Wild Knights 26 - 20 Toyota Verblitz

Full time

14 Feb 2026

Stage: Conference A Round 8

Kumagaya Rugby Stadium

Wild Knights vs Toyota Verblitz head to head

The Saitama Wild Knights triumphed over Toyota Verblitz with a score of 26-20 in a tightly contested match. Vince Aso opened the scoring for the Wild Knights with an early try, but Rikiya Matsuda quickly responded for Verblitz, converting his own try to take the lead. The second half saw Verblitz take control with another try from Akito Okui, followed by Matsuda's conversion, making it 14-7. However, the Wild Knights responded emphatically with tries from Ben Gunter and Koki Takeyama, bolstered by conversions from Takuya Yamasawa. Lachlan Boshier added another try for the home side, pushing the score to 26-14. Verblitz managed a late penalty from Tiaan Falcon, but it was not enough to alter the outcome. This victory marked a continuation of the Wild Knights' strong performance against Verblitz in recent encounters.

Weather

Temperature: 14.1°C (Feels like 12.4°C) Condition: MostlyCloudy Wind: 8.4 km/h, gusting to 17.2 km/h Humidity: 42% Cloud Cover: 86%

Highlights

Events

Kickoff
11'

Try

Vince Aso · Wild Knights

5 - 0
22'

Try

Rikiya Matsuda · Toyota Verblitz

5 - 5
23'

Conversion

Rikiya Matsuda · Toyota Verblitz

5 - 7
Halftime 5 - 7
Second Half
45'

Try

Akito Okui · Toyota Verblitz

5 - 12
46'

Conversion

Rikiya Matsuda · Toyota Verblitz

5 - 14
46'

Substitution

Craig Millar on for Keita Inagaki · Wild Knights
46'

Substitution

Asaeli Ai Valu on for Lisala Finau · Wild Knights
47'

Substitution

Atsushi Sakate on for Kenji Sato · Wild Knights
48'

Try

Ben Gunter · Wild Knights

10 - 14
49'

Conversion

Takuya Yamasawa · Wild Knights

12 - 14
55'

Substitution

Taufa Latu on for Hamdahn Tuipulotu · Toyota Verblitz
57'

Try

Koki Takeyama · Wild Knights

17 - 14
58'

Conversion

Takuya Yamasawa · Wild Knights

19 - 14
58'

Substitution

Ockie Barnard on for Esei Haangana · Wild Knights
58'

Substitution

Tomoki Osada on for Marika Koroibete · Wild Knights
60'

Penalty

Rikiya Matsuda · Toyota Verblitz

19 - 17
63'

Substitution

Schalk Erasmus on for Yoshikatsu Hikosaka · Toyota Verblitz
63'

Substitution

Isaiah Mapusua on for Kazuki Himeno · Toyota Verblitz
67'

Substitution

Juan Wilson on for Ben Gunter · Wild Knights
70'

Try

Lachlan Boshier · Wild Knights

24 - 17
71'

Conversion

Takuya Yamasawa · Wild Knights

26 - 17
72'

Substitution

Hanjiro Hirai on for Shogo Miura · Toyota Verblitz
72'

Substitution

Kaito Shigeno on for Aaron Smith · Toyota Verblitz
72'

Substitution

Josh Dickson on for Hingano Lolohea · Toyota Verblitz
72'

Substitution

Shinya Komura on for Rikiya Matsuda · Toyota Verblitz
72'

Substitution

Shu Hagihara on for Taiki Koyama · Wild Knights
73'

Substitution

Yuichiro Wada on for Siosaia Fifita · Toyota Verblitz
75'

Penalty

Tiaan Falcon · Toyota Verblitz

26 - 20
Fulltime 26 - 20

Player ratings

Wild Knights

15 Ryuji Noguchi 7.3
14 Koki Takeyama 8.4
13 Hayata Taniyama 7.1
12 Vince Aso 7.3
11 Marika Koroibete 6.3
10 Takuya Yamasawa 8.0
9 Taiki Koyama 7.1
1 Keita Inagaki 7.0
2 Kenji Sato 6.9
3 Lisala Finau 8.3
4 Liam Mitchell 7.6
5 Esei Haangana 7.4
6 Ben Gunter 7.4
7 Lachlan Boshier 8.4
8 Jack Cornelsen 6.1
16 Atsushi Sakate 6.5
17 Craig Millar 6.7
18 Asaeli Ai Valu 6.4
19 Ockie Barnard 5.9
20 Juan Wilson 6.4
21 Shu Hagihara –
22 Tomoki Osada 6.5
23 Takaya Saito –

Toyota Verblitz

15 Tiaan Falcon 7.5
14 Taichi Takahashi 6.5
13 Siosaia Fifita 6.5
12 Nicholas McCurran 6.3
11 Mark Tele'a 6.7
10 Rikiya Matsuda 6.4
9 Aaron Smith 6.8
1 Shogo Miura 6.3
2 Yoshikatsu Hikosaka 7.2
3 Hamdahn Tuipulotu 6.8
4 Hingano Lolohea 6.2
5 Lourens Erasmus 7.1
6 Keito Aoki 8.6
7 Akito Okui 6.8
8 Kazuki Himeno 6.6
16 Schalk Erasmus 6.0
17 Hanjiro Hirai –
18 Taufa Latu 6.1
19 Josh Dickson –
20 Isaiah Mapusua 6.9
21 Kaito Shigeno –
22 Shinya Komura –
23 Yuichiro Wada –