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2022 Japan Rugby League One – Division 1

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The 2022 Japan Rugby League One – Division 1 was the inaugural season of Japan's new professional three-tier Rugby union competition. It consisted of twelve franchises and played five teams twice and six teams once resulting in each team playing a total of sixteen games home and away.[1] The top four sides at the end of the regular season contested the annual play-offs, whilst the bottom three sides went into a promotion and relegation playoff against the top three sides from the 2022 Japan Rugby League One – Division 2.[2] The champions were the Saitama Wild Knights for the second season in a row. They beat Tokyo Sungoliath in the final 12–18.

2022 Japan Rugby League One – D1
Countries Japan
Date7 January – 29 May 2022
ChampionsSaitama Wild Knights
Runners-upTokyo Sungoliath
RelegatedRed Hurricanes Osaka
Shining Arcs
Matches played61
Attendance385,227
(average 6,315 per match)
Highest attendance33,604 (Tokyo Sungoliath vs. Saitama Wild Knights, 29 May 2022)
Lowest attendance1,068 (Honda Heat vs. Green Rockets, 27 May 2022)
Top point scorer Damian McKenzie (191)
Top try scorer Dylan Riley (11)
Rakuhei Yamashita (11)
Official website
league-one.jp
← 2021
2022–23 →

Teams and personnel

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A total of twelve teams will participate in the inaugural Division 1 season:

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Locations of the 2022 Division 1 teams
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2022 Division 1 teams in Greater Tokyo Area
Club Prefecture Coach Stadium Capacity
Black Rams Tokyo
リコーブラックラムズ東京 		Tokyo   Peter Hewat Komazawa Olympic Park Stadium 20,010
Green Rockets Tokatsu
NECグリーンロケッツ東葛 		Chiba   Robert Taylor Kashiwanoha Stadium 20,000
Kobe Steelers
コベルコ神戸スティーラーズ 		Hyōgo   Dave Dillon Noevir Stadium Kobe 30,132
Spears Funabashi
クボタスピアーズ船橋・東京ベイ 		Chiba   Frans Ludeke Edogawa Stadium 6,950
Red Hurricanes Osaka
NTTドコモレッドハリケーンズ大阪 		Osaka   Johan Ackermann Yodoko Sakura Stadium 25,000
Saitama Wild Knights
埼玉パナソニックワイルドナイツ 		Saitama   Robbie Deans Kumagaya Rugby Ground 24,000
Shining Arcs Urayasu
NTTコミュニケーションズ シャイニングアークス東京ベイ浦安 		Chiba   Hugh Reece-Edwards Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium 27,188
Shizuoka Blue Revs
静岡ブルーレヴズ 		Shizuoka   Naoya Okubo Yamaha Stadium 15,165
Tokyo Sungoliath
東京サントリーサンゴリアス 		Tokyo   Milton Haig Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium 27,188
Brave Lupus Tokyo
東芝ブレイブルーパス東京 		Tokyo   Todd Blackadder Ajinomoto Stadium 49,970
Toyota Verblitz
トヨタヴェルブリッツ 		Aichi   Simon Cron Paloma Mizuho Rugby Stadium 15,000
Yokohama Eagles
横浜キヤノンイーグルス 		Kanagawa   Keisuke Sawaki Nissan Stadium (Yokohama) 72,400

