It’s Round 16 of the Japan Rugby League One 2025-2026 with matches played from Friday, 24th, until Sunday, 26th April. At the foot of the Division 1 table, Urayasu D-Rocks look to fight it out in the promotion/relegation games with just three rounds to go, while the battle to reach the playoffs sees Steve Hansen’s Toyota Verblitz and Kieran Crowley’s Mie Honda Heat with an outside chance of making the top six.
Photo Credit0 JRLO
Division 1
Friday April 24
Urayasu D-Rocks v Shizuoka BlueRevs; at Tokyo (Chichibu), 7pm
The Friday night match sees 12th-placed Urayasu D-Rocks host 9th-ranked Shizuoka BlueRevs in Tokyo. Urayasu D-Rocks announced mid-week the departure of 11 players at the end of the season, including Hendrik Tui, who will be retiring from the sport, and former Wallaby Israel Folau. Whether the news will inspire the side to end the season on a high note is to be determined, but neither player is in the squad for this weekend’s game.
Jasper Wiese captains from the back of the scrum, with other threats being Samu Kerevi at outside centre and Otere Black at fly-half.
For the visiting Shizuoka BlueRevs, after their best-ever season last year, they have struggled this campaign. Captain Kwagga Smith’s battle against his compatriot, also in the number 8 jersey, will be one to watch.
For Urayasu, they will be trying to avoid a 12th straight loss, but if they do lose, they will be competing in the Replacement Battle.
Photo Credit – JRLO
Saturday April 25
Saitama Wild Knights v Mitsubishi Sagamihara Dynaboars; at Saitama, 2.30pm
Top of the division, Saitama Wild Knights, will host the 11th-placed Mitsubishi Sagamihara Dynaboars. The visitors lost by 30 points to the Wild Knights the last time they faced them this season, and their record overall is not great, conceding an average of 57 points per outing through the seven previous meetings between the teams.
The Wild Knights have only a one-point lead over Kobe on the championship standings, with Kubota three points further back – the race for the top two and a bye in the first round of the playoff games is very much on. The Wild Knights know that if they win two of their remaining three games, they will ensure a top-two finish.
Their captain, hooker Atsushi Sakate, at one stage in the season led the try scoring stats but he has fallen well behind Brodie Retallick’s 14 tries; 8 tries so far is still a good season.
Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo v Yokohama Canon Eagles; at Tokyo (Chichibu), 2.30pm
Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo occupied the final spot for the playoffs heading into the weekend and hosts Yokohama Canon Eagles. The defending champions’ awful season saw a recent correction as they beat both Urayasu D-Rocks and Mitsubishi Sagamihara Dynaboars after seven consecutive defeats between January and March.
Starting fly-half Richie Mo’unga, one of many players who will be leaving the JRLO at the end of the season, including club team-mate Shanon Frizell, will also be hoping for a positive end to his Japan stint. Michael Leitch captains the side.
Yokohama may have climbed above the two promotion/relegation series places by beating Urayasu, but they need all the points they can get to guarantee they stay in the top ten in the Division. Jesse Kriel captains the side at centre with Faf De Klerk starting on the bench. The Springbok is also confirmed to head back to SA and join the Cheetahs after this season.
Photo Credit – JRLO
Kobelco Kobe Steelers v Tokyo Sungoliath; at Hyogo, 2.30pm
Ex-All Blacks captain Sam Cane will square up against All Black backrow team mate Ardie Savea when he comes from the bench as Tokyo Sungoliath visit Kobelco Kobe Steelers.
All Black Head Coach-bound Dave Rennie’s side is having a great season, and they have scored 25 more tries than the next team in the JRLO Division 1. Kobelco Kobe Steelers fullback Shunsuke Uenobo scored a hat-trick in the win last weekend over the Toyota Verblitz and starts. Retallick captains the team, which includes Anton Lienert-Brown, Seungsin Lee and Savea.
It will be an intriguing match as the Sungoliath side has now lost four in a row for the first time since the 2004-05 season – all of the losses were by seven points or less. Cheslin Kolbe starts at fullback and will need to be at his very best.
When these sides met for the first time this season, it was Brave Blossoms flyhalf Seungsin Lee 80th minute penalty that ensured a 22-20 win for Kobe.
Japan Rugby League One 2025-2026
Kubota Spears v Mie Honda Heat; at Tokyo (Edogawa), 2.30pm
Crowley’s Mie Honda Heat were an outside bet for the playoffs after they had won three matches in a row, but were defeated by the Black Rams last weekend 5-49, and this round they travel to face third-placed Kubota Spears. The matchup earlier in the season saw Frans Ludeke’s Kubota side come out on top 45-21 in early January.
Their task is made even more daunting considering that Ludeke’s side has never lost a game at Spears Edoriku Field, where they have won all 24 matches. Add in the starting squad, which includes Malcolm Marx, Faulua Makisi, and Shaun Stevenson, among others, the visitors will have their hands full. The Spears can also call on Bernard Foley, who was forced to miss last weekend’s win over Sungoliath. Foley is calling it a day at the end of the season, but would love to sign off with another Japanese title.
In the starting XV for the Mie Hoinda Heat are Fijian front rower Tevita Ikanivere, captain Franco Mostert as well as Pablo Matera.
Photo Credit – JRLO
Sunday April 26
BlackRams Tokyo v Toyota Verblitz; at Tokyo (Chichibu), 2.30pm
Toyota’s late-season form has seen them charge up the table and put them into contention for the playoffs, but have they left it too late? After a run which saw them win five in the past seven games, they came unstuck against Kobelco Kobe Steelers, losing 24-38 last weekend.
The gap between the seventh-placed Verblitz and the sixth-placed Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo is currently six points.
On the field, the battle at scrumhalf is one to keep an eye on as former All Black number nines, Aaron Smith (Verblitz) and TJ Perenara (BlackRams) will go head-to-head. BlackRams pivot Ichigo Nakakusu is the second-highest points scorer in the division (169) and has formed a good partnership with Perenara.
You can see all the fixtures and results on the JRLO website here.
Photo Credit – JRLO
Division Two
Friday April 24
- Kyushu Electric Power Kyuden Voltex v Toyota Industries Shuttles Aichi; at Fukuoka, 7pm
Saturday April 25
- RedHurricanes Osaka v Hino Red Dolphins; at Osaka, 12pm
- Nippon Steel Kamaishi Seawaves v Green Rockets Tokatsu; at Iwate, 1pm
- Hanazono Kintetsu Liners v Shimizu Corporation Koto Blue Sharks; at Osaka (Hanazono)
Division Three
Saturday April 25
- Chugoku Electric Power Red Regulions v SAYAMA SECOM RUGGUTS; at Hiroshima, 12pm
Sunday April 26
- Yakult Levins Toda v Kurita Water Gush Akishima; at Tokyo (AGF Field), 12pm
- Le RIRO Fukuoka v SkyActivs Hiroshima; at Fukuoka, 1pm
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