Top League Round 2: Round Up
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Round 2 of the Japanese Top League saw all the victorious sides claim comfortable victories over their opponents with the closest match being an 11-point victory for Shining Arcs against Sanix Blues.
Shining Arcs 25-14 Toshiba Brave Lupus
Shining Arcs got their first win of the season with an 11 point victory of Brave Lupus.
It was Brave Lupus who got the board first through Takahiro Ogawa who scored after 22 minutes of play, but the home side replied with a penalty and a try in quick succession, going into the break 10-7 ahead.
Shining Arcs rallied in the second half, despite losing their lead 10 minutes after the break, with their captain Shohei Kin and Shane Gates both crossing the line.
Shining Arcs next face Liners while Brave Lupus will host Wild Knights.
Ricoh Black Rams 15-31 Suntory Sungoliath
Matt Giteau scored a brace as Suntory Sungoliath's dominated from the outset and never looked back as they led 21-3 at halftime with 3 converted tries and Ono's boot in superb form.
After the break, it was the Ricoh Black Rams who came back hard with two tries and looked to pick up momentum, but it was to no avail as the Sungoliath's team powered two more tries to win 31-15!
Sungoliath will be looking to extend their unbeaten run when they face Jubilo on Saturday, while Black Rams will be looking to bounce back when they face Sanix Blues.
Green Rockets 48-12 Coca-Cola Red Sparks
An outstanding brand of rugby played in this match.
The Rockets began the game how they ended it with some quality tries, as they started with 4 in the first half which blew the Sparks out the water with only 1 of their own.
In the second half the Sparks began well with an early try but then the ascendancy was with the Rockets as they rounded off the game with 3 more tries and victorious by 48-12!
Green Rockets will take the Shuttles in round 3, while Red Sparks will face Red Hurricanes.
Red Hurricanes 24-45 Kubota Spears
Superb rugby game as both sides went at each other hammer and nail and entertained the crowd with plenty of tries to go around.
After the Spears going a try up early, a yellow card set them back and the Hurricanes took advantage and scored 2 during that time.
The Spears managed to bring it back to 17-17 at halftime. After the break, it opened up and the Spears ran in 4 tries and ended up winning the game 45-24!
Red Hurricanes next face the Red Sparks in the next round of action, while the Spears will face off against Kobelo Steelers.
Kobe Kobelco Steelers 20-3 Munakata Sanix Blues
A close affair which only really opened up in the second half. The first half, there were only 3 points scored by the Blues.
After the break however it opened up a little more as the Steelers converted two penalties and a try to give them the lead of 13-3 just after the break.
Later that second half they scored again and ended off taking the win 20-3 did the Steelers!
The Steelers will want to extend their unbeaten run against Spears, while Sanix Blues will face off against Black Rams.
Verblitz 22-9 Kintetsu Liners
A really enticing game played out, as both sides fought hard for the points needed to win.
Unlike the other Top League game played at the same time, this game took place more in the first half as Verblitz scored two tries to the 2 penalties by the Liners.
After the halftime it was a game of inches and substitutions as only 1 more try was scored by Verblitz to the Liners 1 penalty who then took the win 22-9!
Wild Knights 43-8 Canon Eagles
Only one side in this one as Wild Knights scored 6 tries to Eagles one.
Digby Ioane scored a double with Berrick Barnes bossing the game throughout.
Wild Knights scored 22 points in the first half and didn't hold back in the second scoring another 21 points.
The Knights will next face Brave Lupus, while Eagles have another tough challenges when they meet Verblitz at home.
Shuttles 10-38 Jubilo
Shuttles went into an early 7 point lead and were only trailing Jubilo by 2 points at half time.
Jubilo came out firing in the second half scoring four unanswered tries to win the match 10-38.