Ladder

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Pos Team Pld W D L PF PA PD TF TA TB LB Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Tokyo Sungoliath 16 14 0 2 577 286 +291 78 36 10 0 66[b] Play-off Semi-finals
2 Saitama Wild Knights (C) 16 14 0 2 527 298 +229 68 39 5 0 61
3 Spears Funabashi 16 12 0 4 555 342 +213 76 42 8 2 58[b]
4 Brave Lupus Tokyo 16 11 0 5 546 393 +153 74 48 8 1 53[b]
5 Toyota Verblitz 16 10 0 6 400 367 +33 52 49 6 0 46[b]
6 Yokohama Eagles 16 10 0 6 453 349 +104 59 47 4 1 45[b]
7 Kobe Steelers 16 7 0 9 521 496 +25 75 67 5 3 36[b]
8 Shizuoka Blue Revs 16 5 0 11 327 403 −76 47 54 3 4 27[b]
9 Black Rams Tokyo 16 4 0 12 276 480 −204 42 67 3 2 21[b]
10 Shining Arcs Urayasu (R) 16 4 0 12 277 527 −250 36 71 1 1 18 Relegation play-offs
11 Red Hurricanes Osaka (R) 16 3 0 13 183 473 −290 23 68 2 0 14[b] Relegation to Division 3[a]
12 Green Rockets Tokatsu (O) 16 2 0 14 307 535 −228 42 76 2 4 14[b] Relegation play-offs
Updated to match(es) played on unknown. Source: league-one.jp
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Number of wins; 3) Point difference.
(C) Champion; (O) Relegation play-off winner(s); (R) Relegated
Notes:
  1. ^ The Red Hurricanes were automatically relegated to the lowest-tier in the Japan Rugby League One (Division 3), as the team underwent a reorganisation. The Japan Rugby League One Board of Directors accepted an application by the team to participate in the third division.[3] As a result, the first-placed team in Division 2 (Hanazono Liners) was automatically granted promotion, with the teams in second and third, qualifying for promotion/relegation fixtures.[3]
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Numerous teams that were awarded bonus-point victories (due to COVID-19 disruptions), automatically received a three-converted try result (21–0) in their favour, as well as a try bonus-point (five points) added to their tally in addition to there regular seasonal results. The total list of teams that are included are:

Fixtures

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Each team were to play five teams twice and six teams once for a total of sixteen home and away matches.[4][5]

Home \ Away BRT GRE KKS KSP RHO SWK SHI SBR TYB SUN TBL
Black Rams Tokyo — 21–18 0–21[a] 21–0[b] 21–0[c] 17–64 33–36 22–43
Green Rockets Tokatsu — 17–48 41–71 10–39 34–38 27–34 10–36 0–21[d]
Kobe Steelers 56–21 57–28 — 27–22 0–21[e] 37–41 23–24 35–46
Spears Funabashi 59–26 40–32 — 34–3 21–0[f] 40–13 30–24 41–20
Red Hurricanes Osaka 22–43 15–10 — 10–66 21–0[g] 0–21[h] 25–38 3–22 16–35
Saitama Wild Knights 29–12 0–21[i] 37–31 35–14 — 31–24 34–17 30–18
Shining Arcs Urayasu 42–12 0–21[j] 34–74 9–19 5–48 — 10–27 22–21
Shizuoka Blue Revs 45–19 0–21[k] 36–13 25–26 — 0–21[l] 29–33
Toyota Verblitz 23–19 21–0[m] 21–0[n] 26–51 31–22 21–0[o] — 0–21[p] 31–53
Tokyo Sungoliath 30–3 56–17 33–29 42–3 69–29 56–27 50–8 — 60–46
Brave Lupus Tokyo 21–0[q] 37–18 28–43 35–7 59–26 23–33 27–3 —
Updated to match(es) played on 29 May 2022. Source: league-one.jp
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
Notes:
  1. ^ Because the Black Rams returned a number of positive COVID-19 tests, the Spears were awarded a bonus point win.
  2. ^ Red Hurricanes returned a number of positive COVID-19 tests and could not field a side. Black Rams were awarded a bonus point win.
  3. ^ Blue Revs returned a number of positive COVID-19 tests and could not field a side. Black Rams were awarded a bonus point win.
  4. ^ Green Rockets returned a number of positive COVID-19 tests and could not field a side. Sungoliath were awarded a bonus point win.
  5. ^ Steelers returned a number of positive COVID-19 tests and could not field a side. Red Hurricanes were awarded a bonus point win.
  6. ^ Match was cancelled due to positive COVID-19 tests in the Wild Knights camp, the Spears were awarded a bonus point victory.
  7. ^ Shining Arcs returned a number of positive COVID-19 tests and could not field a side. Red Hurricanes were awarded a bonus point win.
  8. ^ Red Hurricanes returned a number of positive COVID-19 tests and could not field a side. Blue Revs were awarded a bonus point win.
  9. ^ Match was cancelled due to positive COVID-19 tests in the Wild Knights camp, the Green Rockets were awarded a bonus point victory.
  10. ^ Shining Arcs returned a number of positive COVID-19 tests and could not field a side. Green Rockets were awarded a bonus point win.
  11. ^ Blue Revs returned a number of positive COVID-19 tests and could not field a side. Steelers were awarded a bonus point win.
  12. ^ Blue Revs returned a number of positive COVID-19 tests and could not field a side. Sungoliath were awarded a bonus point win as a result.
  13. ^ Verblitz were awarded bonus point win as a result of the Steelers' positive COVID-19 tests.
  14. ^ Red Hurricanes returned a number of positive COVID-19 tests and could not field a side. Verblitz were awarded a bonus point win.
  15. ^ Blue Revs returned a number of positive COVID-19 tests and could not field a side. Thus Verblitz were awarded a bonus point win.
  16. ^ Verblitz returned a number of positive COVID-19 tests and could not field a side. Sungoliath were awarded a bonus point win.
  17. ^ Black Rams returned a number of positive COVID-19 tests and could not field a side. Brave Lupus were awarded a bonus point win.

