It’s Japan Rugby League One 2025-2026 Round 14, and with just five rounds remaining in Division 1, including this weekend’s fixtures, only half of the playoff spots remain up for grabs as teams jostle for positions.
Our Previews and Reviews usually appear on All Things Rugby, but there are some technical gremlins this week, so we have published here. You can see all of our write-ups on ATR and the most recent R13 Review here.
Photo Credit – Yokohama Canon Eagles
The top six placed finishers will qualify for the playoffs in Division One, with fourth meeting fifth and third playing sixth in quarter finals on May 23 and 24. The winners from those games face the first and second seeds in the following weeks’ semi-finals, with the victors advancing to the championship game. The final will be played at the MUFG (National) Stadium in Tokyo on Sunday, June 7.
Teams ranked 11th and 12th in Division 1 will contest the Replacement Battle promotion/relegation series, playing two-legged home-and-away ties against the runners-up and winners from Division Two. These matches are determined by the aggregate of points scored across the two matches.
Kubota Spears, the Saitama Wild Knights, and the Kobe Steelers are locked in for the top six finish, but will the defending champions, Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo, miss out on a shot to defend their title? They have the best chance yet to end their long winless run as they face bottom of the table Urayasu D-Rocks.
There is also a full house of fixtures in Divisions 2 and 3. The Kintetsu Liners remain at the top of D2, while the undefeated SkyActivs Hiroshima in D3 have already secrured secured their D2 playoff spot.
Photo Credit – JRLO
Division 1
Saturday April 4
Mie Honda Heat vs Tokyo Sungoliath – Utsunomiya, 1.05pm
The Division gets underway with Pablo Matera’s Mie Honda Heat hosting Cheslin Kolbe’s fourth-placed Tokyo Sungoliath, and they have notched up five wins in their past 8 games to give them a real chance of making the top six. The number of wins equals their total victories in the first two years after returning to Division One in the JRLO, and former Italy coach Kieran Crowley will be looking to finish the season strongly.
The Sungoliath will be rueing the recent double loss to the Dynaboars, but the post-80-minute loss to the Saitama Wild Knights might have been a more bitter loss to swallow, considering the lead they had last weekend. Kolbe has been one of the players of the JRLO and scored 20 points plus twice in recent games.
Mitsubishi Sagamihara Dynaboars vs Shizuoka BlueRevs – Nagasaki, 1.40pm
Mitsubishi Sagamihara Dynaboars are in 10th, and despite the double victory over the Tokyo Sungoliath and with the in-form Springbok Lukhanyo Am, they have mostly faltered this season.
The visiting Shizuoka BlueRevs have just one win in the past six matches and now occupy 9th place, and they are well off the highs of last season, which was their best to date.
Photo Credit – JRLO
Saitama Wild Knights vs Yokohama Canon Eagles – Saitama, 2.30pm
The Saitama Wild Knights won’t be taking the Yokohama Canon Eagles lightly and know they have been fortunate with two late wins over recent weeks, although they should be credited for their never-say-die attitude.
The side has lost just once in 36 appearances at Kumagaya Rugby Stadium since the JRLO got underway.
Faf de Klerk has scored 5 tries in the three games he has been back since his injury for the Yokohama Canon Eagles, but the side will be disappointed to be in 11th place and will be fighting to avoid the Replacement Battle matches.
There is a return also for captain, and Springbok Jesse Kriel, who missed the last three games, and he is thrown straight into the mix as he runs out against his Bok centre partner Damian de Allende, who starts for the hosts.
Photo Credit -Yokohama Canon Eagles
Toyota Verblitz vs Kubota Spears – Gifu, 2.40pm
Top of the table Kubota Spears, even with having locked in a playoff spot, won’t want to let go of a top-two finish and head to face a side now well in the hunt for one of the six places to reach the playoffs.
Veteran Wallaby and JRLO fly-half Bernard Foley sits as the top points scorer in Division 1, but World Player of the Year and Spears hooker Malcolm Marx starts on the bench for the hosts.
