Kobe Kobelco Steelers remained unbeaten in the Japan Rugby Top League and handed Yamaha Jubilo their second loss of the season following a pulsating game Saturday at Ecopa Stadium.

Tenacious defense from the Steelers and the astute rugby brain of Rugby World Cup winner Andy Ellis (before he went off just before halftime with concussion) laid the foundations for the 38-19 win.

Time and time again -- especially in the first half -- Yamaha put together more than a dozen phases only to end up behind the gain line as the Kobe defense came up quickly and the Steelers made their first-time tackles.

And when the opportunity arose, Jim McKay's side turned pressure into points, running in three tries in either stanza, the last to former Springbok Andries Bekker ensuring they returned to Kobe with a bonus point in the bag for scoring three more tries than Yamaha.

Earlier, Canon Eagles picked up their first victory of the season as they downed winless Coca-Cola Red Sparks 33-29.

Hosea Saumaki ran in a hat-trick of five pointers for the Eagles -- who were outscored five tries to three -- and JC Roos kicked three conversions, three penalty goals and a drop goal.

Kobe travelled up to Shizuoka in second place in the Red Conference with 22 points, while Yamaha were in the same position in the White Conference, two points worse off.

And the opening 20 minutes reflected that with neither side able to get the upper-hand.

Former All Black Ellis eventually broke the deadlock in the 22nd minute when the Steelers made the most of a poor clearance kick from Matt McGahan.

Jubilo captain Kyosuke Horie powered over in the 33rd minute, but Kobe hit back immediately with Ryuta Yasui and Kenji Shomen touching down in the space of three minutes to make it 21-7 at the break.

A yellow card to Duke Krishnan five minutes into the second half allowed Kobe to extend their lead as they used their numerical advantage to work Shohei Maekawa clear for their fourth try.

Yuya Odo made the most of a rare breakdown in communication in the Kobe defense to gallop over in the 49th minute and Chikara Ito dived over 15 minutes later as Yamaha made a game of it.

But any thoughts of a remarkable come-from-behind win were dashed in the 71st minute when replacement flyhalf Shomen ghosted over for his second try of the day, with Bekker's effort long after the final hooter the icing on the cake.

This season the league has been split into two conferences.

Teams play the seven other sides in their conference plus six from the other group to determine the rankings for the end of season playoffs, with the top four sides competing for the league title, which doubles as the All-Japan Championship.