# 2022–23 Japan Rugby League One – Division 1

The 2022–23 Japan Rugby League One – Division 1 season was the twentieth top flight league season played from December 2022 through to May 2023, in the newly rebranded Japan Rugby League One. The competition consisted of twelve teams, including two promoted teams from Division 2, Sagamihara Dynaboars and Hanazono Liners.

## Format

The format and schedule was announced on 16 September 2022. It consisted of a round-robin fixture, before entering into a knockout style play-off for the final four teams. It featured two conferences (A, B). Teams in each conference played the teams in their respective conference twice (one at home, one away), and six matches against all the teams in the other conference, three being at home and three away. Each team played a total of sixteen seasonal fixtures, plus additional play-off matches, including relegation play-offs.

## Ladder

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | TF | TA | TB | LB | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Saitama Wild Knights | 16 | 15 | 0 | 1 | 539 | 270 | +269 | 69 | 32 | 6 | 0 | 66 | Qualification for Play-off Semi-finals |
| 2 | Spears Tokyo Bay (C) | 16 | 14 | 1 | 1 | 636 | 340 | +296 | 84 | 47 | 7 | 0 | 65 | Qualification for Play-off Semi-finals |
| 3 | Tokyo Sungoliath | 16 | 12 | 0 | 4 | 529 | 325 | +204 | 72 | 39 | 5 | 2 | 55 | Qualification for Play-off Semi-finals |
| 4 | Yokohama Eagles | 16 | 10 | 2 | 4 | 588 | 321 | +267 | 84 | 43 | 7 | 3 | 54 | Qualification for Play-off Semi-finals |
| 5 | Brave Lupus Tokyo | 16 | 10 | 0 | 6 | 558 | 394 | +164 | 75 | 52 | 6 | 2 | 48 | |
| 6 | Toyota Verblitz | 16 | 8 | 0 | 8 | 468 | 449 | +19 | 62 | 59 | 2 | 3 | 37 | |
| 7 | Black Rams Tokyo | 16 | 6 | 0 | 10 | 414 | 384 | +30 | 56 | 43 | 2 | 4 | 30 | |
| 8 | Shizuoka Blue Revs | 16 | 5 | 2 | 9 | 404 | 403 | +1 | 55 | 48 | 3 | 3 | 30 | |
| 9 | Kobe Steelers | 16 | 5 | 0 | 11 | 470 | 569 | −99 | 66 | 74 | 3 | 2 | 25 | |
| 10 | Sagamihara DynaBoars (O) | 16 | 4 | 1 | 11 | 360 | 609 | −249 | 45 | 80 | 1 | 1 | 20 | Qualification for relegation play-offs |
| 11 | Green Rockets Tokatsu (R) | 16 | 3 | 0 | 13 | 295 | 640 | −345 | 45 | 94 | 1 | 1 | 14 | Qualification for relegation play-offs |
| 12 | Hanazono Liners (O) | 16 | 1 | 0 | 15 | 297 | 854 | −557 | 41 | 129 | 0 | 1 | 5 | Qualification for relegation play-offs |

