Suntory Sungoliath put themselves in the driver's seat for theTop League title Saturday thanks to a 41-24 win over Yamaha Jubilo in a showdown between first- and second-place teams.
On a blustery day in front of 10,574 fans at Yamaha Stadium, Kosei Ono once again proved he is the best flyhalf in Japan, while George Smith reminded everyone just why he won 111 caps for the Wallabies.
Ono, the man of the match, finished the day with 16 points, courtesy of five conversions and two penalty goals and played a major role in a number of Suntory's five tries.
"He's been really impressive this season," Suntory assistant coach Peter Hewat said of Ono. "He brings so much control to the game and makes the players around him play better."
Smith's experience, meanwhile, helped the Suntory pack defuse the threat of the Yamaha forwards — much to the anger of Jubilo head coach Katsuyuki Kiyomiya, who complained afterward that Smith had not been penalized once.
Suntory remains unbeaten with 60 points, three more than Yamaha, which fell to its first loss, though Suntory arguably has the tougher run-in.
Keisuke Sawaki's team finishes the season with games against the Toshiba Brave Lupus and Kobe Kobelco Steelers, while Yamaha takes on the Kintetsu Liners and Toyota Verblitz.
"That's something we talked about in the sheds after the game," said Hewat. "We are happy with the win, but we have not yet achieved what we set out to do. So we are looking at moving ahead and not resting on our laurels."
In the day's other games, the Panasonic Wild Knights kept their grip on third place and a place in the season-ending All Japan Championship by beating the Munakata Sanix Blues 55-14.
Meanwhile, Toshiba edged Verblitz 32-31, the Canon Eagles defeated the Kubota Spears 27-15, the Ricoh Black Rams topped the Toyota Industries Shuttles 41-14, the NTT Communications Shining Arcs thrashed bottom side Honda Heat 40-3 and the NEC Green Rockets downed the Coca-Cola Red Sparks 27-3.
Playing with the strong southwesterly wind at their backs, Yamaha got off to the best possible start with Chikara Ito going over in the fourth minute following a dreadful mix-up in the Suntory back three when trying to deal with a high punt.
Gerhard van den Heever added the extras to make it 7-0 and then slotted over a penalty seven minutes later as Yamaha made the most of some powerful runs from Viliami Tahitua in midfield.
But Suntory didn't come into the game unbeaten for a reason, and Takaaki Nakazuru made the most of some quick ruck ball and good handling from the backs to cross in the 15th minute.
With the elements playing a big role, Suntory in particular struggled early on dealing with the high bombs that van den Heever was putting up.
The Sungoliath were also struggling a little with their own kicking game and it was noticeable that their second try came when they finally kept the ball in hand for a number of phases, Stephen Donald crossing in the 32nd minute following a great break from Ono, who added the extras for good measure.
Yamaha retook the lead in the 37th minute when its pack put together a good rolling maul that eventually finished with referee Shuhei Kubo awarding a penalty try.
But Suntory finished the half stronger, with Hendrik Tui crossing the chalk following some good work from Ono and Smith to make it 21-17 at the break.
And the Sungoliath carried that form into the second half as they outscored their opponents 20-7 and defended heroically to frustrate the hosts.
Ono banged over a penalty in the 49th minute and then produced a superb inside pass to put Shintaro Ishihara away, the 26-year-old showing impressive pace for a prop.
Yamaha battled hard to restore parity but with Joe Wheeler and Tui stealing crucial line-outs and the Yamaha forwards guilty of white-line fever, it proved difficult.
Ito did go over for his second try in the 70th minute following a period of sustained pressure and van den Heever's conversion from out wide made it a seven-point game.
But a 78th-minute penalty from Ono and a try from Kenta Tsukamoto a minute later sealed the win and prevented the hosts from picking up a bonus-point for losing by seven or less.
"We couldn't play our rugby. Suntory's experience got the better of our inexperience," rued Kiyomiya.