Inaugural League One champions Saitama Panasonic Wild Knights bested Suntory Sungoliath 33-12 in the opening round’s heavyweight clash in front of 20,263 fans at Ajinomoto Stadium in Chofu on Saturday.
Robbie Deans’ ever-consistent Saitama side have been finalists in every League One season but fell to Kubota Spears in the 2023 final and Toshiba Brave Lupus in May.
The star-laden team, who narrowly defeated rivals Suntory 24-20 in the regular season last term in February, made a slow start but found their rhythm when they started to control possession.
Saitama only entered Suntory’s half for the first time after nine minutes and new fly-half elect Kyohei Yamasawa produced the opening score from a penalty.
Meiji University graduate Yamasawa, 26, is the younger brother of long-time Japan international Takuya Yamasawa, 30, and both are comfortable at 10 and 15.
Deans’ side have lost key playmaker and Japan’s long-time first-choice fly-half Rikiya Matsuda to Toyota Verblitz in the summer.
However, the veteran Kiwi coach always has a contingency plan and unlike many of his contemporaries he’s reluctant to spend money for the sake of it and on this occasion he has preferred to promote from within.
Japanese flanker Ben Gunter, who had three surgeries on his left elbow last season, was a workhorse for his team and his presence always lifts his teammates.
Fellow Brave Blossoms star Jack Cornelsen put through lightweight wing Tomoki Osada, who had struggled with some poor touches until this point, for the opening try.
Kyohei Yamasawa missed the conversion and was below-par with his kicking all afternoon.
Springboks superstar Cheslin Kolbe, who scored three tries in League One last season, was withdrawn after 24 minutes with Taiga Ozaki, the younger brother of teammate Seiya, introduced.
Australian number eight Sean McMahon was a battering ram for Suntory and, after a two-year injury lay-off, bounced off tackles as the Fuchu side’s leading threat.
Panasonic showed their superiority when Japan ace Dylan Riley played in the fortunate Osada – who was previously error-strewn in defence and attack – and he bounced off Suntory centre Isaiah Punivai to cross in the corner.
Suntory’s trademark ill-discipline was evident in the first half as they lost livewire Seiya Ozaki in their scoreless opening stanza after a careless attempted tackle that saw him make head contact.
Ex-All Blacks captain Sam Cane and veteran Japanese scrum-half Yutaka Nagare were introduced before the break to try to engineer Suntory a way back into the game.
Cane made his first appearance for Suntory since 20 January.
New Zealand-born centre Punivai was a constant threat for the hosts and got his reward when he powered through to cross for his first try of the new season.
The introduction of replacement scrum-half Yutaka Nagare provided a much-needed spark for the host team.
Japanese lock Cornelsen halted Suntory’s comeback with an opportunistic score before flanker Lachlan Boshier, who benefitted from Springboks ace Damian de Allende drawing in three players, sealed the game with little resistance.
Former Wallabies powerhouse McMahon shone for Suntory before compatriot and newly Japan-qualified Harry Hockings used his gargantuan frame to drive over the line.
Ex-Hurricanes centre Vince Aso, whose the cousin of the Ioane brothers, sealed the win for the visitors after 70 minutes with an impressive leap over the onrushing defence on the right flank.
Cane was withdrawn after 72 minutes for a HIA and did not reappear.
Kyohei Yamasawa kicked an 81-st minute penalty to further inflate Panasonic’s impressive winning margin as they ran out 33-12 winners away from home.
Suntory: K. Kobayashi, K. Horikoshi, K. Hosoki, S. Jeffries, H. Hockings, K. Shimokawa, K. Yamamoto, S. McMahon, K. Fukuda, M. Takamoto, C. Kolbe, S. Nakano, I. Punivai, S. Ozaki, R. Kawase
Saitama: K. Inagaki, A. Sakate, T. Fujii, L. Mitchell, E. Haangana, B. Gunter, L. Boshier, J. Cornelsen, T. Koyama K. Yamasawa, T. Osada, D. de Allende,, D. Riley K. Takeyama, T. Yamasawa
Pictures courtesy of photographer 雨宮 涼子
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