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Suntory Sungoliath’s Beauden Barrett pulls away from defense once again.
Beauden Barrett’s Suntory Sungoliath stand alone with a perfect record in all 16 teams in the Japan Top League, after the All Blacks’ first five eighths rescued their team in the closing moments for the second week in a row.
On the same day that his Super Rugby team, the Blues, defeated his old team, the Hurricanes, Barrett lived up to his star billing again when Suntory beat Ryan Crotty’s Kubota Spears 33-26.
Suntory appeared to be sailing as they led 26-7 with less than half an hour to play before Kubota mounted a valiant counterattack, with his wrecking ball Tongan, loose forward Finau Tupa, ending three attempts for the 2019 finalists to level the score. play.
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Suntory Sungoliath celebrates another Beauden Barrett try, against Kubota Spears.
The effort was in vain, as Suntory crossed Barrett for his third attempt of the season in the 78th minute, sealing the game and the red conference in the process.
READ MORE:
* The great Ben Smith of the All Blacks hopes that the Super Rugby division with South Africa is not final
* Japan Top League: Showtime for Wayne Smith and Robbie Deans in Japan
* Beauden Barrett and Kieran Read will meet in the main game of the Japan Superior League
* All Blacks running back TJ Perenara tastes defeat for the first time in Japan.
The Panasonic Wild Knights and Kobelco Steelers were unable to separate in a disputed top-of-the-table competition on Sunday, with soggy conditions providing a test for both teams and their opponents, in a game that ended in a draw. 13-13.
Both teams scored a try in the constant rain, with a cross kick from the former Highlanders in the first five-eighths by Hayden Parker that created Kobe’s opening for winger Sinsuke Iseki, before Panasonic responded through a solo effort from long range of corridor Keisuke Uchida.
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Hayden Parker and Ben Smith of the Kobelco Steelers battle the Wet and Panasonic Wild Knights at Kobe Universiade Memorial Stadium.
The visiting Wild Knights came closer to breaking the deadlock, with Australian center Dylan Riley denied by inches in the final minute as he pursued a speculative kick that simply knocked the Panasonic man down to the dead ball line.
Parker was one of seven players with strong New Zealand connections to show up for Kobe, including the All Black trio of Ben Smith, Aaron Cruden and Brodie Retallick.
Former Wales second five-eighth Hadleigh Parkes and former Highlanders mainstay Craig Miller were the only Kiwis to play for the Wild Knights.
While the disappointment will have been frustrating for the visitors, Robbie Deans’ team retained their one-point lead in qualifying when they left Kobe.
Buddhika Weerasinghe / Getty Images
Kobelco Steelers’ Brodie Retallick puts those long legs up against Panasonic Wild Knights.
This leaves the top ranking position of the white conference in his hands heading into the final weekend of group play.
Sunday’s other games saw Todd Blackadder’s Toshiba Brave Lupus emerge from a tough few weeks with a 53-17 win over Danny Lee’s Honda Heat, who remain winless in the red conference.
Seta Tamanivalu and St Bede’s College (Christchurch) Japan captain Michael Leitch were among Toshiba’s attempt scorers, while former Crusader Jack Stratton scored 18 points.
Former Chiefs training team member Keegen Faria scored twice, while Waikato teammate Jacob Skeen and former New Zealand Heartland manager Michael Broadhurst were also scorers when the Ricoh Black Rams beat the NEC Green Rockets 37-15 in Tokyo.
Sunday’s fourth scheduled game between the Hino Red Dolphins and the Canon Eagles was canceled following a positive test for Covid-19 on Agustín Pulu’s Hino team.
Kubota will face Kieran Read’s Toyota Verblitz next week for second place in the section, although the former All Black captain was absent for the second game in a row when Verblitz beat Greg Cooper’s Mitsubishi Dynaboars 40-29.
Former Manawatu captain Heiden Bedwell-Curtis scored two goals for the Dynaboars.
All Black running back TJ Perenara suffered the loss for the second week in a row when the NTT Docomo Red Hurricanes fell 33-21 to Yamaha Jubilo, while his former Hurricanes teammate Fletcher Smith scored a try among his 15 points, already represented by NTT Communications Shining Arcs. the Munakata Sanix Blues 40-21.
