TOKYO – Spears Tokyo Bay cruised past two-time defending champions Brave Lupus Tokyo 26-3 on Sunday to book a place in the semifinals of the Japan Rugby League One playoffs.
The Spears racked up four tries while conceding none to the Brave Lupus at Tokyo’s Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Ground, getting payback after losing last season’s final to the same opponents 18-13.
Spears scrumhalf Ippei Okada outfoxed the Brave Lupus defense to score the first try of the match in the 15th minute after taking a quick penalty and wriggling his way through five players to go over, handing his team a 7-3 halftime lead.
The second try came three minutes into the second half as the Spears put eight phases together before fullback Shaun Stevenson produced a perfect kick to the right wing. Halatoa Vailea had the easy task of gathering the ball and touching down, with departing Bernard Foley nailing his second conversion from a tight angle.
Tokyo Bay were handed their 51st-minute third try after a similar crossfield punt to the same corner, this time from Foley, was initially caught by Brave Lupus flanker Yoshitaka Tokunaga. But his attempt to keep the ball in play backfired as his pass went to Spears No. 8 Faulua Makisi in the in-goal area.
Center Rikus Pretorius got the final try with a minute left, getting to the ball fastest after Vailea kicked the ball forward on a counter following a Brave Lupus handling error.
