Bok World Cup winners ready to make up for lost time as Japanese season begins

The two titans of the Japanese club game will play out the next instalment of their trilogy, when Saitama Panasonic Wild Knights take on Tokyo Suntory Sungoliath on the opening day of the season in Japan on Saturday.

Between them, the two clubs have won 11 of the 21 championships that have been contested since semi-professional rugby kicked off in the country in 2003, with the national round robin format now having grown into the 26-team, three division, Japan Rugby League One.

The three seasons of the new league have produced different champions, with the Wild Knights the first of them when they beat Sungoliath 18-12 in the inaugural final.

Beaten at that stage in both seasons since, the Wild Knights kick off with a settled roster, albeit having lost veteran hooker Shota Horie, halfback Keisuke Uchida (both retired) and fly-half Rikiya Matsuda (to Toyota Verblitz) in the off-season.

Springbok second-row Lood de Jager will also be a late starter, as he continues rehabilitation on the shoulder injury sustained during the defeat by Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo in last year’s championship game.

While the Wild Knights have held the upper hand over Sungoliath in recent times, winning the last five, their opponents – who have been stopped in the semi-finals in the last two years – are starting a new era under the charge of ex-Brave Blossoms fly-half Kosei Ono.

Japan’s backline pivot in the historic win over South Africa in 2015, Ono was born in Nagoya but schooled in Christchurch after his family emigrated to New Zealand.

He attended Christchurch Boys’ High School, occupying the same No 10 jersey in the school’s first XV that had previously been occupied by Dan Carter.

While at the school, he featured in an unbeaten team which included future All Blacks Colin Slade and Owen Franks.

Ono will be hoping for a better run on the injury front than his side had last term, when the star internationals Cheslin Kolbe, Sam Cane and Sean McMahon all had lengthy breaks, with the latter two barely seen.

Even without the trio, who are all on deck for the start of the campaign, Sungoliath ran Saturday’s rivals close, with the Wild Knights forced to come from behind to win 24-20.

The re-match is one of three games on the opening day, with ex-Harlequins coach Tabai Matson making his coaching debut in Japan when he takes Ricoh Black Rams Tokyo to Suzuka to meet Kieran Crowley’s Mie Honda Heat.

Kwagga Smith returns to lead Shizuoka Blue Revs after missing most of last season with injury, but the home side will be without star centre/full-back Charles Piutau as they host Dave Rennie’s Kobelco Kobe Steelers, for whom Scotland test hooker George Turner will be making his debut.

Sunday sees the defending champions, Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo, visit Faf de Klerk’s Yokohama Canon Eagles, while section newcomers Urayasu D-Rocks, now coached by ex-Scotland captain Greig Laidlaw, travel to Kanagawa to tackle Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Sagamihara Dynaboars.

The 2022-23 champions Kubota Spears Funabashi Tokyo Bay have talisman Malcolm Marx back, after the Springbok missed last season, as they host Steve Hansen and Ian Foster’s Toyota Verblitz, who will unveil veteran Scotland second rower Richie Gray.

The opening weekend features a full round in the lower sections, with new clubs LeRIRO Fukuoka, Yakult Levins Toda and SECOM Sayama Rugguts all taking their maiden competition bow in Division Three.

Japan Rugby League One – Round One

Division One

Saturday December 21

Mie Honda Heat v Ricoh Black Rams Tokyo; at Suzuka

Shizuoka Blue Revs v Kobelco Kobe Steelers; at Shizuoka

Tokyo Suntory Sungoliath v Saitama Panasonic Wild Knights; at Tokyo

Sunday December 22

Yokohama Canon Eagles v Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo; at Kanagawa

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Sagamihara Dynaboars v Urayasu D-Rocks; at Kanagawa

Kubota Spears Funabashi Tokyo Bay v Toyota Verblitz; at Tokyo

Division Two

Saturday December 21

Hanazono Kintetsu Liners v Toyota Industries Shuttles Aichi; at Osaka

Kyushu Electric Power Kyuden Voltex v Japan Steel Kamaishi Seawaves; at Fukuoka

Sunday December 22

Hino Red Dolphins v Shimizu Koto Blue Sharks; at Gunma

NTT Docomo Red Hurricanes Osaka v NEC Green Rockets Tokatsu; at Osaka

Division Three

Saturday December 21

Chugoku Electric Power Red Regulions v Mazda SkyActivs Hiroshima; at Hiroshima

Sunday December 22

LeRIRO Fukuoka v Yakult Levins Toda; at Fukuoka

SECOM Sayama Rugguts v Kurita Water Gush Akishima; at Tochigi