Kobelco Kobe Steelers Win First Japan Rugby League One Title

rugbyasia247 Posted On June 8, 2026

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Kobelco Kobe Steelers Win First JRLO Title

Kobelco Kobe Steelers defeated Kubota Spears 22-13 to win their first Japan Rugby League One title and first Japanese national title since 2018 in front of a crowd of 50,431 at Tokyo’s National Stadium. The Wild Knights claimed third after beating Tokyo Sungoliath 26-19.

The final of the fifth edition of Japan Rugby League One had everything you wanted to see and was a great advert for the JRLO. Michael Little and Bryn Gatland both earned their 50th caps for Kobe in the Cup Final win, while several players and the Head Coach and several management leave the club on a winning note.

Dave Rennie now takes over the All Blacks. Kobe skipper Brodie Retallick enjoyed his first club-level cup win since 2013 and was awarded MOTM, with All Black backrower Ardie Savea’s only previous club title in professional rugby was with the Hurricanes in 2016.

The crowd at the Tokyo National Stadium represented the third consecutive final in which the 50,000-mark has been surpassed in the JRLO, and the combined attendance for the five finals in League One to date was slightly above 230,000.

Retallick said after the win, “It was a hard battle and justice for the final and an arm wrestle from both teams, but happy we are the champions. I think we absorbed pressure in the first half and scored vital points in the second half. Spears are a great team and put us under pressure and played extremely well.”

Kobelco Kobe Steelers defeated Kubota Spears 22-13 to win their first Japan Rugby League One title

Photo Credit – JRLO

Dave Rennie added, “I have mixed emotions and a lot of relief after that tight game. The Spears are such a good side and difficult to break down, so I am really happy with our effort.

We had a big second half. I thought we defended the first half well after being constantly under the pump. We applied a lot of pressure in the second half, and they defended their line so well – it’s a game of small margins.”

Kobelco Kobe Steelers 22-13 Kubota Spears

Brave Blossoms flyhalf Seungsin Lee slotted six kicks in the win, and the finals result was the biggest winning margin in the league’s championship game. The previous four tournament finals were decided by six, two, four and five points respectively.

The game was tense, physical and full of drama and a fitting end to the season. Kubota Spears did miss the likes of Malcolm Marx and Tyler Paul to injury, but they started the better of the two teams and would have rued not being in the lead at the break, as the score was tied at 13-all.

Photo Credit – JRLO

Prop Keijiro Tamefusa scored the Spears’ first half try, with the rest of the points coming from outgoing former Wallaby flyhalf Bernard Foley. One-cap All Black fullback, Shaun Stevenson, was a threat all half (actually all match), and his side had several chances but were turned over at crucial times by a staunch Kobe defensive effort.

Kobe fullback Shunsuke Uenobo put in a great grubber behind the Kubota defence, which 27-year-old Fijian winger Inoke Burua chased and scored to take his season tally to 15 tries. He was a defensive monster all game and a constant powerhouse in attack – he has enjoyed a great season in Japan. That was also the final try in the game.

It was in the second half that Kobe swung the momentum their way. Lee kicked 17-points in the win as neither side could find a way past each other’s defence with the ball in hand, and they both certainly tried.

Bronze Match – Saitama Wild Knights 26-19 Tokyo Sungoliath

Photo Credit – JRLO

The Wild Knights finished third, holding off Tokyo Sungoliath in a game which lacked quality in the first half but came to life in the second period.

Tokyo Sungoliath led 7-0 at halftime thanks to a Kotaro Matsushima try. In the second half, scores from
Koyama Daiki, Kazuma Shimane, and Kanshiro Narumoto gave the Wild Knights a decent 19-7 lead. A Taiga Ozaki double put the Sungoliath back in contention, but Maurice Marks’ try for the Wild Knights gave them enough of a cushion. The South African wing was POTM.

South African star Cheslin Kolbe was a late withdrawal from his Sungoliath side and did not feature. Veteran scrumhalf Yutaka Nagare played the final game of his career for the Sungoliath side.

Springbok Lood de Jager came through nearly an hour of rugby in his first appearance this season and was excellent while he was on the field.

Photo Credit – JRLO – Saitama Wild Knights finished 3rd

Atsushi Kanazawa, Head Coach of the Saitama Panasonic Wild Knights, commented, “At halftime, I told them that ‘these kinds of games always happen,’ and emphasised that they should never play individually, but instead ‘play as a team with connection,’ which is our strength. In that sense, I think the reason we were able to create a good flow at the start of the second half is that the players were able to start with a positive mindset, and I think it was a very good start to the second half.”

Sam Cane, captain of Tokyo Suntory Sungoliath, said after the game, “I think both teams had a tough week. It was very disappointing to lose in the semi-finals, but we were definitely looking forward to the opportunity to play against each other again.

Of course, the result wasn’t what we wanted. However, sports are like life; there are things that don’t go as planned and things that are beyond our control. Within that, we focused firmly on what we could control. I believe that our mindset is something we can choose. Even so, it’s truly disappointing that we couldn’t win,” added the former All Black captain.

All of the results can be seen on the JRLO website, as well as the match highlights.