A try by Aussie-schooled Sam Greene has helped Shizuoka Blue Revs score the upset of the Japan Rugby League One season.
The Anglican Church Grammar School old boy, who played six matches for the Queensland Reds in 2015-16, scored his side’s third try on Saturday as they inflicted just the second on-field defeat in the regular season that the Robbie Deans-coached Saitama Wild Knights have suffered in the four years since Japan’s new league began.
Although the 22-17 loss failed to knock the Wild Knights off the top-of-the-table, it did mar the return of Wallabies winger Marika Koroibete, who made his comeback from a hand injury after not having played since the Bledisloe Cup last year.
The 32-year-old was a strong performer for the Wild Knights until he was withdrawn six minutes from the end of a defeat which ended a run of 27 regular-season games since their previous reverse, which also came against Shizuoka.
The former John Eales medal winner’s re-entry could prove timely from an international standpoint, with his club having a minimum of nine games left in the competition in which he could press his claims for possible Wallabies selection against the British and Irish Lions.
Fellow Fijian-born Test back Samu Kerevi could also be on Joe Schmidt’s radar, although his club’s form is not making it easy for last year’s European tourist to present his case, with Urayasu D-Rocks suffering their tenth defeat from eleven games against Bernard Foley’s Spears Funabashi Tokyo-Bay.
In a campaign that has fluctuated for the midfield giant, Kerevi has four tries from his last four outings, including one in Friday night’s 33-22 defeat, and is one of just two players in the competition who averages more than six defenders beaten per game.
Michael Hooper and Joey Manu were both tryscorers for Verblitz, but their efforts were unable to prevent Brave Lupus Tokyo from recording a fifth consecutive win in the rivalry between the ex-Crusaders coaches, Todd Blackadder (Brave Lupus) and Steve Hansen (Verblitz), with All Black Richie Mo’unga scoring twice in the defending champions’ 33-22 success.
Dave Rennie’s Kobe Steelers hammered Mie Heat 47-5 to move up to fifth, taking advantage of Yokohama Eagles’ 27-20 defeat by Black Rams Tokyo, for whom ex-Wallabies Liam Gill and Paddy Ryan, along with former Junior Wallaby Semisi Tupou, featured.