Cheslin Kolbe and Sam Cane were on the losing end of a closely fought Japan Rugby League One clash as Tokyo Sungoliath were beaten 22-20 by Kobelco Kobe Steelers.
Former All Blacks skipper Cane was shown a red card early in the second half of the encounter, shortly after returning from the sin-bin for a high tackle.
The 33-year-old was fortunate not to be red-carded for his tackle on ex-Highlanders hooker Ash Dixon in the latter stages of the first half, in the build-up to Brodie Retallick’s try.
The ex-All Blacks second-rower’s try cut Sungoliath’s lead to just 17-14, with Cane yellow carded, and the incident was sent to be reviewed by the Foul Play Review Officer.
Retallick’s try followed a score by scrum-half Itsuki Kamimura in the early knockings of the game for Kobe.
Sungoliath responded through prop Kenta Kobayashi and Kaleb Trask, on debut, who added both conversions and a penalty.
Kobe looked to have made the most of the man advantage in the latter stages of the first half, but had a try chalked off. Leaving Sungoliath with a three-point lead at the break.
Decisive second half
The scores remained unchanged at 14-17 until Cane returned to the action in the 45th minute, and the ex-All Black would play just six further minutes before he was given his marching orders.
With Kobe on the attack just shy of the Sungoliath 10m line, Cane competed at the breakdown but failed to claim possession. The back-rower then stupidly slapped the ball out of Kamimura’s hands.
His actions caused a bit of a melee before the referee issued Cane with a second yellow card, leaving his side down a man for much of the final 30 minutes of the encounter – they were restored to 15 men with seven minutes left to play.
Despite being down a player, Sungoliath remained resolute on defence and extended their lead through the boot of replacement fly-half Kazuki Ishida.
That set up a nervy finish, especially when Ardie Savea brilliantly set up a try for winger Kazuma Ueda with a superb offload that led to the speedster diving over in the corner. Suengsin Lee was unable to add the extras, making it a one-point game in the final 15 minutes.
Sungoliath defended valiantly in the final quarter of the game and even launched a few attacks of their own, but repeatedly came up short.
With two minutes left on the clock and Kobe camped inside the Suntory 22, Kolbe charged out of the defensive line and picked off a pace and went sprinting downfield.
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However, the officials deemed that the Springbok was offside in the passage of play and awarded a penalty to Kobe and Lee made no mistake from in front of the sticks.
Sam Cane’s red card in defeat to Kobe this weekend.
Cheslin Kolbe’s intercept was called offside and gave Kobe an easy shot at goal for the 20-22 win. pic.twitter.com/SIOqls8mPt
— Jared Wright (@jaredwright17) January 12, 2026
Sungolitah fall short
Sungolitah had one final shot at snatching back the result as they retained possession from the restart, however, a loose pass put them under pressure and the Kobe defence held up the ball carrier to secure the result and seal Kobe’s seventh win in a row on their travels.
Kobe retained third position on the standings after four rounds of action in the top division of the Japan Rugby League One competition, while Sungoliath sit sixth overall.
Kubota Spears and the Saitama Wild Knights top the table respectively, having yet to lose so far this campaign, picking up wins over Honda Heat and Shizuoka Blue Revs in round four.
Suntory will host Honda in round five while the Black Rams travel to Kobe to tackle the Steelers.
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