Is this the moment of truth for former Wild Knights flyhalf Rikiya Matsuda?
The 30-year-old pivot, whose outstanding career with the club included seven years, two titles, 87 games and 788 points, will face his former teammates for the first time since the offseason when Toyota Verblitz moved to Aichi. Saitama Panasonic Wild Knights on Sunday.
Although technically a ‘home’ match for the Verblitz, the weekend’s featured match will be played on virtually neutral ground as part of Japan Rugby League 1’s strategy to expand the game’s national presence, with Toyota using the Mikuni World Stadium in Fukuoka as the venue for the break. It will be used as . Since the Covid pandemic, the Wild Knights have had a stranglehold on them.
Such was the dominance of the Saitama-based team, they won all seven meetings, with five of them exceeding 40 points.
In a game with many subplots, the relationships between each coach form another interesting background.
fixture
Japan Rugby League 1
Toyota Verblitz
Saitama Wild Knights
Robbie Deans (Wild Knights) and Steve Hansen (Verblitz) previously shared the coaching box at the Crusaders before Hansen left his assistant role in 2001 for a turbulent journey as Wales national team coach.
Hansen’s All Blacks subsequently dominated Deans’ Wallabies during his time as Bledisloe Cup coach, but the boots have been on the other side since landing in Japan.
Verblitz have not beaten the Wild Knights since Hansen became Toyota’s director of rugby following the All Blacks’ exit from the 2019 Rugby World Cup hosted by Japan.
Perhaps the most dramatic evidence of Toyota’s mental disorder emerged last year.
Verblitz took command of the first game between the two teams, taking a 27-8 lead at halftime but going scoreless in the second period as the Wild Knights stormed home 43-27.
Having brought in a variety of high-profile signings during his time in Japan to address the team’s mental vulnerabilities, including Kieran Read, Beauden Barrett, Pieter Steph du Toit and Aaron Smith, Hansen has now turned to Matsuda, one of the Wild Knights’ key players. Men take the lead in relationships.
The 39-game Brave Blossoms international scored 82 points in seven wins over Verblitz.
Mazda’s olive jersey start wasn’t as convincing as he or his coach would have liked, but Toyota arrived in Kyushu after picking up his first win of the season.
Take down the invincible Wild Knights in a row and the Verblitz season will truly begin.
Sunday is a special day in Kansai. Kobelco The Kobe Steelers suffered an earthquake in 1995 that destroyed a quarter of Kobe’s buildings and killed more than 6,000 people.
The team will wear special uniforms commemorating their match against the Urayasu D-Rocks.
The Mie Heat welcome Tokyo Suntory Sungoliath later that afternoon, while Saturday’s action sees Kubota Spears Funabashi-Tokyo Bay’s Ricoh Black Rams Tokyo and Shizuoka Blue Revs meet undefeated Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo and Yokohama Canon Eagles take on Mitsubishi Sagamihara Dynaboars.
