory or to the left, and WTB Nezuka took the ball past the opposing defense for a big gain. SO Kishioka and SH Fujiwaraga connected and quickly approached the opponent’s goal line. Once caught by Sungoliath’s defenders, they moved to the right through a tight battle, and Spears’ SO Kisioka released a kick pass. The ball was caught by FL Tupa, who was free, and he scored a try at the right end. After the try, the conversion goal failed. The score was now 33-29 and Spears were within four points.
Toward the end of the match, the game heated up with Spears catching up quickly. Sungoliath, however, was able to run away with it and the game was over.
With this victory, Sungoliath is back on top of the table. Spears, who lost the game, also gained one point to take second place, as their loss was by seven points or less. The next match between the two teams will likely be in the final tournament, and we hope they will play each other with their best teams. The surrounding spectators left with satisfied looks on their faces.
Stop war.
Peace to Ukraine