2024-2025 JRLO Round 16 Preview

Following the weekend’s bye round in Division 1 in the JRLO last weekend, the top division in the JRLO is back in action this weekend from 25-27 April 2025 and we bring you our 2024-2025 JRLO Round 16 Preview, which means there are only three rounds left before the playoffs, while there are two Division 3 games this weekend.

Results Round 15

Brief highlights of all JRLO matches will be available here.

Division 1

• Mie Honda Heat 33-53 Saitama Panasonic Wild Knights; at Tokyo
• Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Sagamihara Dynaboars 38-28 Yokohama Canon Eagles; at Nagasaki
• Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo 26-56 Shizuoka Blue Revs; at Tokyo
• Urayasu D-Rocks 20-33 Kobelco Kobe Steelers; at Chiba
• Kubota Spears Funabashi Tokyo-Bay 30-10 Tokyo Suntory Sungoliath; at Osaka
• Ricoh Black Rams Tokyo 37-7 Toyota Verblitz; at Chiba

Division 2 (April 18-20)

• Hanazono Kintetsu Liners 54-21 Kyushu Electric Power Kyuden Voltex; at Osaka
• NEC Green Rockets 15-8 Toyota Industries Shuttles Aichi; at Chiba
• Shimizu Corporation Koto Blue Sharks 34-24 Kamaishi Seawaves; at Iwate
• Hino Red Dolphins 20-12 Red Hurricanes Osaka; at Gunma

Division 3 (April 19-20)

•  Le RIRO Fukuoka 37-26 Kurita Water Gush Akishima; at Kanagawa
• Sayama Secom Rugguts 47-6 Chugoku Electric Power Red Regulions; at Hiroshima
• Mazda SkyActivs Hiroshima 48-3 Yakult Levins Toda; at Yamaguchi

• Urayasu D-Rocks v Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo; at Tokyo, 7.05pm

Sunday 27 April

• Sunday April 27 Shizuoka Blue Revs v Yokohama Canon Eagles; at Shizuoka, 2pm
• Toyota Verblitz v Tokyo Suntory Sungoliath; at Osaka, 2.30pm

Division 2 – Bye Round

There is a bye in Division 2 this weekend in the JRLO, but the results last weekend have nearly confirmed the Replacement Battle with NEC Green Rockets Tokatsu and Toyota Industries Shuttles Aichi top of the table. The margin between the top two Division 2 sides is three points, so Kintetsu would need to win both remaining games against those two to shake up the Division.

Hanazono Kintetsu Liners might miss out after Wayne Pivac’s NEC Green Rockets Tokatsu won 15-8 against the leaders, Toyota Industries Shuttles Aichi.

The Liners did beat Kyushu Electric Power Kyuden Voltex 54-21 last time out, but the result only saw Quade Cooper and Will Genia’s side make up just one point on the table. They will need to beat the Green Rockets in two weeks to stand any chance before facing the Toyota Industries Shuttles Aichi in their final game.

If the NEC Green Rockets beat Kintetsu, they and the Shuttles will be ensured Replacement Battle matches with Division One’s bottom two sides.

On the other end of the Division 2 table, last weekend’s results confirmed Kamaishi Seawaves’ place in The Replacement Battle for Divisions Two and Three – this is the third straight year for them. They lost 34-24 at home to Shimizu Corporation Koto Blue Sharks (All Black flyhalf Lima Sopoaga scoring a brace of tries).

The Blue Sharks are still in the mix to play in The Replacement Battle themselves, and sit below Hino Red Dolphins on the log after the Red Dolphins secured back-to-back wins for the first time this season after beating Red Hurricanes Osaka. Former All Black & Blues star Augustine Pulu plays at centre for the Hino Red Dolphins.

It is close, though with only seven points separating the Red Hurricanes (4th) from the Voltex (7th) in the 8 team Division.

The Red Hurricanes Osaka outfit were once league leaders after they won five in their first six fixtures, but since then have suffered six consecutive defeats, seeing them slide down the table. They also still need to face NEC Green Rockets (currently second) on the final weekend.

Division 3 JRLO 2024-2025 – Round 14 Fixtures

Sunday April  27 2025 – All times shown are Japan local time.

• Chugoku Electric Power Red Regulions v Kurita Water Gush Akishima; at Hiroshima, 1pm
• Sayama Secom Rugguts v Yakult Levins Toda; at Kanagawa, 1pm

Division Three is tightly contested as Mazda SkyActivs Hiroshima (1st on 51 points) and Sayama Secom Rugguts (2nd on 50 points) are both vying for the title, and the champions may not be known until full-time in the final match of the regular season.

Mazda SkyActivs Hiroshimaeasily beat Yakult Levins Toda 48-3 last time out, while the Sayama Secom Rugguts defeated Chugoku Electric Power Red Regulions 47-6. Sayama Secom Rugguts can take the top spot if they beat Yakult Levins Toda this weekend, but will have an extra game played compared to Mazda SkyActivs Hiroshima. Chase Tiatia has scored 14 tries this season for Sayama Secom Rugguts.

Kurita Water Gush Akishima will not be present in a third consecutive Replacement Battle (currently out of sight in 3rd on the log), following last weekend’s 37-26 defeat by Le RIRO Fukuoka, which means that Wycliff Palu’s side can no longer surpass either of the sides above them.

They do face the Sayama Secom Rugguts in the final round of Division 3 games, which may still determine the title, but this weekend head to Chugoku Electric Power Red Regulions, who are one log place below them on Sunday.

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). This weekend’s match is Shizuoka Blue Revs vs Yokohama Canon Eagles on Sunday, 27th April 2025.
• 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.
• Premier Sports TV (UK and Ireland) – two matches per round.

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

Japan Rugby League One News

• You can see our recent Round Previews and Review on All Things Rugby:
• Round 15 Preview and Review
• Round 14 Preview and Review.
• 2024-2025 JRLO Round 12 Preview.