The Microsoft Cup will have a new name inscribed on it after the NEC Green Rockets, last-year's winners, were beaten 51-16 by the Kobe Kobelco Steelers at Tokyo's Chichibunomiya on Sunday.

Pierre Hola and Daisuke Ohata both scored a hat trick of tries as last season's Top League champion upset the formbook and gained revenge for the 65-24 drubbing it suffered at the hands of NEC earlier this year.

However, Kobe's impressive performance was overshadowed by a mass brawl at the end of the game. Not for the first time, it seems that justice on a rugby field in Japan is somewhat blind.

Sure Glen Marsh threw a punch or two more in frustration than anything else but his haymakers -- "I didn't even hit anyone" -- were a reaction to being held and shoved off the ball by Keisuke Takeshita, and were at best a yellow-card offence.

On the other hand, both Kobe captain Yuji Matsubara and Ron Cribb (who had had a running battle with Marsh for much of the second half) ran 20 meters to get involved and throw blindside punches at the NEC flanker, while Takeshi Nozawa also tried to dish out his own form of punishment.

And yet at the end of the day, Marsh received a red card, Cribb a yellow that sees the former All Black banned from the semifinal as it was his third of the season, while Matsubara, Takeshita and Nozawa did not even receive a talking to.

It was a decision that had the local journalists and a large number of fans up in arms.

"It was the most xenophobic thing I have ever seen on the rugby field," said American Kyle Podziewski.

Even Kobe head coach Terunori Masuho got in on the act admitting that the referee had favored his team and that inadequate officiating was hindering the further development of the game in Japan.

What made the incident even worse was that it ruined a great day of rugby played before an enthusiastic crowd and a host of dignitaries including the chairman of the Australian Rugby Union, the Australian Ambassador and Wallaby coach Eddie Jones, who was here in his capacity as adviser to Suntory Sungoliath.

Hola and Ohata were the main contributers to the Kobe effort, yet the Tongan winger, who used all of his strength and the balance of a ballet dancer (albeit an 110-kg one) to finish off his second try, paid tribute to his team's defense.

"I thought it would be closer. But our defense from both backs and forwards was much better than it has been all season," said Hola. The boys really think we can go all the way.

In the day's second game at Chichibunomiya, Top League champion Toshiba Brave Lupus overcame a spirited challenge from Suntory before finally coming away with a 33-13 victory.

"It was a continuation of what has been a topsy-turvy season," said Suntory center Alama Ieremia.

"We tried to play the Suntory attacking style of rugby but we committed too many turnovers and Toshiba managed to nullify us at the breakdown."

The win keeps Toshiba's hopes of a treble alive, though it need only to remember the opening day of the season, when it lost its only game to date -- 15-12 to Kobe -- to realize next week's semifinal at Chichibunomiya will be anything but a walk in the park.

Meanwhile at Osaka's Hanazono Stadium, Yamaha Jubilo did what can only be described as a Lazarus-like job.

Seemingly dead and buried against the Kubota Spears, and trailing 33-7 at halftime, Grant Batty's men scored 31 unanswered points in the second half to win 38-33, with Leon MacDonald helping himself to a try, five conversions and a penalty.

Yamaha's reward is a semifinal with Toyota Verblitz at Hanazono after Toyota beat the Sanyo Wild Knights 41-21.

But back in Tokyo an hour and a half after the final whistle, journalists were still quizzing Brave Lupus head coach Masahiro Kunda about the standard of refereeing, after comments had been raised about certain decisions in the Toshiba-Suntory game, which had also seen the odd bout of fisticuffs and a number of off-the-ball incidents.

It would be a shame given the level of rugby played if the only talking point was the referees but there is genuine concern that the professionalism of the players is not being matched by the men with the whistles.

Next week's semifinals may well not be for the faint-hearted.