The Microsoft Cup final on Feb. 6 at Tokyo's Chichibunomiya will see Top League champion Toshiba Brave Lupus take on runnerup Yamaha Jubilo following Sunday's two semifinals.
And judging by Toshiba's performance in beating the Kobe Kobelco Steelers 41-0, Yamaha will have its work cut out to stop Masahiro Kunda's men from picking up their second piece of silverware of the season -- particularly as they haven't even played to their potential, according to Kiwi center Scott McLeod.
"We haven't played an 80-minute game all year. It's frustrating as we should be getting better every week, not staying at the same level," he said.
Yamaha earned its place in the final as the result of captain Koichi Kubo's ability to pick the lucky straw.
Down 20-13 at halftime at Osaka's Hanazono Stadium, Yamaha recovered for the second week in a row and was leading 33-30 before Toyota's Keiji Hirose leveled the scores in the 82nd minute.
With both teams having scored four tries the result was determined by lottery with Kubo and Yamaha's luck holding firm.
"This is my 50th year of rugby and that's the first time that has happened," Yamaha coach Grant Batty said.
"It's nice to get into the final but it would have been better to have won by one point rather than rely on a piece of paper."
At Chichibunomiya, the Steelers, who had beaten Toshiba 15-12 on the opening day of the season, were rugby's equivalent of a bottle of champagne.
Last week they were full of fizz and played some sparkling rugby in upsetting the NEC Green Rockets. Unfortunately someone forgot to replace the cork, as this week they were flat and lifeless against a well-drilled Toshiba side, for whom Nataniela Oto and McLeod were outstanding.
While Kobe seemed static and devoid of ideas, spending most of the game committing too many players to the breakdown, Toshiba varied its play intelligently and the Kobe defense had no answers.
"The Toshiba style is to run hard onto the ball and that suits me," said McLeod.
Oto and McLeod both scored tries in the first half, with McLeod's being the try of the game.
Taking the ball just inside his own half, the New Zealander split open the Kobe midfield defense, and then backed his own pace to go outside Yuya Saito, whose limitations as a fullback were brutally exposed.
Daisuke Hihara closed the half with a 50-meter penalty, amazingly just the second penalty Toshiba has kicked all year.
The second half saw more of the same.
Oto and McLeod combined in the 50th minute to put away prop Kenji Takahashi, before flyhalf Shogo Shimasaki, sensing the Kobe defense was already lining up his outside backs, changed his line of attack and used a well-timed hand-off to break the defensive line and go over for Toshiba's fifth try.
It seemed for the first time this season that Toshiba would go a game without a try from a rolling mall but all systems were restored in the 82nd minute when Hitoshi Ono was driven over from five meters by the Toshiba pack.