David v Goliath: Black Rams dare to dream against powerhouse Suntory

League One’s division one play-offs kick off on Saturday with TJ Perenara’s Black Rams Tokyo facing Sam Cane’s Suntory Sungoliath as World Cup winners and ex-All Blacks teammates clash at Tokyo’s Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium.

The history-making Rams are making their first appearance in the top-flight post-season after former All Blacks centre Tabai Matson, who played for then-Top League side Yamaha Jubilo (now Shizuoka Blue Revs) from 2001 to 2006, impressively steered the Tokyo side into the top-six.

Fiji-born Matson, who led the club to a seventh-place finish in his first season last term, has empowered his youthful and hard-working group to their best finish in the League One era (5th) despite losing a raft of players last summer including new Fiji call-up Nathan Hughes, Toshiba Brave Lupus lock Michael Stolberg and Japan-qualified wingers Semisi Tupou and Netani Vakayalia who joined Toyota Verblitz and Toshiba respectively.

Perenara has galvanised the group with his leadership and commitment.

Japan fly-half Ichigo Nakakusu, who finished second in the points scoring charts behind Suntory’s free-scoring superstar Cheslin Kolbe, has enjoyed his best season to date.

Japan-qualified full-back Isaac Lucas has been a constant attacking threat, unlocking the most resistant of defences and has helped Taira Main to a career-best return of six tries as he’s locked down the right wing position.

Up front, hooker Masashi Onishi has chipped in with 25 points while industrious flanker Brodi McCurran has also shone.

Former Wallabies internationals Liam Gill and Paddy Ryan have played important roles on and off the field as part of the team’s leadership group while Japan number eight Amato Fakatava is blessed with a skillset that belies his hulking frame.

“I’m really proud of the group and the way they've shifted gears to be involved in the play-offs,” said Matson on Thursday during the pre-game press conference.

Matson sees his side, who lost both regular season games to perennial contenders Suntory including a 39-22 loss at the same ground a fortnight ago, as heavy underdogs.

© RugbyJP

“It’s a derby and maybe it’s David v Goliath, it’s great for us to be in the quarter-finals for the first-time and to be up against one of the powerhouses of Japan rugby,” said the former Harlequins coach who represented his native Fiji at the 1999 World Cup.

“If you think of Japanese rugby, you probably think of Suntory, so to meet them feels like we’re playing a Goliath. In the fairytale the little guy wins.”

Matson underlined the importance of executing their game plan effectively in order to avoid a third loss to their Fuchu-based rivals this season.

“It’s a massive challenge for our club and our team. They’ve beaten us consistently over the years. To some it may seem like an impossible challenge but that’s the great thing about sport.

“We want to try and deliver a game plan that’ll give us a good chance and there’s a lot of excitement around the challenge on Saturday. We don’t have any fear.”

The ex-Canterbury head coach explained his selections including a 6-2 split on the bench with Fakatava and Ryan among the reinforcements.

“We’ve really focused on the connection of the players this season. The Suntory forward pack is very hard to contain.

“It is a risk picking six forwards. A 6-2 split brings intensity up front. We’ve got a lot off line-out options which is really important against them. We’ve gone for a 6-2 split a couple of times this season and it helped us in those games.”

Saturday’s winners can look forward to a semi-final showdown with Dave Rennie’s table-topping Kobe Steelers in seven days time.

© RugbyJP

Ageless dynamo Perenara, 34, whose 89 caps for New Zealand included lifting the World Cup in 2015, is striving to make sure that their first play-off assignment will not be their last as they aim to prolong their inaugural post-season campaign.

The ever-present scrum-half, who has featured in all 18 games this season, said: “This is our first time on the playoffs so there’s been a buzz around our environment for the last two weeks.

"We want more. If you said to a lot of people that we’d reach the play-offs some people would be happy with that but now that we’re here we want more.”

The Hurricanes legend highlighted the strengths of Suntory who are coached by former Japan fly-half Kosei Ono.

“I think Suntory are a well-balanced team, they have a solid set-piece and they have one of the better natural attacking back lines in the competition.”

The knockout game pits the niggly half-back against his former All Blacks captain Cane who will look to make his presence felt when he’s introduced from the bench.

“I look forward to going against Sammy in a play-off game over here. He’s had an amazing career and he’s had a massive impact on me.

“I have nothing but respect for him.”

Black Rams (1-15): Kazuma Nishi, Masashi Onishi, Daigo Sasagawa, Reijiro Yamamoto, Josh Goodhue, Felix Kalapu, Brodi McCurran, Liam Gill, TJ Perenara (c), Ichigo Nakakusu, Daisuke Nishikawa, Yuki Ikeda, Ryohei Isoda, Taira Main, Isaac Lucas

Replacements: Shin Ouchi, Taishi Tsumura, Paddy Ryan, Michael Allardice, Harrison Fox, Amato Fakatava, Kotaro Ito, Rameka Poihipi

Suntory (1-15): Kenta Kobayashi, Kosuke Horikoshi, Shuhei Takeuchi, George Hammond, Harry Hockings, Kanji Shimokawa, Sean McMahon, Tevita Tatafu, Yutaka Nagare, Kaleb Trask, Taiga Ozaki, Ryoto Nakamura, Shogo Nakano, Cheslin Kolbe, Kotaro Matsushima

Replacements: Yukio Morikawa, Kienori Go, Kan Nakano, Ryuga Hashimoto, Sam Cane, Kenta Fukuda, Mikiya Takamoto, Isaiah Punivai