Wild Knights 31 - 30 Tokyo Sungoliath

Full time

24 Jan 2026

Stage: Conference A Round 6

Kumagaya Rugby Stadium

Wild Knights vs Tokyo Sungoliath head to head

In a thrilling encounter, the Saitama Wild Knights defeated Tokyo Sungoliath 31-30 in a nail-biting finish. Koki Takeyama opened the scoring with an early try, followed by a successful conversion from Takuya Yamasawa. Cheslin Kolbe contributed significantly for the Sungoliath with two penalties and a try, keeping his team competitive. A penalty try just before halftime allowed the Wild Knights to lead 21-17 at the break. Esei Haangana and Damian de Allende both crossed the try line shortly after halftime, extending Saitama's lead. However, Kolbe's late resurgence with a try and conversion brought Tokyo back within one point. Despite a valiant effort, the Wild Knights held on for a narrow victory, showcasing resilience and tactical prowess throughout the match.

Weather

Temperature: 8.5°C (Feels like 5.8°C) Condition: MostlyCloudy Wind: 10.1 km/h, gusting to 24.2 km/h Humidity: 31% Cloud Cover: 81%

Highlights

Events

Kickoff
3'

Try

Koki Takeyama · Wild Knights

5 - 0
4'

Conversion

Takuya Yamasawa · Wild Knights

7 - 0
8'

Penalty

Cheslin Kolbe · Tokyo Sungoliath

7 - 3
20'

Penalty

Cheslin Kolbe · Tokyo Sungoliath

7 - 6
37'

Try

Kosuke Horikoshi · Tokyo Sungoliath

7 - 11
40'

Yellow Card

Cheslin Kolbe · Tokyo Sungoliath
40'

Penalty Try

No Player · Wild Knights

14 - 11
40'

Try

Taiga Ozaki · Tokyo Sungoliath

14 - 16
Halftime 14 - 16
Second Half
45'

Try

Esei Haangana · Wild Knights

19 - 16
46'

Conversion

Takuya Yamasawa · Wild Knights

21 - 16
48'

Try

Damian de Allende · Wild Knights

26 - 16
49'

Conversion

Takuya Yamasawa · Wild Knights

28 - 16
49'

Substitution

Yukio Morikawa on for Kenta Kobayashi · Tokyo Sungoliath
49'

Substitution

Shodai Hirao on for Kosuke Horikoshi · Tokyo Sungoliath
50'

Yellow Card Complete

Cheslin Kolbe · Tokyo Sungoliath
51'

Substitution

Sam Jeffries on for Sam Cane · Tokyo Sungoliath
51'

Substitution

Tevita Tatafu on for Ryuga Hashimoto · Tokyo Sungoliath
52'

Substitution

Keita Inagaki on for Craig Millar · Wild Knights
52'

Substitution

Juan Wilson on for Viliami Afu Kaipouli · Wild Knights
58'

Substitution

Kenji Sato on for Atsushi Sakate · Wild Knights
64'

Substitution

Kenta Fukuda on for Yutaka Nagare · Tokyo Sungoliath
64'

Substitution

Kan Nakano on for Shuhei Takeuchi · Tokyo Sungoliath
65'

Substitution

Kumsu Lee on for Shu Hagihara · Wild Knights
65'

Substitution

Kyohei Yamasawa on for Takuya Yamasawa · Wild Knights
65'

Substitution

Patrick Vakata on for Sean McMahon · Tokyo Sungoliath
67'

Substitution

Ryoto Nakamura on for Shogo Nakano · Tokyo Sungoliath
67'

Substitution

Taniela Vea on for Asaeli Ai Valu · Wild Knights
68'

Penalty

Takuya Yamasawa · Wild Knights

31 - 16
68'

Substitution

Takuya Yamasawa on for Kyohei Yamasawa · Wild Knights
70'

Try

Isaiah Punivai · Tokyo Sungoliath

31 - 21
71'

Conversion

Cheslin Kolbe · Tokyo Sungoliath

31 - 23
71'

Substitution

Maurice Marks on for Vince Aso · Wild Knights
71'

Substitution

Ockie Barnard on for Ben Gunter · Wild Knights
77'

Try

Cheslin Kolbe · Tokyo Sungoliath

31 - 30
77'

Conversion

Cheslin Kolbe · Tokyo Sungoliath

31 - 25
Fulltime 31 - 30

Player ratings

Wild Knights

15 Ryuji Noguchi 7.0
14 Koki Takeyama 7.4
13 Vince Aso 8.0
12 Damian de Allende 8.0
11 Marika Koroibete 6.8
10 Takuya Yamasawa 6.4
9 Shu Hagihara 6.7
1 Craig Millar 6.2
2 Atsushi Sakate 6.3
3 Asaeli Ai Valu 5.8
4 Esei Haangana 8.8
5 Jack Cornelsen 7.3
6 Ben Gunter 7.7
7 Lachlan Boshier 6.9
8 Viliami Afu Kaipouli 6.9
16 Kenji Sato 6.6
17 Keita Inagaki 5.7
18 Taniela Vea 6.3
19 Ockie Barnard –
20 Juan Wilson 6.8
21 Kumsu Lee 6.2
22 Maurice Marks –
23 Kyohei Yamasawa –

Tokyo Sungoliath

15 Cheslin Kolbe 9.1
14 Kotaro Matsushima 7.2
13 Isaiah Punivai 9.0
12 Shogo Nakano 6.5
11 Taiga Ozaki 6.5
10 Mikiya Takamoto 5.7
9 Yutaka Nagare 6.2
1 Kenta Kobayashi 6.5
2 Kosuke Horikoshi 7.0
3 Shuhei Takeuchi 6.2
4 Ryuga Hashimoto 6.6
5 Harry Hockings 7.0
6 Kanji Shimokawa 6.0
7 Sam Cane 6.6
8 Sean McMahon 6.8
16 Shodai Hirao 6.6
17 Yukio Morikawa 6.1
18 Kan Nakano 6.0
19 Sam Jeffries 6.5
20 Patrick Vakata 6.2
21 Tevita Tatafu 6.6
22 Kenta Fukuda 5.9
23 Ryoto Nakamura 6.2