RUGBY JERSEY – Japan Rugby League One Division 1 Section 11 – Green Rockets TOKATSU vs Toyota Verblitz

(Author: Azul, April 3, 2022)

On March 27, 2022, this week I went to Kashiwanoha Park General Stadium in Chiba Prefecture to watch the Green Rockets Tokatsu vs Toyota Verblitz game.

It was my first time to go to Kashiwanoha Stadium. The train and bus connections went smoothly, but it still took me 2 hours and 30 minutes. JR Hachioji Station → JR Ochanomizu Station → JR Akihabara Station → Tsukuba Express Kashiwanoha Campus Station. It was a route.

About Kashiwanoha Stadium: The stadium opened in 1999. It was originally planned as the home stadium of Kashiwa Reysol of the J-League soccer team. However, when it first opened, it gradually fell into disuse due to reasons such as poor accessibility from the nearest station and the fact that it was not a dedicated soccer stadium. Then, after some twists and turns, the Rugby League One’s NEC Green Rockets TOKATSU’s home stadium. For the Green Rockets, it can be used almost exclusively, and the stadium is expected to finally have a home team and become a trump card to eliminate the deficit. The nice thing about this stadium is that it is fully roofed, so you don’t have to worry so much about rain. Also, the access to the stadium has improved considerably with the construction of Kashiwanoha Campus Station as the nearest station. The capacity is 20,000 people.

And most importantly, the number of local fans is increasing. If the team becomes stronger, the future will be brighter.

Let’s first check out where both teams stand in the Division 1 standings.

ranking	team	Win	Lose	Even	WP	GD
1	Tokyo Sungoliath	9	1	0	42
2	Kubota Spears	8	2	0	39
3	Saitama Wildnights	8	2	0	36
4	Yokohama Eagles	7	3	0	32
5	Toyota Verblitz	6	4	0	27
6	Tokyo Brave Lupas	5	5	0	25
7	Kobe Steelers	4	6	0	21
8	Black Rams Tokyo	3	7	0	16
9	Shizuoka Blue Revs	3	7	0	14	-86
10	Red Hurricanes Osaka	3	7	0	14	-137
11	Green Rockets Tokatsu	2	8	0	13
12	Shining Arks Tokyo Bay	2	8	0	8

The Green Rockets are currently in 11th place. This means that if they stay in this position, they will have to play the replacement game at the end of the season and win it. If they lose, they will be relegated to Division 2 next season. In contrast, the visiting team, Verblitz, is in 5th place. The immediate goal of the top teams is to finish in the top four by the end of the season and advance to the final tournament. Both teams have immediate goals, so this is a match that neither team can afford to lose. However, it is said that in the sport of rugby, giant-killing, as in soccer, is not likely to occur. It is highly likely that the top team will win the match in order of merit. Therefore, the Verblitz is favored as a pre-match prediction.

Now, let me introduce each team.

First, the home team, NEC Green Rockets TOKATSU. The parent company is NEC. One of the leading electric manufacturers in Japan. In the Top League era, they were rather low ranked. In addition, they lost all the games in the Top League last year. This season’s record shows two wins, but in reality, they are unearned wins due to a new type of corona infection of the opposing team. In other words, the team has not won any games since last year, a disgraceful record.

However, the Green Rockets have made significant reinforcements for their entry into League One. More than 10 new players with national team or Super Rugby experience have joined the team. Their personnel costs are among the highest in League One.

Let’s take a look at the starting lineup for this week’s match.

Green Rockets
No.	Name	height	weight	age
1	Gakuto Ishida	178cm	110kg	24
2	Shin Kawamura	172cm	102kg	34
3	Takahiro Doi	182cm	113kg	35
4	Daiki Yamagiwa	198cm	103kg	24
5	Jake Ball	199cm	121kg	30	Wales 50cap
6	Yoshiya Hosoda	192cm	103kg	34	Japan 2cap
7	Tatsuru Owada	178cm	95kg	30
8	Whetukamokamo Douglas	190cm	110kg	30
9	Kwisuke Yamada	170cm	75kg	30
10	Taisetsu Kanai	178cm	88kg	25
11	Hiroyuki Miyajima	182cm	85kg	29
12	Maritino Nemani	181cm	101kg	30
13	Kentaro Kodama	183cm	90kg	30	Japan 4cap
14	Teruya Goto	177cm	80kg	30
15	Tom Marshall	183cm	94kg	31

Looking at the games played so far, they have not lost a single game against higher ranked teams, and they are good enough in terms of attack. However, since they have brought in a lot of new players, they have not been able to work together as well as they would like. Also, they have been committing too many penalties in every game, which is the reason why they are losing games. However, they seem to be gradually gaining in ability after being toughed out in Division 1. They have lost all of their games, but they have lost a few games by 7 points or less, where they have earned winning points.

＊＊　Players to watch ＊＊

Tom Marshall. 183 cm, 94 kg, 31 years old. Position = FB. from New Zealand. From this season, he is a new member. Joined Green Rockets after Super Rugby with Chiefs and Crusaders. When he has the ball at the end of the line, he is a match winner who counter attacks quite often. He is a player who is always in a belligerent mood and is a pleasure to watch.

And now, let me introduce today’s visiting team, Toyota Verblitz. Currently ranked 5th in Division 1, they need to move up in the standings in order to advance to the final tournament. They have been in contention for the championship every year, but the championship itself has not been possible in the Top League since 2004, and for Verblitz, winning the League One championship is a long-cherished dream. Compared to the top three teams of this  season (Wildnights, Sungoliath, and Spears), Verblitz is one step behind in terms of decisiveness in attack and a solid defense.

