Israel Folau achieved only the second hat-trick of his professional career within Japan’s League One rugby union league; however, his team ultimately fell short as Tokyo Sungoliath secured a comfortable 41-19 victory against Urayasu D-Rocks.
The athlete, renowned for his proficiency in both rugby codes and having notched 10 tries in 12 appearances during League One’s inaugural season, has frequently contended with injuries throughout his tenure in Japan.
The match played on Saturday in Miyazaki marked only the 36-year-old’s twenty-first game in the four years following his initial season, during which period he has contributed an additional nine tries.
Even with a current seven-game losing streak, Steve Hansen’s Verblitz, occupying the league’s lowest position, challenged Saitama Wild Knights, establishing a 14-5 advantage shortly after the break before the top-ranked team rallied to a 26-20 victory.
Although maintaining their undefeated record, the Wild Knights failed to secure a bonus point, enabling Bernard Foley’s Spears Funabashi Bay to close the gap to a single point in the championship standings after their 42-19 triumph over Shizuoka BlueRevs, even though the former Wallaby received a yellow card and gave up a penalty try due to a professional infraction.
BlackRams Tokyo secured a 53-31 victory against Yokohama, advancing into the play-off positions and consequently pushing the Eagles down to second-to-last place, following Sagamihara Dynaboars’ comeback win over Mie Heat by a score of 44-34.
During Sunday’s fixture, Kobe Steelers successfully resisted an impressive resurgence from Brave Lupus Tokyo to solidify their third-place standing, narrowly clinching a thrilling 34-33 victory after initially establishing a 20-0 lead within the first thirty minutes.
New Zealand international Richie Mo’unga was presented with an opportunity to secure the win for Brave Lupus during the final moments, but his effort to convert the try was unsuccessful.
Brave Lupus previously defeated Kobe on three occasions in the preceding season, a period during which they clinched consecutive championship titles.