Relegation play-offs

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The relegation play-offs took place on 20 and 28 May 2022. [citation needed]

Overview

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Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
(D1) Green Rockets 55–34 Honda Heat (D2) 33–10 24–22
(D1) Shining Arcs 44–66 Mitsubishi DynaBoars (D2) 25–33 33–19

Matches

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All times Japan Standard Time (JST) (UTC+9)

Green Rockets v Honda Heat

20 May 2022
19:00 JST (UTC+9)
Green Rockets33–10Honda Heat
Try: Teruya Goto 7' c
Aseri Masivou (2) 14' c, 61' c
Penalty try 37' m
George Risale 40+2' c
Con: Fletcher Smith (4/4) 9', 16', 40+3', 63'		ReportTry: Kanta Omata 67' c
Con: Jono Lance (1/1) 68'
Pen: Jono Lance (1/1) 32'
Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium, Aoyama
Attendance: 2,269
Referee: Shuhei Kubo
27 May 2022
19:00 JST (UTC+9)
Honda Heat24–22Green Rockets
Try: Seunghyuk Lee 4' m
Dawid Kellerman 14' c
Soki Watanabe 31' c
Shogo Nezuka 72' m
Con: SongGi Pak (2/3) 15', 32'
Jono Lance (0/1)		ReportTry: George Risale 44' c
Teruya Goto 58' m
Tom Marshall 69' c
Con: Fletcher Smith (2/3) 45', 71'
Pen: Fletcher Smith (1/1) 29'
Hanazono Rugby Stadium, Higashiōsaka
Attendance: 1,068
Referee: Kenki Furuse

Green Rockets won 55–34 on aggregate, and therefore both clubs remained in their respective leagues.

Shining Arcs v Mitsubishi DynaBoars

21 May 2022
12:00 JST (UTC+9)
Shining Arcs25–33Mitsubishi DynaBoars
Try: Kai Ishii 12' m
Shingo Nakashima 53' c
Anaru Rangi 68' c
Con: Greig Laidlaw (1/2) 54'
Doga Maeda (1/1) 69'
Pen: Greig Laidlaw (2/2) 9', 38'		ReportTry: Alaiasa Soraroland (2) 22' m, 33' c
Matt Vaega 42' c
Yoshimitsu Yasue 58' c
Michael Little 62' c
Con: Matt Vaega (4/5) 34', 42', 59', 63'
Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium, Aoyama
Attendance: 2,986
Referee: Noriaki Hashimoto
28 May 2022
16:40 JST (UTC+9)
Mitsubishi DynaBoars33–19Shining Arcs
Try: Matt Vaega 15' c
Takumi Sugiura (2) 27' m, 38' c
Nozomi Nara 66' c
Nicholas Ealey 79' c
Con: Matt Vaega (4/5) 17', 39', 68', 80+1'		ReportTry: Kai Ishii 10' m
Sekonaia Pole 43'c
syuhei takeuchi 73' c
Con: Otere Black (2/3) 43', 73'
Hanazono Rugby Stadium, Higashiōsaka
Attendance: 3,329
Referee: Akihisa Kajiwara