Today’s starting lineup for Verblitz is as follows

Berblitz
No.	Name	height	weight	age
1	Gaku Shimizu	174cm	108kg	23
2	Yoshikatsu Hikosaka	178cm	99kg	31	Japan
3	Shunsuke Asaoka	185cm	121kg	25	Japan
4	Daichi Akiyama	192cm	110kg	25	Japan
5	Michael Allaradice	200cm	112kg	30
6	Peter-Steph Du Toit	200cm	120kg	29	South Africa 58cap
7	Masato Furukawa	179cm	95kg	25	Japan 2cap
8	Kazuki Himeno	170cm	78kg	27	Japan 22cap
9	Kaito Shigeno	173cm	80kg	25	Japan 13cap
10	Lionel Cronie	184cm	92kg	32
11	Taichi Takahashi	180cm	91kg	25	Japan
12	Charlie Lawrence	172cm	87kg	23
13	Rob Tompson	184cm	103kg	30
14	Masakatsu Hikosaka	177cm	92kg	31
15	Dai Ozawa	183cm	90kg	32

＊＊　Players to watch　＊＊

Taichi Takahashi, 180 cm, 91 kg, position = WTB. He was even selected as a candidate for Japan’s national team. He is expected to replace the retired WTB Fukuoka. He is highly physical and is expected to be able to break through to some extent. He was injured in the first half of this season, but has finally returned to the team. We look forward to his future success.

Now, let the game begin.

8 minutes into the first half:

Verblitz started the game with a series of attacks and gradually made progress. Finally, Verblitz  expanded to the right and CTB Lawrence scored a try right in the middle of the field. The conversion goal after the try was also successful and Verblitz was up 0-7. The lead was taken.

13 minutes into the first half:

As in the previous attack, Verblitz won the ball and gradually moved forward. The Green Rockets could stop the player with the ball, but could not stop their opponent from advancing. So Verblitz gradually advanced. Finally, they moved left in front of the goal, and WTB Takahashi got through the opposing defense and scored a try in the middle of the left field. The conversion goal after the try was also successful, and the score was 0-14, Verblitz leading by 14 points.

21 minutes into the first half:

Verblitz SO Cronje scored a PG to make the score 0-17 and give Verblitz the lead for good.

25 minutes into the first half:

Greenrockets were pushed back to their own goal, but  Verblitz foul pushed them back to the halfway line. From there, Greenrockets won the ball from a lineout on the right side of the field, and then took it to the left where Greenrockets CTB Nemani broke behind the opposing defense and made a big gain. From there, he passed the ball to CTB Kodama, who scored a try in the middle of the left field area. The conversion goal after the try failed. The score was 5-15, and Greenrockets were within 10 points.

30 minutes into the first half:

From the kickoff after the opposing team’s try, Verblitz attacked in succession.　SO Cronie’s short punt kick was handled by Greenrockets　FB　Marshall. He picked up the ball and then dropped it. This was followed by Verblitz’s CTB Rawrence, he picked it up and scored his second try of the day in right-center. The conversion goal after the try was also successful, putting Verblitz up by a score of the team took a big lead, 5-22.

36 minutes into the first half:

Greenrockets made a series of attacks in their enemy area, but Verblitz’s SO Cronie intercepted the ball. He ran through and scored a try right under the goalposts. After the try, Cronie kicked the conversion goal by himself, and Verblitz’ score was 5-29.

The first half ended with this score.

As predicted before the match, Verblitz, the superior team, scored more points in order. As for Greenrockets the team was able to hold off their opponents’ attacks, but were slowly being pushed forward. However, the attack led by CTB Nemani and Kodama was working. They have the ability to score if they seize attacking opportunities.

Then, the second half began.

8 minutes into the second half: In the first half, the score difference was too big. As for Greenrockets the first goal of the second half was the one they wanted to get. This desire was evident when a scrum near the halfway line led to a Verblitz committed a foul and Greenrockets’ penalty kick was successfully touched almost before the enemy’s goal. From here, Greenrockets had several close attacks continuously.

After some persistence, Greenrockets were able to get the ball from a lineout in the right corner, the FWs pushed forward as one, and succeeded in scoring the first try of the second half in the right center. The conversion goal after the try was unsuccessful, but the score was 10-29.

This try may have been the catalyst for Greenrockets and the team continued to play patiently defensively, although  the game almost became a one-sided affair for Verblitz.  Greenrockets made the game spectacle. The score remained deadlocked until late in the game.

Many of the fans in the audience in the photo above were wearing uniforms from their Top League days, cheering them on. In other words, longtime NEC　Greenrockets. It means they are cheering for them. The attendance of this day was 1,902. It was a little sad to see empty seats, but for the passionate fans, go for it!

37 minutes into the second half: Verblitz could not score in  the second half of last week’s game. However, they finally managed to score in the last minutes of the game. Verblitz’   FW players repeatedly attacked in front of the goal, and finally scored a try by No.8 Himeno to the left center. The conversion goal after the try was also successful, and the game ended 10-36.

After the game, on the bus on the way back home Greenrockets’ fans were heard to say, “I can’t wait to see a winning game.

** Others **

 Greenrockets. While watching the pre-game practice, I noticed an unusual staff member.

The female staff member in the photo, a water attendant, was actively involved in assisting the practice as well as water supply, and even volunteered to join the pre-game circle. I was personally impressed because I had not seen such a scene at any other games.

＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊

Stop the war.

Peace to Ukraine