A record-breaking League One regular season crowd of 34,568 fans saw Suntory Sungoliath edge Toyota Verblitz 39-38 in a pulsating clash at Toyota Stadium on Saturday.
The crucial encounter in the race for the play-offs eclipsed the previous attendance record of 31,953 fans which was set in week two when Suntory Sungoiliath played Toshiba Brave Lupus at Ajinomoto stadium.
Two of League One’s most star-laden sides traded tries in the first half as flanker Isaiah Mapsusa and emerging wing Taichi Takahashi scored for the hosts either side of a powerful finish from Suntory’s evergreen number eight Hendrik Tui.
All Blacks great Aaron Smith starred for the hosts with two tries while countryman Beauden Barrett, who was playing against his former club, put his team on the brink of victory.
Toyota built up a 14-point lead at the break but Suntory chipped away at that deficit in the second half and grew in confidence.
After Smith closed the first half and opened the second by dabbing down under the posts, the visitors responded through free-scoring hooker Kosuke Horikoshi and Australian lock Harry Hockings who crossed on his 50th cap for the club with his second try of the season.
Barrett’s 79th minute penalty from the left touchline hit the upright but was sensationally recovered by wing Shuhei Yamaguchi who charged over the line to spark wild scenes amongst the home faithful.
There was no mistake by Barrett with the conversation as he put Toyota up 38-32 in the 80th minute.
Suntory kicked off and crucially reclaimed the ball through a desperate leap by Hockings.
When composure and discipline was needed the most in the closing seconds, for what seemed like a certain victory, the stuttering home side imploded, as replacement prop Gaku Shimizu received a yellow card for a dangerous tackle (which was later upgraded to a red) as he made direct head-to-head contact with Suntory’s back-up hooker Kienori Go.
The Fuchu-based visitors pressed forward needing a converted-try to win, as they trailed by six points, and were determined not to leave Aichi empty-handed.
In the 85th minute Japan scrum-half Naoto Saito scooped up the ball from a scrum just two metres from the try line and threw a dummy which Toyota fell for and he strolled over the line to touch down under the posts in a thrilling finale.
Young Japanese fly-half Mikiya Takamoto, who has made the club’s coveted number 10 jersey his own this season, added the extra two points to leave the visitors jubilant and the home team in shock and despair in equal measure.
Takamoto was a late call-up to replace Argentina veteran Nicolas Sanchez who had been set to make his first League One start.
Saito won the Player of the Match for his brilliant match-winning try deep into injury time.
Suntory, who having been typically tight-lipped about the continued absence of Cheslin Kolbe and Sam Cane, welcome Yokohama Canon Eagles to Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium on Saturday in what promises to be another spectacle between two play-offs contenders.
Seventh-placed Toyota, who were missing Springboks mainstay Pieter-Steph du Toit, travel to Shizuoka on the same day to play Charles Piutau’s Blue Revs who occupy eighth place.
Pictures courtesy of Toyota Verblitz and Suntory Sungoliath
Comments