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 ...
Rugby Dec 15, 2018
The Kobe Kobelco Steelers claimed their second Japan Rugby Top League title Saturday with a 55-5 drubbing of Suntory Sungoliath at Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Ground. The game also doubled as the All-Japan Championship final and saw Kobe — whose only previous league win came ...
Rugby Dec 8, 2018
Matt Giteau's Suntory Sungoliath and Dan Carter's Kobe Kobelco Steelers will play for the Japan Rugby Top League crown after winning their respective semifinals Saturday in Tokyo and Osaka. Giteau kicked a 42-meter penalty in the fifth minute of sudden-death extra time — just the ...
Rugby Dec 1, 2018
Suntory Sungoliath will play Yamaha Jubilo for a spot in the Japan Rugby Top League final after both sides won hard-fought quarterfinals on Saturday. Suntory held on by the skin of its teeth to beat the Kubota Spears 28-26 at Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Ground, ...
Rugby Oct 13, 2018
Seven squads secure playoff berths on pivotal day in Top League
Seven teams confirmed their places in the playoffs to determine the Japan Rugby Top League champion Saturday as the pool stage reached its penultimate round. Yamaha Jubilo, the Panasonic Wild Knights, Ricoh Black Rams and Kubota Spears will all progress from the White Conference, while ...