TOKYO - Kobe Steelers clinched the Japan Rugby League One championship with a 22-13 win against Spears Tokyo Bay on Sunday.
The closely fought battle provided plenty of action but only one try apiece in front of 50,451 at Tokyo's MUFG Stadium, where Frans Ludeke's Spears finished runners-up for the second year in a row.
The match was Kobe head coach Dave Rennie's last before departing to take over the All Blacks with less than a year and a half until the 2027 Rugby World Cup kicks off.
The Spears were missing star Springbok hooker Malcolm Marx due to a bicep injury and South African-born Brave Blossoms forward Tyler Paul with a foot issue, both sustained in last week's semifinal win against Saitama Wild Knights.
The two teams went into the break deadlocked 13-13, with prop Keijiro Tamefusa dotting down in the first half for the Spears and winger Inoke Burua answering for Kobe.
Making his last appearance for the Spears, former Wallabies flyhalf Bernard Foley slotted a pair of penalties either side of Kobe No. 10 Lee Seung Sin's successful shot for a 6-3 lead before Spears winger Koga Nezuka's chip and chase set the stage for Tamefusa to dive over in the 25th minute.
Kobe hit back just four minutes later through Fijian-born flyer Burua, whose try in the corner was confirmed by the television match official.
Another Lee penalty saw the teams head to the dressing room neck and neck at halftime. The Brave Blossoms playmaker hit three more penalties after the break to go a perfect six-from-six from the kicking tee.
The Wild Knights came back to beat Tokyo Sungoliath 26-19 in Saturday's third-place playoff at Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Ground.
