Super Rugby Pacific side NSW Waratahs overpowered former League One champions Kubota Spears 43-17 at Spears Edoriku Field in Funabashi on Friday.
The visitors produced a professional display to edge a competitive first half in sun-soaked Chiba before showcasing their quality in the second 40 as they pulled away from their overmatched hosts.
Kubota, who finished a disappointing sixth last season and surrendered their 2023 title without making the play-offs, were dealt a major blow this week with the news that Liam Williams had decided to opt out of the second and final year on his contract.
The Welsh star was granted his release by the club to return home with his wife due to give birth to their first child and has rejoined his London-based former club Saracens, as exclusively revealed by RugbyJP on Monday.
Kubota’s fifth pre-season match saw South African stalwart Gerhard van den Heever return to his favoured full-back position as one of only a handful of first choice regulars selected for the visit of Super Rugby Pacific’s basement club from last season.
The hosts made a perfect start through wing Tsuyoshi Jennings who arrived in the summer from Fijian semi-professional rugby league side Kaiviti Silktails.
Jennings retrieved a grubber kick on the left flank and had time and space to dive over in the corner for the game’s opening score.
The Waratahs responded immediately following a line out maul as scrum-half Teddy Wilson emerged with the ball and strolled over from close range to tie up the score.
Left wing Jack Bowen gave the Australian side the lead for the first time when he was afforded too much space on his flank and sauntered over the line after 14 minutes.
Frans Ludeke’s team showed their appetite for the contest by quickly responding through captain Tomoki Kishioka whose deceptive dummy created a gap in the midfield and he beat three players to race over for a fine solo effort.
Waratahs full-back James Hendren nudged the visitors further ahead after some quick hands left him wide open to cross for a nine-point lead at the break.
Dan McKellar’s Waratahs dominated the second half as Kubota struggled to contain the rampant Australian’s.
Inside centre Joey Walton came onto a pass from Hendren at speed and charged over before Bowen converted the try to extend their advantage to 26–10.
Kubota’ replacement left wing Hibiki Yamada kept the Chiba-based side within touching distance after van den Heever side-stepped two defenders and enabled his teammate to cut inside for Kubota’s first points of the half.
The Waratahs put the result beyond doubt with 15 minutes remaining after a rash decision from scrum-half Ippei Okada who threw a long miss-pass into the hands of his opposite number Jack Grant who marked his introduction with a try.
Kubota faded and were outworked by their Super Rugby counterparts in the final quarter of an hour.
Despite leading 33–17, the Waratahs kept pressing and showed a clinical edge to score their sixth try with 10 minutes left on the clock.
Jack Grant secured his second as he powered over before replacement Lukas Ripley completed the rout after another defensive lapse from the hosts let the Samoan salvage a kick through and score his team’s seventh try.
While the final scoreline was emphatic - a comprehensive 43 – 17 triumph for the visitors - Kubota were without their star names such as Bernard Foley, Springboks star Malcolm Marx and Japan internationals Opeti Helu, veteran Harumichi Tatekawa, scrum-half Shinobu Fujiwara and new captain Faulua Makisi.
Kubota played their part in a back-and-forth opening 40 minutes but will rue their second half display as they conceded territory and points too easily and made some costly handling errors.
Ludeke will look at the remainder of his squad on Saturday as the club illustrates their depth by playing again in less than 24 hours and have named a completely different line-up.
Ex-Wallabies star Foley, who missed out on the opportunity to face his former club, watched from the stands as he will start tomorrow away at Shizuoka Blue Revs.
The 2015 Rugby World Cup runner-up will play alongside debutant and ex-Blue Revs scrum-half Bryn Hall who Kubota moved for after learning that South African lock David Bulbring is now eligible for Japan on residency grounds and has been moved from category B (players expected to qualify for Japan) to category A.
Kubota start their 2024-25 League One campaign against Steve Hansen and Ian Foster’s expensively assembled Toyota Verblitz side on December 22 at Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium in Tokyo.
Picture courtesy of Kubota Spears
Comments