2024-2025 JRLO Round 10 Preview

rugbyasia247 Posted On March 1, 2025

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Our 2024-2025 JRLO Round 10 preview with games being played from March 1-2 in Japan across all three Japan Rugby League One divisions.

Photo Credit – KUBOTA SPEARS FUNABASHI TOKYO-BAY

Results Round 9

Division 1

Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo 45-44 Ricoh Black Rams Tokyo
Kubota Spears Funabashi Tokyo-Bay 62-14 Shizuoka Blue Revs
Kobelco Kobe Steelers 63-21 Toyota Verblitz
Mie Honda Heat 20-17 Yokohama Canon Eagles
Tokyo Suntory Sungoliath 40-35 Urayasu D-Rocks

Division 2

Hanazono Kintetsu Liners 39-12 Kyushu Electric Power Kyuden Voltex
Red Hurricanes Osaka 25-8 Hino Red Dolphins
NEC Green Rockets Tokatsu 50-23 Shimizu Corporation Koto Blue Sharks

Division 3

Chugoku Electric Power Red Regulions 23-18 Yakult Levins Toda
Mazda SkyActivs Hiroshima 22-18 Kurita Water Gush Akishima
Sayama Secom Rugguts 57-3 LeRIRO Fukuoka

Division One JRLO 2024-2025 – Round 10 Fixtures

Saturday 1 March 2025 – All times shown are Japan local time.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Sagamihara Dynaboars v Ricoh Black Rams Tokyo; at Tokyo, 12pm
Urayasu D-Rocks v Toyota Verblitz; at Fukushima, 12pm
Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo v Kubota Spears Funabashi Tokyo Bay; at Kagoshima, 1pm

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Sagamihara Dynaboars and Ricoh Black Rams Tokyo open the Division One action in Saturday’s lunchtime kick-off. Black Rams skipper TJ Perenara will need to be halted by the Dynaboars as they look to avoid back-to-back defeats.

Urayasu D-Rocks remain rooted to the bottom of the division, but they host a Toyota Verblitz side who have lost their last five consecutive matches. Will home advantage help them to a second win this campaign? Head coach Greig Laidlaw will hope so otherwise he will need to start mentally preparing for the Promotion-Relegation matches. Verblitz brought in former Wallaby captain Michael Hooper who was sin-binned in his first game – and the loss of Pieter Steph du Toit and Brave Blossoms skipper Kazuki Himeno to injuries have dented their season.

Second on the log, Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo faces third-placed Kubota Spears Funabashi Tokyo Bay in the final match on Saturday.

Sunday 2 March 2025 – All times shown are Japan local time

Shizuoka Blue Revs v Mie Honda Heat; at Shizuoka, 1.05pm
Saitama Panasonic Wild Knights v Kobelco Kobe Steelers; at Saitama, 2.30pm
Tokyo Suntory Sungoliath v Yokohama Canon Eagles; at Tokyo, 2.30pm

Mie Honda Heat are led by Argentine international Pablo Matera-led who will look to beat the hosts Shizuoka Blue Revs who suffered a rare loss for them this season. Blue Revs winger Malo Tuitama remains the joint-highest try-scorer in the division with 10 tries but he has not crossed the try-line the past two matches.

Robbie Deans’ Saitama Panasonic Wild Knights take on Dave Rennie’s Kobelco Kobe Steelers on Sunday, and last season, the Wild Knights came from behind to win 28-18 which ended Kobe’s four-match unbeaten run. Kobe smashed Toyota Verblitz 63-21 last weekend to move up to fifth on the table but it’s the hosts who perch on top of Division 1 and 15 points ahead of the visitors and are undefeated this season.

Tokyo Suntory Sungoliath have now sustained just one loss from the last seven fixtures and the side coached by Kosei Ono could enter the playoff spots in the top six if they beat Yokohama Canon Eagles on Sunday – they have seen the return of Sam Cane but Kolbe remains absent (and his personal online posts suggest that he is in South Africa next week suggesting he is out with an injury). The Eagles have lost their last three games but do see the return of Jesse Kriel, who returns for the first time in more than 3 weeks.

Brief highlights of all JRLO matches will be available here.

Division 2 JRLO 2024-2025 – Round 7 Fixtures

Saturday 1 March 2025 – All times shown are Japan local time.

Toyota Industries Shuttles Aichi v Hino Red Dolphins; at Aichi, 12pm
NEC Green Rockets Tokatsu v Kyushu Electric Power Kyuden Voltex; at Chiba, 2.30pm
Hanazono Kintetsu Liners v Shimizu Koto Blue Sharks; at Osaka, 2.30pm

Second-placed Toyota Industries Shuttles Aichi host second-bottom places Hino Red Dolphins on Saturday and the Shuttles at home can return to the top if they beat an opponent they last faced three years ago, which they won 37-31.

4th placed NEC Green Rockets host the Kyushu Electric Power Kyuden Voltex side that lost last week and dropped two places – and now sit one place below the hosts at midpoint in the division.

Third-placed Kintetsu will need to keep their momentum going after a poor start – only two spots are available in this season’s promotion/relegation series and they will need to beat Shimizu Koto Blue Sharks who are third from bottom. Quade Cooper will play off the bench for Hanazono while Lima Sopoaga will be looking to control the game for the visitors.

Saturday 8 March 2025 – All times shown are Japan local time

Nippon Steel Kamaishi Seawaves v Red Hurricanes Osaka; at Iwate, 1pm (Iwate Tsunami Memorial Match)

The round is split across two weekends, as Red Hurricanes visit Nippon Steel Kamaishi Seawaves on an emotional day in Iwate as the hosts remember the victims of the 2011 tsunami. The event is thought to have cost an estimated 20,000 lives. The match itself based on current standings sees the visitors Red Hurricanes Osaka sit on top of the division, while Nippon Steel Kamaishi Seawaves are the bottom-placed side.

Division 2 JRLO 2024-2025 – Round 7 Fixtures

Division 3 JRLO 2024-2025 – Round 8 Fixtures

Saturday 1 March 2025 – All times shown are Japan local time.

Yakult Levins Toda v Kurita Water Gush Akishima; at Tokyo, 12pm
Mazda SkyActivs Hiroshima v Sayama Secom Rugguts; at Hiroshima, 2.30pm

4th-placed Kurita Water Gush Akishima head away to play 5th on the log Yakult Levins Toda and it is the hosts who won the game last season 29-16 in the second round.

Saturday ends with a top-of-the-table clash between Mazda SkyActivs Hiroshima and Sayama Secom Rugguts in Division Three. The hosts, the SkyActivs, have lost just once this season.

Sunday 2 March 2025 – All times shown are Japan local time

Chugoku Electric Power Red Regulions v LeRIRO Fukuoka; at Hiroshima, 12pm

Third-placed Chugoku Electric Power Red Regulions have won two on the bounce and will hope to close the gap in second if they can beat a winless Le RIRO Fukuoka’s side at home.

Division 3 JRLO 2024-2025 – Round 8 Fixtures

How To Watch JRLO 2024-2025

This is what has been confirmed so far for streaming services of the JRLO 2024-2025 season:

Japanese-based broadcasters are listed as showing select matches.
One match per round will be shown on RugbyPass (in select regions).
Matches can be seen in Taiwan via ELTA TV with one match per round.
In sub-Saharan Africa, ESPN Africa will show two games a week, both live and on-demand.

The full fixture list for this JRLO season can be seen here.