Toyota Verlbitz have turned their season around, and hand in hand with the unpredictable nature of the season, now sit in 8th on the log and only two points behind the team in 6th. They have won four of their past five fixtures, but surprisingly, All Black scrumhalf Aaron Smith will start on the bench.
Photo Credit – JRLO
Sunday April 5
Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo vs Urayasu D-Rocks – Sapporo, 12pm
Now sitting in 6th and only above the teams below them by the slightest of margins, Todd Blackadder’s Brave Lupus side now have these final five rounds to salvage their season and have a chance to defend the title they won.
A win this weekend would end a 7-match losing streak, which would have seemed unthinkable at the start of the campaign. Even the return of All Black Shannon Frizell last weekend couldn’t end the run of defeats.
The visiting Urayasu D-Rocks have only three wins this season and are on a 9-match losing streak – so something will have to give, and one of the sides will surely end their losing run by the end of Sunday.
Photo Credit – JRLO
BlackRams Tokyo vs Kobelco Kobe Steelers – Tokyo, 12pm (Chichibu)
TJ Perenara’s much-improved BlackRams Tokyo host the third-placed Brodie Retallick-led Kobe Steelers on Sunday, with the BlackRams currently in 5th. They have notched up 8 wins this season – their best yet in the JRLO.
Can the All Black Rettalick chase down the record number of tries scored in a JRLO season? He has 14 to date, and the most in a single season is 18 tries by Sungoliath winger Seiya Ozaki three years ago. But the side attack from across the park, and wingers Inoke Burua and Kazuma Ueda both have scored nine tries this season.
The last time these two sides met, Retallick ran in 4 tries on his own in a big 67-21 win, but BlackRams coach Tabai Matson has united a team with the best discipline record in the Division.
Photo Credit – JRLO
You can see all of the fixtures, standings and player stats on the JRLO website.
Division Two
Saturday April 4
Green Rockets Tokatsu vs Kyushu Electric Power Kyuden Voltex
4th placed Green Rockets Tokatsu host 7th Kyushu Electric Power Kyuden Voltex in the first of four Saturday fixtures in Division 2.
Following last week’s loss, the hosts will be looking for a bonus-point win over the team which has only three wins this season.
Nippon Steel Kamaishi Seawaves vs Toyota Industries Shuttles Aichi
The hosts are currently in 6th and face a daunting task of seeing off the second-placed Toyota Industries Shuttles Aichi, who have only lost twice this season.
Hanazono Kintetsu Liners vs Red Hurricanes Osaka
Top of the table Hanazono Kintetsu Liners should be confident of a full haul of points when they host the Red Hurricanes Osaka, but when they played earlier this season, they narrowly won a high-scoring contest 40-35.
Springbok Manie Libbok has a 25-point advantage in the division as the top scorer and needs just 8 more points to reach 100 in his first season in Japan for the Liners.
Photo Credit – Hanazono Kintetsu Liners
Shimizu Corporation Koto Blue Sharks vs Hino Red Dolphins
Shimizu Corporation Koto Blue Sharks regained third place on the log last weekend and will look to further cement that as the visiting Hino Red Dolphins are at the foot of the table and are winless this season.
Division Three
Saturday April 4
SkyActivs Hiroshima vs Chugoku Electric Power Red Regulions
The Division 3 juggernaut SkyActivs Hiroshima continues to have a perfect season and are chasing their 11th straight win. Their opposition is a side who are at the bottom of the table, and the last time they met, SkyActivs were 61-27 victors.
Sunday April 5
Photo Credit – JRLO
SAYAMA SECOM RUGGUTS vs Yakult Levins Toda
The hosts are comfortably in second place and ahead of the next team by 24 log points, but they won’t be taking any game for granted as they eye the end-of-season promotion games.
Yakult Levins Toda are 5th and have won 3/10 games this season – they were hammered 70-3 by the same opposition back in January.
Le RIRO Fukuoka vs Kurita Water Gush Akishima
The hosts were narrow losers last weekend to the top of the table side, and find themselves in 4th on the log. The visiting team this weekend, Kurita Water Gush Akishima, is ahead of them in third, so there is all to play for in Sunday’s fixture. In the match earlier this season, Le RIRO Fukuoka won narrowly 20-18.
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