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All Blacks and Springboks stars vie for semi-final spot in final round of League One
By Alex McLeod
All Blacks and Springboks stars will head into the final round of Japan Rugby League One this weekend with the last semi-final spot on the line.
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Three of the four playoff spots in Division One have been sewn up, with Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo and Toyota Verblitz vying for the fourth and final playoff berth.
Toshiba have the upper hand in the race for fourth place after clinching a shock win over local rivals Tokyo Suntory Sungoliath at Ajinomoto Stadium on Sunday.
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Featuring ex-All Blacks duo Matt Todd and Seta Tamanivalu, as well as Brave Blossoms star Michael Leitch, Toshiba ran out 27-3 victors against the top-ranked Suntory.
Not even the likes of All Blacks playmaker Damian McKenzie and Wallabies midfielder Samu Kerevi could save Suntory from suffering just their second defeat of the season as Todd ran in one of his side’s three tries in the Japanese capital.
Toshiba also achieved the admirable feat of limiting McKenzie, the competition’s leading points-scorer with 191 points, to a solitary penalty, scored inside the opening four minutes.
The result means Suntory must score an away victory over Toyota this weekend to ensure they head into the semi-finals as top seeds after Kubota Spears Funabashi Tokyo Bay moved to within two points of them following their 40-13 win over NTT Communications Shining Arcs Tokyo-Bay Urayasu in Tokyo on Sunday.
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However, Toyota have it all to play for themselves as they sit only three points behind Toshiba in fifth place after their 64-17 thrashing of Ricoh Black Rams Tokyo at Prince Chichibu Memorial Stadium on Saturday.
Toyota achieved that win without the services of 2019 World Rugby Player of the Year Pieter-Steph du Toit, who was absent from a forward pack that still featured All Blacks lock Patrick Tuipulotu and Brave Blossoms No 8 Kazuki Himeno.
Tuipulotu crashed over for one of his side’s 10 tries, while Springboks fullback Willie le Roux scored two of his own and kicked a conversion before being yellow carded in the last 10 minutes.
Nevertheless, Toyota’s win sets up a grandstand finish to the League One regular season when they host Suntory this Saturday.
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In addition to upsetting Suntory, Toyota need Toshiba to slip up against Kwagga Smith’s Shizuoka Blue Revs on Sunday in order to progress to the semi-finals.
The three teams that have already qualified for the semi-finals are Suntory, Kubota and the Panasonic Saitama Wild Knights, who are also an outside chance of clinching top spot should the former two teams fall short of victory this weekend.
The Wild Knights, who played Wallabies wing Marika Koroibete in a new-look position at centre, comfortably defeated the NEC Green Rockets Tokatsu 39-10 in Kashiwa on Sunday to sit just four points behind Suntory in third place.
NEC’s defeat has anchored them to the bottom of the Division One standings heading into the final weekend of play, meaning they need to beat the Yokohama Canon Eagles in Oita this weekend to avoid a promotion-relegation playoff match.
The Green Rockets are joined in the bottom three by the Black Rams and NTT Docomo Red Hurricanes Osaka, with all three teams in line to face the top three from Division Two for a place in Division One next year.
Israel Folau’s Shining Arcs are the only other team that could drop into the Division One relegation zone, as they sit two points clear of the Black Rams and four points ahead of the Green Rockets and Red Hurricanes.
The three Division Two sides that have confirmed their places in the promotion-relegations playoff matches are Quade Cooper and Will Genia’s Hanazono Kintetsu Liners, the Mitsubishi Sagamihara Dynaboars and the Mie Honda Heat.
In Division Three, meanwhile, Toyota Shuttles Industries Aichi and the Munakata Sanix Blues will face off to determine which side will be the top seed for their promotion-relegation fixtures against the three bottom-ranked Division Two teams.
