1. Faf de Klerk and Jesse Kriel vs. Beauden Barrett and Aaron Smith AKA Yokohama v Toyota
South African 2023 World Cup winners Faf de Klerk and Jesse Kriel both start for Yokohama Canon Eagles on Saturday against a Toyota Verblitz team whose XV includes their 2023 World Cup final opponents Beauden Barrett and Aaron Smith.
South Africa against New Zealand is going to be a theme in League One this season with Division 1 bursting with top draw talent from both nations.
Canon Eagles will be looking to respond to their heavy loss to last season’s beaten finalists the Wild Knights when they welcome Verblitz who launched their season with a nervy win over the Black Rams.
Verblitz have left World Cup winner Pieter-Steph du Toit out of their squad for the trip to Kangawa.
A loss for last season’s semi-finalists Canon, who went on to pip Suntory in the third-place play-off match, would put them under pressure just two weeks into the new campaign although the quality of the opposition has to be considered.
Verblitz’s play-off bid fell short last season but they are a different force going into 2024 and a win over Canon would illustrate their serious title ambitions.
2. Can Kubota bounce back with a champion-like display?
It’s been a week to forget for Kubota Spears and their coach Frans Ludeke but Saturday’s visit to League One newcomers Honda Heat offers the champions the perfect opportunity to get their 2023-2024 campaign up and running.
The Spears will be fancied to banish the memories of their round one humbling by rivals Suntory by dominating Honda Heat who shipped 80 points to Kobe in the season opener.
South African coach Frans Ludeke, who spearheaded Kubota’s maiden League One crown success last season, lost out in the bid for the Brave Blossoms hotseat to the returning Eddie Jones.
A Super Rugby winner with the Bulls in 2008 and 2015, Ludeke, was reportedly the only other candidate in contention and will now have his full attention on getting back to winning ways in Saturday’s lunch time kick-off.
Wales’ Liam Williams and All Black Dane Coles are left out of the matchday 23 again but South African pair Rikus Pretorius and Gerhard van den Heever, who offered a glimmer of hope as they tried to spark life into the Spears last Sunday, start at outside centre and full-back respectively.
Honda Heat will look to South Africa’s double World Cup winner Franco Mostert and dangerous left winger Tevita Li, a surprise summer signing from Suntory, with Argentina star Pablo Matera still absent.
3. Richie Mo'unga and Shannon Frizell v Sam Cane and Cheslin Kolbe – AKA Toshiba v Suntory
Star-studded Toshiba Brave Lupus and Suntory Sungoliath both recorded commanding victories on the opening weekend to setup a mouthwatering clash this Sunday.
Toshiba’s stand-off Richie Mo'unga and industrious flanker Shannon Frizell (below) will face their All Blacks captain Sam Cane and Springbok Cheslin Kolbe who earned Player of The Match in his League One Debut.
Hard-working Cane, who lasted an hour in his Suntory debut, and the electric Kolbe retain their number 8 and full-back starting berths.
Welsh World Cup star Gareth Anscombe is still on the sidelines after reportedly undergoing groin surgery in Wales.
An interesting sub-plot will be the try-scoring bragging rights between Toshiba’s standout Japanese winger Jone Naikabula, who bagged four tries in round one, and Suntory’s high-flying Ozaki brothers, Seiya and his younger sibling Taiga Ozaki, who scored five tries between them last weekend.
Free-scoring Naikabula was clinical in his side’s victory over Shizuoka while last season’s top try scorer Seiya Ozaki (18) made an instant impression this campaign with a first half hat-trick. Brother Taiga added a brace in Suntory’s demolition job on defending champions Kubota.
4. Will ruthless Kobe rampage through Shizuoka as Ardie Savea and Kwagga Smith face-off?
World Player of The Year Ardie Savea (below) and his long-time All Blacks teammate Brodie Retallick provided Kobelco Kobe Steelers with a platform to humiliate Honda Heat.
A colossal 80-15 drubbing came after co-captain Retallick marked his return to the club with a brace of tries which was matched by Savea with only Takuya Kitade exceeding that return with three to his name.
Former Chiefs fly-half Bryn Gatland kicked 16 points, Japan stand-off Lee Seung Shin added nine points while New Zealand-born number 8 Tiennan Costley scored his first try since becoming eligible to play for Japan on residency grounds.
Savea will savour the chance to come up against familiar foe Kwagga Smith in what will make for fascinating viewing.
Blue Revs captain Smith scored in his side’s gusty display against Toshiba and will lead by example.
Smith’s teammate Charles Piutau was something of a peripheral figure in his first League One start which has prompted Blue Revs coach Yuichiro Fujii to move the Tongan World Cup star into the midfield as he switches from full-back to outside centre.
5. Eddie Jones talent scouting for 2024
Eddie Jones returned as Japan’s head coach when he was introduced to the media on Thursday.
The 63-year-old Australian has plenty of time to get his house in order with his first fixture coming next summer when the Brave Blossoms host England in June.
Jones attended Kubota v Suntory fixture last Sunday, in his role as a consultant for the latter, but will no doubt be spotted at games on both day’s in round two, his first weekend back in the role he held from 2012-2015.
Guilt-free Jones' predecessor Jamie Joseph was often questioned on social media for not attending enough League One games in person and making some eyebrow-raising left-field decisions as he regularly left out in-form League One players from his squads.
Jones will embrace the attention and red carpet treatment he’ll receive at games now this season and he’ll also be expected to turn his attention to the country’s deepest source of emerging talent in University rugby, an area he knows well as former coach at sporting powerhouse, Tokai University.
Round 2 Fixtures:
Division 1:
Saturday 16 December
Mie Honda Heat v Kubota Spears Funabashi Tokyo Bay (12.10)
Tokyo Black Rams v Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Sagamihara Dynaboars (13.00)
Yokohama Canon Eagles v Toyota Verblitz (14.10)
Sunday 17 December
Hanazono Kintetsu Liners v Saitama Wild Knights (12.00)
Shizuoka Blue Revs v Kobelco Kobe Steelers (14.00)
Tokyo Sungoliath v Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo (14.30)
Division 2:
Saturday 16 December
Urayasu D-Rocks v Kyuden Vortex (14.30)
Toyota Industries Shuttles Aichi v NEC Green Rockets (14.30)
Red Hurricanes Osaka v Kamaishi Seawaves (14.30)
Division 3:
Saturday 16 December
Skyactivs Hiroshima v Kurita Water Gush Akishima (13.00)
Pictures courtesy of Yokohama, Toshiba and Kobe
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