Official Preview: Japan Rugby League One 2024-25 Quarter Finals

Division One

And then there were six.

With half of Division One having exited the competition, the six remaining get down to business from tomorrow, sorting

out who will be crowned Kings of the fourth edition of Japan Rugby League One.

The three previous winners remain in contention, although defending champions Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo have history

to overcome: neither of the first two titlists, Saitama Panasonic Wild Knights or Kubota Spears Funabashi Tokyo-Bay, were

able to defend their title.

While the Spears will be in action on the opening weekend of the elimination rounds, it will be Shizuoka BlueRevs and

Kobelco Kobe Steelers who kick things off on the first day of an Osaka double-header, resuming their rivalry tomorrow

after the BlueRevs’ 29-23 victory when the teams met last weekend.

The formbook is against Dave Rennie and his men.

Twice previously in League One, teams have met in the playoffs after playing on two occasions during the regular season.

The team that won both games in qualifying went on to win the semi-final each time as well, with Kubota sweeping Tokyo

Suntory Sungoliath aside two years ago, while Suntory were on the receiving end again last term, when Brave Lupus won

a hattrick of Fuchu derbies.

The Spears and Brave Lupus each went on to win the title, although the new format for the finals will require Kubota,

who finished third on the standings, to negotiate an extra knock out match successfully if they are to resume their position

on the throne.

Kobe might have lost the last tussle, but Rennie does have some aces to play, with the former Wallaby boss having made

seven changes from his last combination, the biggest of which is the reinstatement of skipper Brodie Retallick.

The All Black second rower has been a driving force behind his side’s return to the playoffs for the first time since Kobe’s

last title-winning season in 2018, both for his leadership, but also his potency near the goal-line, which has yielded 10

tries, the second most by a forward in the competition.

Shizuoka has also uncovered a try-scoring ‘whiz’ though, with scrumhalf Shuntaro Kitamura last week scoring the 14th

try of his remarkable rookie season, to take over from winger Malo Tuitama (11) as the team’s leading try-scorer.

The season’s surprise performers, after having finished the first three editions of League One in eighth, the BlueRevs

ended the regular season fourth, and an impressive 12 points clear of fifth placed Kobe.

Along the way, they uncovered exciting new talent like Kitamura and boom winger Valynce Te Whare – whose length of

the field tries will be talked about long after the season ends – but have also shown they are not daunted by reputations,

having twice bested champions Brave Lupus, while also taking down the Wild Knights.

As always, Springbok Kwagga Smith has been at the heart of their success, although the BlueRevs’ wily coach Yuichiro

Fujii has pulled a surprise by naming his skipper and breakdown king on the bench, most likely in anticipation that the

celebrated backrower’s leadership and on-field presence will be vital at the game’s backend.

It’s a risk but one the formbook suggests could be a smart play.

With just eight points having separated the teams across their previous 160 minutes of ‘combat’, a thrilling start to the

playoff season seems a good bet.

Unpredictability is the order of the day for Sunday’s second quarter final, with the Spears having tied 26-26 with

Sungoliath first up, before overpowering their rivals 30-10 last month.

Despite missing direct entry to the semi-finals, Kubota’s performance to date has not been too dis-similar from their title

run two years ago.

They lost just once that season. 

There have only been two defeats this time, and both were close, going under by two points in their first meeting with

the Wild Knights before drawing the second, while just four points separated themselves and Brave Lupus in a 31-27

defeat.

A two-time Super Rugby-winning coach with the Pretoria-based Bulls, alongside his League One success, Spears coach

Frans Ludeke knows how to win sudden death matches.

He also knows how to avoid defeat by Suntory, having lost just once from the last seven meetings, after an extraordinary

run where Suntory won 14 games in a row before the Spears finally beat them in the Top League/League One era during

the title-winning 2022-23 season.

At the other end of the spectrum, Sungoliath’s first term coach Kosei Ono has endured a bumpy ride, ultimately finding

a way into the playoffs, but a whopping 29 points behind the Spears on the regular-season table.

It took Suntory five matches to register a first win, although they could easily have had it a week earlier when a missed

conversion in the 80th minute denied them against Kubota.

It was not coincidental that the back-to-back wins against Toyota Verblitz and Ricoh Black Rams Tokyo that got Suntory

across the line and into the playoffs came when international stars Sam Cane and Cheslin Kolbe hit their stride after

underwhelming campaigns.

Cane scored two tries in the 45-28 win over his former All Black boss Steve Hansen’s Verblitz, while Kolbe gorged himself

during the following week’s 43-34 success in the ‘must win’ match against Ricoh, helping himself to 28 points, which

included two stunning tries.

The All Black and the Springbok will have to be up to the mark again if the regular season’s sixth-placed finishers are to

have any chance of causing one of the upsets of the season.

Japan Rugby League One Quarterfinal Schedule (all kick offs Japan Time)

Saturday May 17

(4) Shizuoka BlueRevs v (5) Kobelco Kobe Steelers; at Osaka, 12.05pm

Sunday May 18

(3) Kubota Spears Funabashi Tokyo-Bay v (6) Tokyo Suntory Sungoliath; at Osaka, 2.30pm