## Fixtures

Each team were to play five teams twice and six teams once for a total of sixteen home and away matches.
| Home \ Away | BRT | GRT | HKL | KKS | KSP | MSD | SWK | SBR | SUN | TBL | TV | YCE |
| Black Rams Tokyo | — | | 64–10 | 41–26 | | 8–34 | 17–38 | 15–19 | 7–18 | 10–12 | 34–36 | |
| Green Rockets Tokatsu | 7–54 | — | 36–34 | 33–43 | 17–59 | | 0–45 | | 7–32 | 20–49 | | 17–45 |
| Hanazono Liners | | 26–43 | — | 34–33 | 12–77 | 29–38 | | 14–34 | 10–51 | | 24–62 | 7–74 |
| Kobe Steelers | | 59–26 | 58–36 | — | 14–23 | | 10–48 | 32–29 | 19–39 | | 21–38 | 26–52 |
| Spears Tokyo Bay | 40–38 | 40–7 | 55–17 | 25–21 | — | 60–22 | | | 39–24 | 46–27 | | 15–5 |
| Sagamihara DynaBoars | 21–31 | 26–33 | | 30–49 | | — | 29–61 | 27–27 | | 23–19 | 27–25 | 21–41 |
| Saitama Wild Knights | 25–12 | | 41–6 | | 30–15 | 40–5 | — | 25–44 | | 22–19 | 34–19 | 21–19 |
| Shizuoka Blue Revs | 22–34 | 21–0 | | | 27–40 | 30–20 | 14–15 | — | 17–25 | 29–37 | 27–37 | |
| Tokyo Sungoliath | | 50–19 | 64–12 | 25–17 | 18–31 | 51–13 | 29–41 | | — | | 20–27 | 32–23 |
| Brave Lupus Tokyo | 17–7 | | 60–14 | 51–12 | | 52–19 | 22–34 | 29–16 | 34–40 | — | 63–25 | |
| Toyota Verblitz | 25–29 | 21–18 | | | 34–44 | 53–5 | 10–19 | 31–26 | | 18–19 | — | 7–39 |
| Yokohama Eagles | 34–13 | 36–12 | 64–12 | 39–30 | 27–27 | | | 22–22 | 9–11 | 59–48 | | — |

## Promotion/Relegation play-offs

The relegation play-offs took place between 5 May and 14 May 2023.

### Overview

| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| (D1) Sagamihara DynaBoars | 102 - 35 | Shuttles Aichi (D2) | 59 - 21 | 43 - 14 |
| (D1) Green Rockets Tokatsu | 41 - 47 | Mie Heat (D2) | 29 - 34 | 12 - 13 |
| (D1) Hanazono Liners | 92 - 36 | Urayasu D-Rocks (D2) | 36 - 14 | 56 - 22 |

### Matches

All times Japan Standard Time (JST) (UTC+9)
Sagamihara DynaBoars v Shuttles Aichi
* 6 May 2023 14:30 JST (UTC+9)
| Shuttles Aichi | 21-59 | Sagamihara DynaBoars |
| Try: Go Nakano 27' c Joe Kamana 51' c Talifolofola Tangipa 71' c Con: Tim Swiel (3/3) 28' 52' 72' | Report | Try: Honeti Taumohaapai (2) 5' m 10' c Masataka Tsuruya 13' c Kota Iwamura (2) 19' c 35' c Tomoaki Ishii 29' c Walt Steenkamp 47' c Satoshi Koizumi 66' m Ryoto Shibata 80' c Con: Matt To'omua (7/9) 12' 15' 20' 31' 48' 77' 80+2' |
* Paloma Mizuho Stadium Attendance: 2,266
* 14 May 2023 14:30 JST (UTC+9)
| Sagamihara DynaBoars | 43-14 | Shuttles Aichi |
| Try: Masataka Tsuruya 3' c Yusuke Sakamoto (2) 13' m 20' c Nozomi Nara 36' m Curtis Rona 56' c Yoshimitsu Yasue 76' m Matt To'omua 80+1' c Con: Matt To'omua (3/6) 4' 22' 57' Heiden Bedwell-Curtis (1/1) 80+2' | Report | Try: Go Nakano 27' c James Mollentze 52' c Con: Josh Matavesi (1/1) 27' James Mollentze (1/1) 53' |
* TBC Attendance: 1,406
Green Rockets Tokatsu v Mie Heat
* 5 May 2023 12:00 JST (UTC+9)
| Mie Heat | 34-29 | Green Rockets Tokatsu |
| Try: Yoshikazu Fujita 2' c Ryo Furuta 15' c Matthys Basson 39' c Viliami Afu Kaipouli 71' c Con: Kaleb Trask (4/4) 3' 16' 40' 72' Pen: Kaleb Trask (2/2) 27' 29' | Report | Try: Teruya Goto (2) 31' m 61' m Nick Phipps 46' c Lomano Lemeki 54' c Aseri Masivou 80' m Con: Taisetsu Kanai (2/4) 47' 55' Lomano Lemeki (0/1) |
* Mie Suzuka Sports Garden Attendance: 3,128
* 13 May 2022 12:00 JST (UTC+9)
| Green Rockets Tokatsu | 12-13 | Mie Heat |
| Try: Kavaia Tagivetaua 47' m Lomano Lemeki 70' c Con: Taisetsu Kanai (0/1) Lomano Lemeki (1/1) 71' | Report | Try: Dawid Kellerman 28' c Con: Kaleb Trask (1/1) 29' Pen: Kaleb Trask (2/2) 13' 63' |
* Kashiwanoha Stadium Attendance: 2,018
Hanazono Liners v Urayasu D-Rocks
* 7 May 2023 12:00 JST (UTC+9)
| Urayasu D-Rocks | 14-36 | Hanazono Liners |
| Try: Ren Iinuma 5'c Israel Folau 67' c Con: Otere Black (1/1) 6' Greig Laidlaw (1/1) 68' | Report | Try: Semisi Masirewa 11' Kenta Tanaka 14' c Takahiro Hayashi 39' c Shohei Nonaka 45' c Jackson Garden-Bachop 75' c Con: Semisi Masirewa (2/3) 15' 40' Jackson Garden-Bachop (2/2) 46' 76' Pen: Jackson Garden-Bachop (1/1) 64' |
* Yurtec Stadium Sendai Attendance: 2,360
* 13 May 2022 12:00 JST (UTC+9)
| Hanazono Liners | 56-21 | Urayasu D-Rocks |
| Try: Sanaila Waqa 5' c Siosaia Fifita (3) 10' m 63' m 68' m Will Genia 25' m Semisi Masirewa 34' c Quade Cooper 61' c Kensho Kawamura 72' c Tsuyoshi Murata 74' m Con: Semisi Masirewa (2/5) 6' 35' Will Genia (1/1) 62' Jackson Garden-Bachop (1/2) 73' Waimana Riedlinger-Kapa (0/1) Pen: Semisi Masirewa (1/1) 23' | Report | Try: Takuhei Yasuda 31' c Kai Ishii 40+2' c Penalty Try 44' Con: Hayden Cripps (2/2) 32' 40+3' |
* Hanazono Rugby Stadium Attendance: 5,459

