Kyohei Yamasawa sets a benchmark as the top regular season scorer in Japan Rugby League One
The 26-year-old emerged from the shadow of his test-capped elder brother, Takuya, by scoring 209 points in 16 appearances in the Japanese professional tournament which attracts some of the world's best players.
He finished the regular season ahead of Toyota Brave Lupus fullback Takuro Matsunada with 174 points and Bryn Gatland, the New Zealand-born son of former Wales and British and Irish Lions coach Warren Gatland, who scored 169 points for the Kobelco Kobe Steelers.
Former Wallabies flyhalf Bernard Foley was sixth on the list this season with 145 points.
Japan League One is in its fourth season and Yamasawa is the fourth different player to lead the regular season scoring list, following Gatland, Foley and All Blacks flyhalf Damian McKenzie.
Yamasawa became the Wild Knights' only goalkicking option when his brother, Takuya, was sidelined by injury after only two matches.
Brave Lupus winger Jone Naikabula was the leading try-scorer in the regular season with 15.
___
AP rugby: https://apnews.com/hub/rugby
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
3 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Qin beats Olympic champ Martinenghi for 100m breaststroke world gold
China's Qin Haiyang reeled in Olympic champion Nicolo Martinenghi to reclaim his 100m breaststroke world title in Singapore on Monday. Qin recovered from a slow start to come home in 58.23sec, beating Italy's Martinenghi on 58.58 and Kyrgyzstan's Denis Petrashov on 58.88. Qin swept all three breaststroke races at the 2023 world championships in Japan, breaking the 200m world record. But he crashed and burned at last year's Paris Olympics, finishing seventh after leading the 100m breaststroke final at the turn. The 26-year-old had no such problems in Singapore as he delivered China's first swimming medal of the championships. "I'm so appreciative for tonight, it's been a long time," said Qin. "Finally, I've come back." Qin went into the race in ominous form, having swum the two fastest times of the year and topped the semi-finals ahead of Martinenghi. Martinenghi was initially disqualified in the semi-finals but was later reinstated for the final. The Italian said he had been sick through the night and was "really proud" of his performance. "That silver is like a gold for me," he said. "I've got nothing inside me, I've got only my heart and my brain." The race did not feature Paris Olympic joint silver-medallists Adam Peaty and Nic Fink. Britain's Peaty, who owned the 14 fastest times in the history of the 100m breaststroke heading into Singapore, decided to skip the world championships. American Fink is also taking a break from competition. Qin's preparations for the Paris Olympics were thrown into turmoil when he was implicated in a major doping scandal months before the Games. A report named Qin among 23 Chinese swimmers who had tested positive for a prescription heart drug ahead of the pandemic-delayed 2021 Tokyo Olympics. They were not sanctioned after the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) accepted the argument of Chinese authorities that the positive tests were caused by contaminated food. amk/pst
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
The last Lions whitewash?
The Lions have not won a series whitewash for almost a century. Victory over Australia in the third Test on Saturday will deliver a first clean sweep since their tour of Argentina in 1927. The Lions, made up of English and Scottish players, won all four Test matches in somewhat humble beginnings for the Pumas. According to the Lions website, the River Plate Rugby Union – now Union Argentina de Rugby – recognised those four matches as the first official games of the Argentina national team. Can Maro Itoje become the first Lions captain since Scottish lock David MacMyn to lead the tourists to a series whitewash? Listen: Sport's Strangest Crimes - Bloodgate Listen to the latest Rugby Union Weekly podcast
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Liverpool 2-4 AC Milan: Premier League champions handed humbling defeat in tour opener
Liverpool were dealt a lesson in the art of the counter-attack as they were beaten 4-2 by AC Milan in Hong Kong. The Reds, playing the first game of their pre-season tour of Asia, arrived at the Kai Tak Sports Park in good spirits after morale-bolstering wins over Preston and Stoke City in their first friendlies of the new campaign. However, the ramp up in opposition quality was evident, as the Premier League champions were schooled by Massimiliano Allegri and his crafty Italian side. Rafael Leao, the maverick Portuguese forward, opened the scoring in clinical fashion as he hared off down the left, driving into the box to take full advantage of the space left by makeshift right-back Luca Stephenson. He faced up Tyler Morton, filling in at the heart of the defence, before rifling into the far corner beyond Alisson to give Milan the lead inside 10 minutes. Dominik Szoboszlai showed his quality with a delightful equaliser on 26 minutes, curling a delicious effort up and over Mike Maignan to level the scores and get the Reds in level at half time. However, despite Arne Slot changing the whole side at the interval, it was Milan's continuity that kept the momentum with the Serie A outfit. They went ahead with the second period just seven minutes old, as they broke clear once more, exploiting the chasm of space left at the back by the Premier League side. Leao span clear to latch onto Noah Okafor's pass, and he picked out the supporting Ruben Loftus-Cheek, who stroked home to put Milan back in the driving seat. Their advantage extended when Okafor swept in a superb third, making stunning contact on Alexis Saelemakers' square to double the lead. Liverpool struggled to turn their dominance in possession into golden opportunities, and the closest they came in the second 45 was when Cody Gakpo skewed an effort into the side-netting after a stunning pick-out from Tyler Morton. Gakpo did get his goal as he planted a header into the far corner to halve the deficit in injury time, but the scoring was not done, as deputy goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili's loose pass to stand-in central defender Kostas Tsimikas sold the Greek short. Okafor pounced, and raced clear to tap into the unguarded net. Back to the drawing board for Slot, who may decide not to be quite so experimental next time around, when his side play Yokohama Marinos on Wednesday, before a visit from Athletic Bilbao to Anfield.
