By Sean Miyaguchi,
Saitama Wild Knights will chase perfection when they kick off the Japan Rugby League One championship playoffs against Yokohama Eagles on Saturday.
The Robbie Deans-coached Wild Knights are two wins away from their third Japanese club title in four years and their second in the League One era after defeating all comers in a 16-0 regular season.
They will be bidding to reach their third straight League One final following an agonizing 17-15 loss to Kubota Spears last year, having entered the match as strong favorites.
Their closest rivals this season, Brave Lupus Tokyo, will meet Tokyo Sungoliath in a semifinal derby the following day for a place in the championship decider against the winner of Saitama and Yokohama.
The May 26 final at Tokyo's National Stadium could see the 64-year-old Deans go head-to-head against a longtime friend and former colleague, Brave Lupus head coach Todd Blackadder, 52.
Deans coached Blackadder to Super Rugby glory with New Zealand's Crusaders and was eventually succeeded as head coach of the Christchurch-based club by the former All Black backrower in 2009.
The Saitama mentor claimed bragging rights when their previously unbeaten League One sides met on March 9, with the Wild Knights overcoming a star turn from Brave Lupus No. 10 Richie Mo'unga to win 36-24 on home turf at Kumagaya Rugby Stadium.
Deans downplayed the notion of a coaching rivalry with Blackadder immediately after the match, but said the two were long overdue to meet off the field.
"We thought we'd see each other a lot more in Japan, but it just hasn't happened," Deans said. "One day, we'll sit down and have a beer and a yarn because we've got a lot to talk about."
While the Wild Knights boast arguably League One's deepest squad, featuring Japan No. 10 Rikiya Matsuda among a host of internationals, they have also benefited from Deans' meticulous approach to managing player health.
"We go to great lengths to monitor them physically, mentally, socially, the whole nine yards. We have a lot of dialogue to make sure they present in the best state possible," Deans said.
Undefeated since losing to Saitama, Brave Lupus earned a morale-boosting victory over semifinal opponents Sungoliath in the penultimate round of the regular season.
Sungoliath will be energized by the presence of Springbok star Cheslin Kolbe, whose prolonged injury absence, along with that of All Black backrower Sam Cane, forced head coach Kiyonori Tanaka to lean on his home-grown talent this season.
Kolbe is reportedly back to full strength and has been training without restriction in preparation for the playoffs.
The Eagles will aim to pull off a major upset against the Wild Knights in their semifinal, but recent history is stacked against head coach Keisuke Sawaki's side. In winning their two regular-season meetings this term, Saitama racked up 96 points to Yokohama's 26.
Speaking after his team's win against Brave Lupus, Deans emphasized that last year's championship final disappointment, which followed a near-perfect regular season, was not one of the major motivating factors behind this year's title tilt.
"I have no doubt it's in the background, but it's not really a positive motivation, it's a negative one, and the positive ones are more powerful," he said.
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