Mitsubishi DynaBoars won 44–66 on aggregate, and replaced the Shining Arcs in the Japan Rugby League One – Division 1

Season play-offs

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Bracket

 
Semi-finalsFinal
 
      
 
21 May – Higashiōsaka
 
 
Tokyo Sungoliath30
 
29 May – Shinjuku (Tokyo)
 
Toshiba Brave Lupus24
 
Tokyo Sungoliath12
 
22 May – Aoyama (Tokyo)
 
Saitama Wild Knights18
 
Saitama Wild Knights24
 
 
Kubota Spears10
 
Third place
 
 
28 May – Aoyama (Tokyo)
 
 
Toshiba Brave Lupus15
 
 
Kubota Spears23

Semi-finals

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21 May 2022
14:30 JST (UTC+9)
Tokyo Sungoliath30–24Toshiba Brave Lupus
Try: Seiya Ozaki 24' c
Shintaro Ishihara 42' c
Ryoto Nakamura 59' c
Con: Damian McKenzie (3/3) 25' 43' 60'
Pen: Damian McKenzie (3/5) 31' 49' 52'		ReportTry: Jacob Pierce 27' c
Takahiro Ogawa (2) 36' c 45' c
Asaeli Ai Valu 55' m
Con: Hayata Nakao (3/3) 28' 37' 46'
Pen: Hayata Nakao (1/1) 17'
Hanazono Rugby Stadium, Higashiōsaka
Attendance: 7,525
Referee: Takehito Namekawa
22 May 2022
14:00 JST (UTC+9)
Saitama Wild Knights24–10Kubota SpearsTokyo
Try: Takuya Yamasawa 7' c
Kyohei Yamasawa 38' c
Shota Horie 65' c
Con: Takuya Yamasawa (3/3) 8' 39' 66'
Pen: Takuya Yamasawa (1/3) 51'		ReportTry: Opeti Helu 80+2' c
Con: Bernard Foley (1/1) 80+3'
Pen: Bernard Foley (1/2) 15'
Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium, Aoyama
Attendance: 15,482
Referee: Yu Kawahara

Third place play-off

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28 May 2022
12:05 JST (UTC+9)
Toshiba Brave Lupus15–23Kubota Spears
Try: Seta Tamanivalu 7' m
Takuro Matsunaga 11' c
Con: Takuro Matsunaga (1/2) 11'
Pen: Takuro Matsunaga (1/1) 36'		ReportTry: Gerhard van den Heever 18' m
Hiroyuki Yamasaki (2) 27' c, 38' m
Con: Bernard Foley (1/3) 29'
Pen: Bernard Foley (2/2) 49', 67'
Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium, Aoyama
Attendance: 6,974
Referee: Yosuke Kimura

