There would have been a strange feeling at the Kumagaya training base of the Saitama Panasonic Wild Knights on Monday as players and coaching staff assembled to do their post-game review.
For the first time in 48 games, they were reviewing a loss.
It would’ve been a new experience for a lot of the players in their club careers and is one that could yet alter the picture in terms of the fixture list for the Japan Rugby League One playoffs.
Should Saitama beat Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo on Friday night, they cannot be caught on the championship table and will enter the semi-finals, in two weeks, as top seed.
A further stumble and the mathematics begin.
Kubota Spears Funabashi Tokyo Bay would have the chance to top the rankings should they complete a double over Tokyo Suntory Sungoliath.
This would throw the finalists from the last two championships into a sudden-death semi-final.
A Toshiba win would also take the race for the last place in the playoffs to the final game of the regular season, putting additional pressure on a Yokohama Canon Eagles outfit that has lost two of its last four, as it plays a stuttering Kobelco Kobe Steelers.
The scrap for placings in Division One is not just limited to the top end of the standings.
The ‘mini league’ that developed between the sides below the semi-final contenders also reaches its climax when Panasonic’s conquerors, Shizuoka Blue Revs, host Toyota Verblitz, with sixth place up for grabs.
At the bottom, Hanazono Kintetsu Liners have Wallaby star Quade Cooper back as they face NEC Green Rockets Tokatsu in a game that will decide the wooden spoon, as well as who plays who in the Replacement Battle.
Written by Matt McILraith
