Top seeds Saitama Wild Knights are not looking beyond their upcoming playoff semifinal against Yokohama Eagles as they seek to go back-to-back as Japan Rugby League One champions, captain Atsushi Sakate said Monday.
The Robbie Deans-coached Wild Knights wrapped up the regular season with a 15-1 record, with their only loss coming in a penultimate-round upset against a Shizuoka BlueRevs side that finished outside the top-four cutoff for the championship playoffs.
Saitama will open the playoffs against fourth-seeded Yokohama, featuring 2019 World Cup-winning South African scrumhalf Faf de Klerk, on May 13 at Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Ground.
"It's vital to take things one game at a time," Japan captain and hooker Sakate said at a press conference in Tokyo attended by all four playoff-bound sides. "Firstly, I want to give everything we have in the semifinal."
The Eagles will be making their first playoff appearance, including their time in League One's predecessor Top League competition.
The second semifinal on May 14 will pit second-place Spears Funabashi Tokyo Bay against last year's runner-up Tokyo Sungoliath, which finished the regular season third. The teams met twice during the season, with Spears coming out on top both times.
Spears, whose Wallaby playmaker Bernard Foley was this season's top points scorer, finished just one point behind Wild Knights in the standings after winning 14 with one draw and one loss.
"We understand their characteristics," Spears captain and center Harumichi Tatekawa said. "I want to prepare properly."
Sungoliath, featuring this season's top try scorer Seiya Ozaki, will look to make their second straight trip to the championship final, to be held at Tokyo's National Stadium on May 20.
"We want to make sure we don't miss anything in our preparations," scrumhalf and co-captain Naoto Saito said.