Final

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29 May 2022
15:00 JST (UTC+9)
Tokyo Sungoliath12–18Saitama Wild Knights
Pen: Damian McKenzie (4/4) 6' 52' 57' 66'ReportTry: Marika Koroibete 28' c
Dylan Riley 73' m
Con: Takuya Yamasawa (1/2) 29'
Pen: Takuya Yamasawa (2/5) 14' 64'
National Stadium, Kasumigaoka (Tokyo)
Attendance: 33,604
Referee: Shuhei Kubo
FB 15   Damian McKenzie
RW 14   Seiya Ozaki
OC 13   Samu Kerevi
IC 12   Ryoto Nakamura (c)
LW 11   Tevita Li
FH 10   Hikaru Tamura   62'
SH 9   Yutaka Nagare   66'
N8 8   Tom Sanders   50'
OF 7   Naoki Ozawa
BF 6   Koji Iino
RL 5   Wataru Kobayashi   66'
LL 4   Hendrik Tui
TP 3   Shinnosuke Kakinaga   50'
HK 2   Takuya Kitade   27'
LP 1   Shintaro Ishihara   50'
Substitutions:
HK 16   Kosuke Horikoshi   27'
PR 17   Yukio Morikawa   50'
PR 18   Sam Talakai   50'
LK 19   Takayasu Tsuji   66'
FL 20   Tevita Tatafu   60'
SH 21   Naoto Saito   66'
FH 22   Shogo Nakano   62'
CE 23   Taiga Ozaki
Coach:
  Milton Haig
FB 15   Ryuji Noguchi
RW 14   Koki Takeyama
OC 13   Dylan Riley
IC 12   Hadleigh Parkes   57'
LW 11   Marika Koroibete
FH 10   Takuya Yamasawa
SH 9   Keisuke Uchida   67'
N8 8   Shunsuke Nunomaki   57'
OF 7   Lachlan Boshier
BF 6   Ben Gunter
RL 5   George Kruis
LL 4   Jack Cornelsen
TP 3   Taiki Fujii   46'
HK 2   Atsushi Sakate (c)   46'
LP 1   Keita Inagaki
Substitutions:
HK 16   Shota Horie   46'
PR 17   Shohei Hirano
PR 18   Asaeli Ai Valu   46'
LK 19   Ryota Hasegawa   57'
FL 20   Masaki Tani
SH 21   Taiki Koyama   57'
FH 22   Vince Aso   57'
CE 23   Semisi Tupou
Coach:
  Robbie Deans

Statistics

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The statistics do not include any additional points, tries, etc. that may have been acquired in play-off matches.

International players

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The Japan Rugby League One holds a foreign player quota. Each Division 1 side are allowed a maximum of three “Category C” players: players who have represented a national team in international rugby that isn't Japan. The Japan Rugby League One also has two other categories of player (A, B), however, there is no limit on the number each team can have for those two category's.[8]

Club Player 1 Player 2 Player 3
Black Rams Tokyo   Matt Lucas — —
Green Rockets   Jake Ball — —
Kobelco Kobe Steelers — — —
Kubota Spears   Bernard Foley   Malcolm Marx   Ryan Crotty
Red Hurricanes Osaka   Nick Grigg — —
Saitama Wild Knights   Damian de Allende   Lood de Jager   Marika Koroibete
Shining Arcs   Greig Laidlaw   Israel Folau   Liam Gill
Shizuoka Blue Revs   Isi Naisarani   Kwagga Smith   Viliami Tahituʻa
Tokyo Sungoliath   Samu Kerevi   Sean McMahon —
Toshiba Brave Lupus   Matt Todd   Seta Tamanivalu   Tom Taylor
Toyota Verblitz   Patrick Tuipulotu   Pieter-Steph du Toit   Willie le Roux
Yokohama Canon Eagles   Cory Hill   Jesse Kriel —

Notes

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  1. ^ Folau changed international allegiance in July 2022 (to Tonga), following World Rugby eligibility law changes.[6][7]

References

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  1. ^ "Japan Rugby League One Set for Launch in January 2022". Japan Rugby Football Union. Retrieved 2021-12-14.
  2. ^ "Japan's new professional rugby league reveals inaugural schedule". The Japan Times. 5 October 2021. Retrieved 2021-12-15.
  3. ^ a b "NTTジャパンラグビー リーグワン2022入替戦フォーマットおよび日程のお知らせ" [NTT Japan Rugby League One 2022 replacement format and dates]. league-one.jp (in Japanese). League One. 14 April 2022. Archived from the original on 6 September 2022. Retrieved 6 September 2022.
  4. ^ "Japan Rugby League One Schedule". Japan Rugby League One. Retrieved 15 December 2021.
  5. ^ "Schedule and Results". Japan Rugby League One. Retrieved 29 December 2021.
  6. ^ "Former Wallaby Israel Folau picked for Tonga as international exile ends". The Guardian. 27 May 2022.
  7. ^ "Israel Folau's Test rugby return short-lived in Tonga's heavy 36-0 loss to Fiji". ABC News. 2 July 2022. Retrieved 3 July 2022.
  8. ^ "League One: Les quotas de joueurs étrangers ont été annoncés" [League One: Foreign player quotas have been announced]. asierugby.com (in French). 26 October 2021.
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