## Season play-offs

Bracket
| Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Final | Final |
| 13 May – Aoyama (Tokyo) | 13 May – Aoyama (Tokyo) |
| Saitama Wild Knights | 51 |
| Saitama Wild Knights | 51 | 20 May – Shinjuku (Tokyo) | 20 May – Shinjuku (Tokyo) |
| Yokohama Eagles | 20 | 20 May – Shinjuku (Tokyo) | 20 May – Shinjuku (Tokyo) |
| Yokohama Eagles | 20 | Saitama Wild Knights | 15 |
| 14 May – Aoyama (Tokyo) | 14 May – Aoyama (Tokyo) | | Saitama Wild Knights | 15 |
| 14 May – Aoyama (Tokyo) | 14 May – Aoyama (Tokyo) | Spears Tokyo Bay | 17 |
| Spears Tokyo Bay | 24 | Spears Tokyo Bay | 17 |
| Tokyo Sungoliath | 18 | | |
| Tokyo Sungoliath | 18 | Third place | Third place |
| | | 19 May – Aoyama (Tokyo) | 19 May – Aoyama (Tokyo) |
| | | Yokohama Eagles | 26 |
| | | Tokyo Sungoliath | 20 |

### Semi-finals

* 13 May 2023 14:35 JST (UTC+9)
| Saitama Wild Knights | 51-20 | Yokohama Eagles |
| Try: Marika Koroibete (3) 42' c 53' c 71' m Dylan Riley 57' c Shota Horie 76' c Con: Rikiya Matsuda (3/3) 43' 54' 58' Takuya Yamasawa (1/2) 78' Pen: Rikiya Matsuda (5/5) 18' 23' 29' 40+2' 43' Drop: Rikiya Matsuda 35' | Report | Try: Sione Halasili 14' c Inoke Burua 20' c Con: Yu Tamura (2/2) 15' 22' Pen: Junpei Ogura (1/1) 51' Drop: Yu Tamura 38' |
* Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium Attendance: 16,237
* 14 May 2022 14:00 JST (UTC+9)
| Spears Tokyo Bay | 24-18 | Tokyo Sungoliath |
| Try: Yota Kamimori 24' c Malcolm Marx 56' c Bernard Foley 77' c Con: Bernard Foley (3/3) 25' 57' 78' Pen: Bernard Foley (1/3) 47' | Report | Try: Tevita Li 30' c Aaron Cruden 80' m Con: Aaron Cruden (1/2) 31' Pen: Aaron Cruden (2/4) 16' 54' |
* Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium Attendance: 13,065

