Riley scores again as Wild Knights march on

Japan League One

The gap between the Saitama Panasonic Wild Knights and the rest is widening at the top of the table but the Chiefs' conquerors from The Cross Border Rugby had to work hard to extend their unbeaten record with a 24-20 win over third-placed Tokyo Suntory Sungoliath.

Sungoliath have not beaten their arch-rivals since the game resumed after the Covid lockdown – a losing run which includes two finals.

Suntory turned around a three-point half-time deficit in two-minutes shortly after the break. After Brave Blossoms centre Dylan Riley had scored against Sungoliath for the fifth game in a row to help the Wild Knights to a 13-10 lead at the midpoint, Suntory's rookie fly-half Mikiya Takamoto dropped a goal, which was backed up from the re-start by a movement that led to a try by Riley's Test teammate and midfield colleague, Ryoto Nakamura.

Takamoto's conversion pushed the visitors out to a 20-13 lead but Suntory failed to score again, with Wild Knights fullback Ryuji Noguchi's try closing the gap before two penalties by Brave Blossoms fly-half Rikiya Matsuda confirmed Saitama's seventh consecutive league win of the season.

Matsuda, below, whose conversion and four penalties took his tally for the season to 88 as the competition's leading point-scorer, 14 ahead of Takamoto and Kobe's Bryn Gatland.

Riley ended the afternoon as the league's joint leading try-scorer thanks to his seventh try of the campaign, with Suntory winger Seiya Ozaki just one behind, after the competition's top try-scorer from last term scored the first of Sungoliath's two tries.

The Saitama man has been joined at the top of the individual try-scoring standings by Toyota Verblitz winger Taichi Takahashi, who bagged a hattrick in their 54-7 win over Mie Honda Heat.

The 26-year-old, who bagged four tries playing for the Barbarians against Bristol in November, has scored in all but one of his five appearances this term which has taken his tally to 22 from just 26 games for Toyota.

All Black scrum-half Aaron Smith got his third try for Toyota since relocating to Japan. Samoan-born second rower Isaiah Mapusua grabbed a double after taking the field for the final half hour.

As well as heaping further misery on winless Honda, the bonus point win enabled Toyota to climb four places into one of the semi-final positions on the ladder, albeit having played a game more than eight of their rivals.

In Division Two, Urayasu D-Rocks returned to the top of the table after an 85-5 stroll against Kamaishi Seawaves.

Led by a first half hattrick from winger Kai Ishii, and doubles from England-born ex-Bath lock Levi Douglas and former Sharks back rower Tyler Paul, D-Rocks finishedwith six tries in each half.