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SANZAAR super stars continue to shine in Japan
By AAP
Former Wallabies vice-captain Samu Kerevi was a try-scorer for the fourth match running as Suntory Sungoliath returned to the top of the Japanese Top League standings with a resounding 73-5 victory over Toshiba Brave Lupus in Tokyo.
Kerevi took his try tally for the season to six, scoring two of his side's nine five-pointers as Suntory registered their fourth consecutive bonus-point win to open the season.
The tries were complemented by 24 points from the boot of All Blacks flyhalf Beauden Barrett as Suntory made short work of their opponents in a match that had been postponed a week after lightning strikes in the surrounding area had forced the original game to be called off for safety reasons 15 minutes into the contest.
Queensland lock Harry Hockings and former Wallabies flanker Sean McMahon also featured for Suntory, who gained revenge after having been beaten 26-19 by Toshiba in round one of last year's tournament.
The win lifted Suntory to the top of the table in the competition's red conference, one point ahead of Bernard Foley's Kubota Spears and Michael Hooper's Toyota Verblitz.
All three teams are still unbeaten as the competition heads into the final three weekends of the preliminary phase.
Kerevi will square off against Hooper when their two teams clash next weekend, and will face Foley the following week when Suntory meets Kubota.
The final placings from the preliminaries determine seeding for the knockout rounds, which sees the top six teams from each conference given a bye on the first weekend on April 17 and 18, while the top four qualifiers from the second-tier challenger tournament enter the competition.
They will include Will Genia and Quade Coopers' Kintetsu Liners, who today qualified for the final of the challenger tournament after swamping the Coca-Cola Red Sparks 71-11.
Cooper scored 26 points, from two tries and eight conversions, while Genia also crossed as Kintetsu ran away with the game after having led just 12-11 at the 30-minute mark.
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Latest Comments
What’s the bet that if Ireland lose we’ll have a bunch of people blaming Rob Kearney for it?
This might pizz the All Blacks off but it won’t make George Bell throw the ball any straighter or Rieko pass the ball to his wings more often.
Go to commentsNot if you look at where the increases are happening for NZR. Apparently the biggest increase in participation was in the junior ranks and has been attributed to the extra cash that tier has received from the private equity deal NZR signed. Clubs are reducing fees dramatically and thats bringing more into the clubs. Counties club had a 200% increase in enrollments for U7s as they made it free.
Yes NRL is always hanging around schoolboy rugby tho. I see the NRL as more of a threat at SR level where the fringe players are signing for either NRL or Japan etc.
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