Suntory Sungoliath and Yamaha Jubilo remain on course for a Christmas Eve showdown as they both won Saturday to remain unbeaten in the Top League.
Suntory overcame a poor start to top Coca-Cola Red Sparks 48-12 at Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Ground, while Yamaha downed NEC Green Rockets 47-5 at Yamaha Stadium in Iwata, Shizuoka Prefecture, with hooker Takeshi Hino continuing his fine run of form with another brace of tries to take him to 10 for the season.
With four games remaining, Yamaha leads the standings on 53 points, with Suntory on 52. With the third-place Panasonic Wild Knights a further nine points back, the Dec. 24 clash between Yamaha and Suntory is likely to determine the title.
Both sides still have to play the Kobe Kobelco Steelers, who go into Sunday's game with the Toshiba Brave Lupus in fourth place (38 points).
"I know the media are talking it up but we've got a big game against Toyota Verblitz next week," Suntory flyhalf Kosei Ono said of the Dec. 24 showdown. "We first need to earn the right to face Yamaha."
Panasonic kept its slim hopes alive by hammering the Honda Heat 69-14 on Saturday in a game that saw Australia back-row forward David Pocock make his Top League debut and Kenki Fukuoka equal a league record.
Despite arriving in Japan this week, Pocock — who played for the Wallabies last weekend against England in London — played 56 minutes at Hanazono Stadium in Osaka.
But his debut was overshadowed by Fukuoka, who scored six tries, equaling the league record held by former NEC wing Nemani Nadolo, who achieved the feat against the same opposition on Dec. 18, 2011.
Elsewhere, a last-minute try by Harumichi Tatekawa helped the Kubota Spears to a 21-18 win over the Ricoh Black Rams, while the Canon Eagles edged the Kintetsu Liners 17-10.
At Chichibunomiya, two tries from Rio Olympian Kameli Soejima saw Coca-Cola take an early 12-0 lead.
But Suntory hit back as its forwards started to get the upper hand.
Yusuke Aoki was driven over from a line out five meters out before a quick ruck ball and a clever kick from Yutaka Nagare saw Daishi Murata go over to level things at 12-12 with 27 minutes on the clock.
Ono, the man of the match, then scampered over following a powerful scrum in the shadow of the posts, and a penalty try following another good scrum saw Suntory go into the break leading 26-12.
"We were always confident we could score enough points. It was just a question of fixing what went wrong," Ono said of his side's slow start.
With Suntory hitting its stride, the second half wasn't nearly as close.
"The pressure we put them under in the last 20 minutes of the first half led to the second half. And we even left a few tries out there," said Ono.
Shota Emi bagged a brace and Takaaki Nakazuru and Nigel Ah Wong both crossed the chalk as Suntory ensured 2011 Rugby World Cup winner Stephen Donald finished on the victorious side in his league debut.
"We need to look at the first 25 minutes and focus on that as that's the way we want to play," said Red Sparks lock Sam Wykes. "In the second half we just defended the whole time as we couldn't stop their momentum."
