Kolbe the Top Gun Under the JRLO Sun

Springbok star heads League One Points Standings

It might have been a routine kick in a game Tokyo Sungoliath had well in hand, but Springbok winger Cheslin Kolbe’s 65th
minute penalty goal during last Sunday’s 39-22 win over BlackRams Tokyo was more significant than he probably realised,
resulting in the South African becoming the fifth different top point-scorer across the five regular seasons of Japan Rugby
League One.
The goal allowed the Sungoliath star to pip the BlackRams’ impressive flyhalf Ichigo Nakakusu by a point, with Kolbe
returning 185 points from 16 appearances; a tally which included nine tries.
In taking top spot, Kolbe joined the Saitama Wild Knights’ Kyohei Yamasawa, Kobelco Kobe Steelers’ Bryn Gatland, Kubota
Spears’ Bernard Foley and Sungoliath’s Damien McKenzie as the leading regular season point-scorers across League One’s
five editions.

Yamasawa collected 209 points from 16 outings last term to deny Gatland – who finished second – the honour of going
back-to-back, while also becoming the first Japanese to head the standings.
A former Super Rugby flyhalf with each of the (Auckland) Blues, (Waikato) Chiefs and (Otago) Highlanders, Gatland was
top dog during League One’s third edition, picking up 217 points, which bettered the mark set by his New South Wales
Waratahs’ counterpart Foley, who gathered 173 points during his side’s championship-winning run in season two.
All Blacks’ utility back McKenzie contributed 191 points during his Japanese sabbatical in the competition’s maiden season.
While Kolbe’s work thus far has taken his career statistic to an impressive 271 points in 30 games for the Fuchu-based
club, he still has at least one opportunity to add to his tally this season, as Sungoliath face BlackRams Tokyo in the first
weekend of the finals on May 23.
Foley, who has scored 170 points in the current campaign and will also get his chance to add more in a May 24 playoff against Toshiba, is the leading point-scorer in the league’s history.
The Wallaby has harvested 766 points from 70 appearances as he heads into his last finals series with Kubota.
Former Brave Blossoms test flyhalf Rikiya Matsuda, who is second on the list, is the leading Japanese.
Despite being held try-less for just the sixth time in 18 appearances during Sunday’s crucial win over Kubota, Kobe’s
remarkable All Black second rower Brodie Retallick still emerged as the season’s leading try-scorer in Division One.
The Kobe skipper finished the qualifying campaign with 17, two ahead of Mitsubishi Sagamihara Dynaboars’ underrated
utility back Matt Vaega, and four above winger and teammate Inoke Burua, who led the try-scoring for the Kobe backs.
Joint top last year with 15, Wild Knights winger Koki Takeyama was equal fourth this time, scoring 12 tries.
Shuzuoka BlueRevs winger Malo Tuitama, who led the standings two years ago with 15, became the first player to surpass
50 career tries in the competition this season, completing the programme with 52 from 68 outings.
Sungoliath winger Seiya Ozaki, whose record of 18 for the most tries in a season was under siege from Retallick and
SkyActivs Hiroshima second rower Andrew Davidson in Division Three, also went past the half century, ending with 51
tries from 78 games.
World Rugby Player of the Year Malcolm Marx, who was restricted to just five tries this term, has still scored the most
tries by a foreign test player, having crossed the goal-line on 33 occasions from 56 matches, two more than Retallick from
52 appearances.
Test flyhalves Manie Libbok and Noah Lolosio dominated in Division Two, with the Springbok and Hanazono Kintetsu
Liners man, who plundered 165 points in 14 appearances, narrowly edging the Wallaby, who totalled 153 points in just
10 games for Toyota Industries Shuttles Aichi.
The Shuttles also provided the joint-leading tryscorer as their former Super Rugby centre Chance Peni joined Kintetsu
winger Tomoya Kimura in crossing the chalk on 13 occasions.
This was five less than Davidson, who scored a section record 17 tries from 12 games for the championship-winning
SkyActivs in Division Three, while SAYAMA SECOM RUGGUTS’ New Zealand flyhalf Daniel Waite was an easy winner for
the most points, with his 170 from 11 outings 73 points ahead of the SkyActivs’ Issen Kano, who was next in line.