### 3rd Place Playoff

* 19 May 2023 19:00 JST (UTC+9)
| Yokohama Eagles | 26-20 | Tokyo Sungoliath |
| Try: Chihito Matsui (2) 15' c 66' c Faf de Klerk 46' m Sione Halasili 57' c Con: Yu Tamura (1/2) 17' Junpei Ogura (2/2) 58' 68' Pen: SP Marais (1/1) 79' | Report | Try: Taiga Ozaki 4' m Naoki Ozawa 30' c Shunta Nakamura 61' m Con: Aaron Cruden (1/3) 31' Pen: Aaron Cruden (1/1) 20' |
* Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium Attendance: 8,270

### Final

* 20 May 2023 14:35 JST (UTC+9)
| Saitama Wild Knights | 15 - 17 | Spears Tokyo Bay |
| Try: Shota Horie 58' c Tomoki Osada 65' m Con: Takuya Yamasawa (1/2) 59' Pen: Rikiya Matsuda (1/2) 34' | Report | Try: Haruto Kida 69' m Con: Bernard Foley (0/1) Pen: Harumichi Tatekawa (0/1) Bernard Foley (3/4) 20' 26' 38' |
* Japan National Stadium Attendance: 41,794
| FB | 15 | Ryuji Noguchi |
| RW | 14 | Tomoki Osada |
| OC | 13 | Dylan Riley |
| IC | 12 | Damian de Allende |
| LW | 11 | Marika Koroibete |
| FH | 10 | Rikiya Matsuda |
| SH | 9 | Keisuke Uchida |
| N8 | 8 | Jack Cornelsen |
| OF | 7 | Lachlan Boshier |
| BF | 6 | Shota Fukui |
| RL | 5 | Lood de Jager |
| LL | 4 | Mark Abbott |
| TP | 3 | Asaeli Ai Valu |
| HK | 2 | Atsushi Sakate (c) |
| LP | 1 | Keita Inagaki |
| Substitutions: ||
| HK | 16 | Shota Horie |
| PR | 17 | Craig Millar |
| PR | 18 | Shohei Hirano |
| LK | 19 | Liam Mitchell |
| FL | 20 | Itsuki Onishi |
| SH | 21 | Taiki Koyama |
| FH | 22 | Takuya Yamasawa |
| CE | 23 | Koki Takeyama |
| Coach: ||
| Robbie Deans ||
| FB | 15 | Gerhard van den Heever |
| RW | 14 | Koga Nezuka |
| OC | 13 | Ryan Crotty |
| IC | 12 | Harumichi Tatekawa (c) |
| LW | 11 | Haruto Kida |
| FH | 10 | Bernard Foley |
| SH | 9 | Kazuhiro Taniguchi |
| N8 | 8 | Faulua Makisi |
| OF | 7 | Takeo Suenaga |
| BF | 6 | Finau Tupa |
| RL | 5 | Ruan Botha |
| LL | 4 | Yuki Aoki |
| TP | 3 | Kengo Kitagawa |
| HK | 2 | Malcolm Marx |
| LP | 1 | Yota Kamimori |
| Substitutions: ||
| HK | 16 | Schalk Erasmus |
| PR | 17 | Kazuki Kato |
| PR | 18 | Opeti Helu |
| LK | 19 | Uwe Helu |
| FL | 20 | Masaya Tamaki |
| SH | 21 | Shinobu Fujiwara |
| FH | 22 | Sione Teaupa |
| CE | 23 | Halatoa Vailea |
| Coach: ||
| Frans Ludeke ||