Round 10 Preview vs Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Sagamihara Dynaboars

Toyota Verblitz have announced the 23-man squad for their League One Round 10 match against Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Sagamihara Dynaboars, to be played in Kyoto on the 1st of March. They will face the match with the same lineup as in the February 14 game against Saitama Wild Knights and the 21st of February game against Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo.

Verblitz will go into their third consecutive match with the same members. This reflects the team riding an upward wave of momentum and, notably, having avoided injuries.

A common factor in both the hard-fought match against Saitama Wild Knights and the long-awaited second win of the season against Toshiba is a shift toward a simpler style of play that maximizes their strengths. Forwards aggressively driving forward at the breakdown, and backs excelling in kick control—these elements meshed well in both games.

In the Toshiba game, the team’s sixth try, scored in the 78th minute of the second half, came when winger Taichi Takahashi caught a kick pass from fly-half Shinya Komura and dove over the line. Even during the stretch without wins, Takahashi had consistently delivered high-standard performances, and it was only fitting that he capped the victory that day.

“During the phase, Shinya and I were saying, ‘It might be on.’ That was the easiest gift to try—you just catch it and put it down.”

The veteran, who turns 30 this year, feels that in these past two games the team has become better at expressing its strengths.

“We’ve been able to execute the kicking game better than before. That allows the forwards to conserve energy and then fully use their power in attacking opportunities inside the opponent’s territory, which has increased our scoring chances.”

In addition to the strong kickers—fly-halves Rikiya Matsuda and Shinya Komura, and fullback Tiaan Falcon—scrum-half Aaron Smith’s kicking was also effective in the second half against Toshiba. On the receiving end, wingers Mark Tele’a and Takahashi provide great stability under the high ball. In the Wild Knights game, Takahashi and Ryuji Noguchi—two of Japan’s finest kick-catch specialists—went head-to-head in an enthralling contest.

“I believe kicks only matter if you catch them. At that time, I didn’t catch it. I consider that a mistake.”

Next up are Dynaboars, a team Verblitz lost to twice last season. It also comes immediately after their celebratory win.

“The last game is already reset. In League One, every match is important, every match is an exciting challenge. The key is how much energy we bring and whether we can play with discipline.”

Scrum-half Aaron Smith, who will make his fifth consecutive start, also remains focused. During his time with the Highlanders, he experienced climbing all the way to a championship after starting a season with more losses than wins.

“Don’t look too far ahead. Focus on the match in front of you.”

It may sound obvious, but it is the royal road to success.

“We just won for the first time in a while. We can’t get complacent—what comes next is more important. We want to approach it with composure and discipline,” said Takahashi.

Whether the momentum gained in these past two matches is the real thing will be tested on Sunday. It will be a crucial 80 minutes to prove it.