Rugby May 23, 2021
Kenki Fukuoka retires a champion as Panasonic wins last Top League
Sunday's victory over Sungoliath marked the finale of the former Brave Blossom's playing career as well as the end of All Blacks star Beau Barrett's time in Japan.
Rugby May 16, 2021
The All Blacks star kicked 21 points as the Sungoliath set up a championship showdown with Panasonic.
Rugby Apr 28, 2021
RFU 'comfortable' with Eddie Jones advising Beau Barrett at Suntory
The Rugby Football Union said on Tuesday it was "comfortable" with England head coach Eddie Jones continuing to act as a consultant to Beauden Barrett's Suntory Sungoliath. New Zealand fly-half Barrett is on a sabbatical to play with the Japanese club but the two-time world ...
Rugby Mar 7, 2021
Ayumu Goromaru scores 15 in return; Suntory remains on top of league
New Zealand playmaker Beauden Barrett scored a try and banged over 10 conversions in the Japan Rugby Top League on Saturday, helping lift Suntory Sungoliath to a 75-10 win over Munakata Sanix Blues. The bonus point win at JIT Recycling Stadium in Kofu, Yamanashi Prefecture, ...
Rugby Jan 14, 2021
On Tuesday, the JFRU said 24 players and staff at Canon Eagles, 13 from Toyota Verblitz, and seven from Suntory Sungoliath tested positive in preseason screening.
Rugby Jan 12, 2021
Top League cancels two games due to COVID-19 cases among three teams
The JRFU said a total of 44 players and staff tested positive for the virus, including 24 from Canon Eagles, 13 from Toyota Verblitz, and seven from Suntory Sungoliath.
Rugby Jan 6, 2021
Beauden Barrett looking forward to Sungoliath challenge
by Kaz Nagatsuka
The All Blacks star drew unprecedented media attention to his Wednesday unveiling ahead of the 2021 Top League season's Jan. 16 kickoff.
Rugby Apr 29, 2020
Former Suntory boss Keisuke Sawaki to coach Canon Eagles: sources
Canon Eagles have reached a basic agreement with former Suntory Sungoliath coach Keisuke Sawaki, sources close to the team revealed Wednesday. Sawaki, 45, replaces former Springboks coach Allister Coetzee, who stepped down at the end of the coronavirus-shortened season. A former Japan international who was part ...
Rugby Feb 1, 2020
A hat trick of tries from man-of-the-match Tevita Li lifted Suntory Sungoliath to a 40-14 bonus-point victory over the winless NEC Green Rockets on Saturday. The 24-year-old wing from New Zealand opened the scoring in each half, crossing the chalk in the fifth minute and ...
Rugby Jan 26, 2020
Dan Carter kicked 15 points as Kobe Kobelco Steelers, the Japan Top League defending champions, won a scintillating rematch with last season's runners-up Suntory Sungoliath 35-29 on Sunday. Tries by Ryohei Yamanaka, Tom Franklin, Fraser Anderson and Richard Buckman allowed the champions to overcome an ...
Rugby Jan 12, 2020
Top League kicks off in front of big crowds
by Rich Freeman
The 2019-2020 Japan Rugby Top League season kicked off Sunday with a plethora of world superstars and Rugby World Cup winners playing in front of big crowds across the nation. The season was pushed back five months to accommodate last year's World Cup and will ...
Rugby Oct 29, 2019
Suntory Sungoliath players helping England train before Rugby World Cup final
by Rich Freeman
If England beats South Africa in the Rugby World Cup final on Saturday it would be appropriate if it celebrates not with a few Heinekens, the tournament's official beer, but with some Suntory brews. For the Japanese brewer's rugby team, Suntory Sungoliath, has been giving ...